Eddyco, Inc. v. United States

64 Cust. Ct. 351, 1970 Cust. Ct. LEXIS 3158
CourtUnited States Customs Court
DecidedApril 23, 1970
DocketC.D. 4002
StatusPublished

This text of 64 Cust. Ct. 351 (Eddyco, Inc. v. United States) is published on Counsel Stack Legal Research, covering United States Customs Court primary law. Counsel Stack provides free access to over 12 million legal documents including statutes, case law, regulations, and constitutions.

Bluebook
Eddyco, Inc. v. United States, 64 Cust. Ct. 351, 1970 Cust. Ct. LEXIS 3158 (cusc 1970).

Opinion

WatsoN, Judge:

The imported merchandise involved herein is described on the entry papers as “air-circulating-fans.” It was classified as fans under the eo nomine provision for fans in item 661.10 of the Tariff Schedules of the United States, as amended, at the rate of 14 per centum ad valorem for fans and blowers and parts thereof.

The importer claims the merchandise is duty free under item 666.00, Tariff Schedules of the United States, as amended, as agricultural and horticultural implements not specially provided for.

The case at bar was submitted on stipulation, the pertinent parts of which follow:

1. That the record in Eddyco, Inc., etc. v. United States, protests 66/69599 and 66/67660 (previously abandoned by plaintiff) may be incorporated herein.
2. That the entry invoice and all other documents transmitted by the United States customs service to the court may be deemed in evidence.
3. That, in accordance with the ruling by Chief Judge Bao at B. 27-28 in the incorporated case, defendant shall have the right in its brief herein to incorporate any arguments which it cares to present with respect to defendant’s exhibit B for identification in the incorporated case.
4. That the instant case may be submitted on this stipulation and on the record in the incorporated case.

The record in the instant case consists of the incorporated record in the previously abandoned case of Eddyco, Inc. v. United States, protests 66/59599 and 66/67660.

The record in the incorporated case consists of the oral testimony of one witness and two exhibits for the plaintiff, and one exhibit for the defendant. The official papers are deemed in evidence, as agreed by counsel in their stipulation. Since no oral testimony or numbered exhibits were offered in the case at bar, except defendant’s exhibit B aforementioned, we refer to the same exhibits and record of the incorporated case as if they had been presented directly herein.

The issue presented is whether the imported merchandise was properly classified under the eo nomine provision for fans under item 661.10 of the Tariff Schedules of the United States, or whether it should have been classified as horticultural implements, not specially [353]*353provided for, free of duty under item 666.00 of the Tariff Schedules of the United States, as claimed by the plaintiffs.

The record in the case at bar now consists of the incorporated record and the following exhibits:

Plaintiffs’ illustrative exhibit f-Leaflet which describes the imported merchandise and its operation.
Plaintiffs’ illustrative exhibit ^-Photograph of the imported merchandise.
Defendant’s exhibit A-Literature described by the witness as one of the flyers which it delivers to its dealers and distributors.
Defendant’s exhibit B-Copy of a letter written in 1964 by the Hon. Philip Nichols, Jr., then Commissioner of Customs, to Hon. Michael Stramiello, Jr., then Appraiser of Merchandise in New York.

Mr. Edward Jednak, president of Eddyco, Inc., for six years, had testified for the plaintiff in the incorporated case that his company sold equipment to horticultural dealers, and that he has been in this type of business for sixteen years. He is also president of Jednak Floral Company in charge of importations, is familiar with the articles at bar, having imported them for approximately seven years, and saw them actually used in twenty or more States of the United States, mostly in the North.

He called the article a combination heater-fan which functions by creating swirl, a new type of evenness in air movement, longitudinal and vertical, throughout a greenhouse regardless of the heat source. An ordinary ceiling fan he stated would have a slight effect, but not the drawing down effect. The ordinary fan would create the downward movement of heat, but would not be strong enough to hold it down. It would not cause a gentle rolling of the air as do the blades of the imported item.

The witness continued: the blades of the imported article differ from those of an ordinary fan. They are all set uniformly at approximately a 90-degree angle to the pitch of the greenhouse. These blades are adjustable, but not as to the rapidity with which they revolve. “Dead air” is non-moving air. When you have “dead air,” the humidity surrounding that air is extremely high, allowing plant diseases to set in very, very rapidly.

The only place, other than hothouses or greenhouses, where the witness has seen these articles used is in storage of rose plants, to even out the temperature and get rid of the dead spots. They are not conducive to use in the home, because they require height. Aside from the two uses mentioned, the witness never saw any other use.

[354]*354These articles are run by a motor, composed of a stator and a capacitor. These are electrical features of the article. The original fans imported were two-speed, but the later models were simplified to one-speed to prevent greenhouse men from burning up one or two fans by interchanging the wires from one to the other. A clixton was added, said clixton being a thermal cut off, so a rise in heat due to wrong wiring would cause an automatic shut off. The only difference between those articles described as 220 volt, 60 per, 1-speed with clixton, and 110 volt, 60 per, 1-speed with clixton, and 220 volt, 1-phase, 60 per, 1-speed with clixton, is the type of electrical power to be used.

P.V.K. ventilators are the same merchandise as is involved in this case. Any fan which is described as P.V.K. would be the same as the fans herein, and cannot be operated otherwise than electrically. Eddyco sells to dealers, who, in turn, sell to the greenhouses. Jednak Company sells to greenhouses and nurseries.

These articles are not blowers in the strict sense of the word, but are air movers, created specifically by heating engineers in Holland to move heat.

The witness owns one-thirid of a corporation in Little Rock, Arkansas, which, in turn, owns greenhouses. All their greenhouses use these articles continuously. When they do not wish to bring down the heat [which is at the top of the greenhouse], as when the air-conditioners are on, the ventilators are shut off.

Prior to the development of these articles, attempts were made to use regular fans, but all they did was move the air in one direction, a condition which will dry out the soil in one section of the greenhouse, but not in another. Such a condition could create problems in watering. Only one size of fan was imported.

On cross-examination, the witness testified as follows:

The imported merchandise does not have any heating element in itself. It is a device which is energized so that it circulates air with the prime thought to circulate heat. The heat is in the air, and there are innumerable sources of heat. The imported article does create an artificial current of air.

The final exchange between the witness and counsel for the defendant was as follows:

Q. On direct examination, you consistently referred to this as a fan. Is Defendant’s Exhibit A also called a fan? — A.

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Bluebook (online)
64 Cust. Ct. 351, 1970 Cust. Ct. LEXIS 3158, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/eddyco-inc-v-united-states-cusc-1970.