Ellis Silver Co. v. United States

67 Cust. Ct. 564, 1971 Cust. Ct. LEXIS 2309
CourtUnited States Customs Court
DecidedAugust 5, 1971
DocketA.R.D. 293; Entry No. 889863, etc.
StatusPublished
Cited by8 cases

This text of 67 Cust. Ct. 564 (Ellis Silver Co. 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
Ellis Silver Co. v. United States, 67 Cust. Ct. 564, 1971 Cust. Ct. LEXIS 2309 (cusc 1971).

Opinion

LaNdis, Judge:

This case1 is before us on application to review the decision and judgment of the single judge in a reappraisement proceeding involving the dutiable value of certain silver-plated hol-lowware (silver plate on copper), exported from England during the period December 9, 1959 to October 5, 1962. Ellis Silver Co., Inc. v. United States, 63 Cust. Ct. 647, R.D. 11688, 308 F. Supp. 704 (1969).

The merchandise, entered at New York, was appraised on the basis of constructed value under section 402(d) of the Tariff Act of 1930, as amended, 19 U.S.C., section 1401a (d), a permissible basis “if neither [565]*565the export value nor the United States value can be determined satisfactorily”, 19 U.S.C., section 1401a (3).

Appellant (plaintiff below) claims that the proper basis for valuation is export value under section 402(b), as amended, 19 U.S.C., section 1401a(b).

Export value, in the relevant terms of that valuation basis, is defined in section 402, as amended, as follows:

(b) Expoet Value. — For the purposes of this section, the export value of imported merchandise shall be the price, at the time of exportation to the United States of the merchandise undergoing-appraisement, at which such or similar merchandise is freely sold or, in the absence of sales, offered for sale in the principal markets of the country of exportation, in the usual wholesale quantities and in the ordinary course of trade, for exportation to the United States, plus, when not included in such price, the cost of all containers and coverings of whatever nature and all other expenses incidental to placing the merchandise in condition, packed ready for shipment to the United States.
‡ ‡
(f) DEFINITIONS. — For the purposes of this section—
(1) The term “freely sold or, in the absence of sales, offered for sale” means sold or, in the absence of sales, offered—
(A) to all purchasers at wholesale, or
(Bj in the ordinary course of trade to one or more selected purchasers at wholesale at a price which fairly reflects the market value of the merchandise,
without restrictions as to the disposition or use of the merchandise by the purchaser, except restrictions as to such disposition or use which (i) are imposed or required by law, (ii) limit the price at which or the territory hi which the merchandise may be resoldj or (iii) do not substantially affect the value of the merchandise to usual purchasers at wholesale.
* * * $ $ $ *

No error is raised with respect to the finding of the single judge that, on constructed value basis, the values constructed by customs were determined as follows:

Beappraisements 5.61/1760 and R61/17Y2: Invoiced unit prices, plus 5% representing an increase in factory list prices, less 5% representing a cash discount, less 214% distributor’s discount, plus the invoiced cost of cases.
Beappraisement B61/22688: Invoiced unit prices, plus 10% representing an increase in factory list prices, less 5% cash discount, less 21/2% distributor’s discount, plus the invoiced cost of cases.
Beappraisements B62/14885 and B62/15687: Invoiced unit prices, less 5% cash discount, plus the invoiced cost of cases.

Appellant here, as it did below, claims that on export value basis, supra, the prices it paid in the ordinary course of trade fairly re-[566]*566fleet the market value of the imported merchandise to a selected purchaser at wholesale. Those prices, appellant contends, are the same as the appraised values, when adjusted to deduct 10 percent instead of the 2*4 percent distributor’s discount deducted in E61/ 1760, E61/1772 and E61/22688, and when adjusted to deduct an additional 10 percent distributor’s discount, before adding the cost of packing cases, in E62/14885 and E62/15687.

Upon weighing the evidence, the single judge concluded that: (1) appellant was a selected purchaser, (2) the record “failed to establish that the prices paid fairly reflect the market value of the merchandise” on export value basis, swpra, (3) the values constructed by customs did not “conform to the formula prescribed by section 402(d)”, and (4) appellant having failed to sustain “its burden of proving the claimed export values, the appraisements, although erroneous, remain the proper dutiable values of the merchandise.”

The errors charged for review all flow from the conclusion of the single judge that the record failed to establish that the prices paid by appellant, a selected purchaser, fairly reflect the market value of the imported merchandise.

There is no dispute as to the facts established of record, which the single judge succinctly summarized in his opinion below as follows:

The silverplated hollowware, the appraised values of which are contested, was manufactured by Ellis & Co. (Birmingham), Ltd. Ellis Silver Co., Inc. was a wholly owned subsidiary of the foreign seller, and was engaged in importing and selling the involved merchandise to the retail trade in the United States. For many years, including 1959 to 1962, the seller sold the hol-lowware to plaintiff as an exclusive United States distributor. The manufacturer also sold the merchandise in England to one wholesaler, Walker & Hall, Ltd. of Sheffield, and to retailers. Additionally, the seller sold the merchandise for exportation to retailers in Canada, some Scandinavian countries, Italy, and South Africa.
The manufacturer followed the policy and practice of selling its merchandise in accordance with a published price list (exhibit 1), which was used in conjunction with an illustrated catalog (exhibit 5). The factory list prices were allegedly based upon cost of materials, labor, factory overhead, selling and advertising expense, management overhead, plus a 33%% mark up for profit. None of the actual costs or expenses, however, are specified in the record.
During the relevant period of time in these cases the list prices were increased twice, on January 1, 1960 and February 1, 1962. These increases were communicated to the seller’s customers by letters (exhibits 2 and 3) when such increases were to be ef[567]*567fective prior to the -publication, of a new price list brochure (exhibit 4B). The price increases were “across the board,” and were expressed in the letters in terms of a percentage addition to the factory list prices currently in effect, viz.: list price, plus 5% (exhibit 2) or list price, plus 10% (exhibit 3).
The seller granted all its customers a discount for cash, ranging from 2%% to 5%, and two purchasers were allowed a wholesaler’s or distributor’s discount of 5% or 10%. The wholesaler in England (Walker) received a cash discount of 2*4% and a trade (wholesaler’s) discount of 5%, while retailers in England received only a 2%% cash discount. Plaintiff, on the other hand, was granted a 5% cash discount and a 10% distributor’s discount on all purchases. Customers in Canada received only a cash discount, which varied from 21/2% to 3%%, while customers in other “third countries” received only a cash discount of 2%%.

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Cite This Page — Counsel Stack

Bluebook (online)
67 Cust. Ct. 564, 1971 Cust. Ct. LEXIS 2309, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/ellis-silver-co-v-united-states-cusc-1971.