Engis Equipment Co. v. United States

16 Cust. Ct. 86, 1946 Cust. Ct. LEXIS 19
CourtUnited States Customs Court
DecidedMarch 15, 1946
DocketC. D. 990
StatusPublished
Cited by4 cases

This text of 16 Cust. Ct. 86 (Engis Equipment 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
Engis Equipment Co. v. United States, 16 Cust. Ct. 86, 1946 Cust. Ct. LEXIS 19 (cusc 1946).

Opinion

Lawebnce, Judge:'

The collector of customs classified certain so-called clinometers under the provision in paragraph 397 of the Tariff Act of 1930 for articles or wares not specially provided for, composed wholly or in chief value of metal, and assessed duty thereon accordingly at the rate of 45 per centum ad valorem. Various claims for lower rates of duty are alleged by the plaintiff in its protests and by amendments thereto; and while none of them has been abandoned, reliance is placed upon the claim that the articles are dutiable at the rate of 27K per centum ad valorem under the provision in paragraph 372 of said act for machines, not specially provided for; or, alternatively, at the rate of 40 per centum ad valorem under the provision for mathematical instruments in paragraph-360 of said act which, so far as here applicable, reads:

Scientific and laboratory instruments, apparatus, utensils, appliances (including surveying and mathematical instruments), and parts thereof, wholly or in chief value of metal * * * finished or unfinished, not specially provided for, 40 per centum ad valorem; * * *

[88]*88At the trial, counsel for the plaintiff drew attention to a memorandum on customs Form 4371, attached to the invoice in protest 108263-K, and stated—

At this time I would like to offer in evidence the memorandum to which I have referred in Protest 108263-K, on Customs Form 4371, from the appraiser to the collector, dated January 17, 1944, in red ink.

There being no objection on the part of the Government, the paper was admitted in evidence. The memorandum referred to reads as follows:

Coll: Please note. In the light of B/L 426.85 of 1/6/44 this merchandise would now be classified as mathematical instruments 40/360

WB 1/17/44

W. V. Bunting

A print illustrating the mechanism was received in evidence as exhibit 1, and a sample of one of the imported clinometers, No. Mabk VII, was received in evidence as exhibit 2.

J. P. Steindler, president of the plaintiff corporation, testified that he supervises its sales activities in cooperation with his associates and ha,s been importing and selling clinometers since 1938; that he is a graduate engineer from the Armour Institute and is familiar with the operation of clinometers, having first seen them demonstrated in England at various places, and also having shown them to certain customers in the United States; that the clinometers in question are referred to in the invoices as “Mark V,” “Mark VA,” “Mark VII,” and “Mark VIII,” and differ only in the base plate; that the “interior mechanism of all of them is exactly the same,” and that they are identical in size and in operation.

With respect to the use of the device the witness testified that — ■

Clinometers are used for measuring, for determining the inclination of any inclined plane or angle, or such.
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For instance, let us take the ease of a machine tool. If the bed of a machine tool is not level, the product resulting from this machine tool could be wrong. The machine would not operate accurately. On the other hand, take the case of a boring operation. If you want to bore a hole, let us say, at a certain angle, and the table on which you place your work is not accurate, you would get a scrap piece out of it.

Referring to the print (exhibit 1) of the clinometer, the witness testified as follows:

The instrument is placed on the surface that is going to be measured, that is going to be checked for its inclination. It is in a locked position. First we unlock it by turning this knob (indicating), which pushes a spring. This spring moves forward to the rotor. That causes that rotor to swing. We brake the swing gently by returning the knob and releasing it again. When it comes to rest position, we lock it definitely. Then we can take it off and read it in any position. According to this drawing, the function of the instrument is as follows: The knob, No. 1, is in such a position that the rotor, No. 11, and the stator, No. 9, [89]*89are locked. By turning the knob to one side, the plate, No. 2, presses on the member No. 3, compresses the spring, No. 4, and moves the shaft, No. 14, compressing the spring, No. 13, into such a position that the rotor is free to swing. The braking action and checking at the braking action is done exactly the same way, in the reverse order. The rotor, No. 11, runs on ball bearings, which are •designated as No. 21 and No. 22, and on two sleeves, No. 19 and No. 20, and comes to rest due to the fact that it has an eccentric weight which applies the necessary force, No. 16. The plate on which the instrument rests in the drawing is here designated as No. 17, and held in place by screws, No. 18.

The witness further stated that “In order to bring the rotor to a stop or to a standstill, the force of gravity is used.”

It also appears from the testimony of this witness that certain parts of these clinometers are made with precision in order that the device might operate properly; that “The clinometer measures degrees and minutes of angles, and it is shown on the clinometer by a hairline over a certain number on the rotor that gives the desired degrees, and on the vernier scale for the minutes”; that it would be possible to measure angles without the clinometer; that there are various devices that measure angles; and that it could be done by mathematical calculation or computation, which, however, is obviated when a clinometer is employed to give a correct reading.

The second and last witness who testified on behalf of the plaintiff was Adam J. Schneider, vice president and secretary of the importing corporation. As such, he had concerned himself with the engineering and sales phases of the business, and had familiarized himself with the operation of clinometers, having made various demonstrations thereof in the presence of Government officials and customers to illustrate the characteristics and functions of the devices. His testimony is in substance the same as that of the previous witness.

Without waiving any of its claims made in the protests or in amendments thereto, the plaintiff relies primarily upon its contention that these clinometers are dutiable at the rate of 21){ per centum ad valorem under the provision in paragraph 372, supra, for “all other machines, •finished or unfinished, not specially provided for,” citing Simon, Buhler & Baumann (Inc.) v. United States, 8 Ct. Cust. Appls. 273, T. D. 37537; United States v. J. E. Bernard & Co., Inc., 30 C. C. P. A. (Customs) 213, C. A. D. 235; and J. E. Bernard & Co., Inc. v. United States, 9 Cust. Ct. 57, C. D. 661.

While we are of the opinion, based upon the facts of record herein, that these clinometers are mechanical contrivances which utilize, apply, or modify energy or force, and are therefore machines as that term has been judicially defined in the Simon case, supra, and in numerous other cases of like import, nevertheless, we are equally convinced that if these devices are also mathematical instruments, they are more specifically provided for as such under the provision therefor in said paragraph 360, as alternatively claimed by the plaintiff.

[90]

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James G. Wiley Co. v. United States
62 Cust. Ct. 257 (U.S. Customs Court, 1969)
John A. Steer Co. v. United States
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Thoresen, Inc. v. United States
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Protests 109219-K of Engis Equipment Co.
17 Cust. Ct. 170 (U.S. Customs Court, 1946)

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Bluebook (online)
16 Cust. Ct. 86, 1946 Cust. Ct. LEXIS 19, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/engis-equipment-co-v-united-states-cusc-1946.