Estee Candy Co. v. United States

65 Cust. Ct. 702, 1970 Cust. Ct. LEXIS 3080
CourtUnited States Customs Court
DecidedAugust 4, 1970
DocketR.D. 11719; Entry No. 1006765
StatusPublished

This text of 65 Cust. Ct. 702 (Estee Candy 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
Estee Candy Co. v. United States, 65 Cust. Ct. 702, 1970 Cust. Ct. LEXIS 3080 (cusc 1970).

Opinion

Richardson, Judge:

The merchandise of this reappraisement appeal consists of dietetic vanilla and chocolate flavored wafers exported from Holland on or about March 26,1965. It appears that upon entry the merchandise was appraised on the basis of United States value as defined in 19 U.S.C.A., § 1402(e) (section 402a (e), Tariff Act of 1930, as amended by the Customs Simplification Act of 1956) — the appraiser concluding that the involved merchandise was on the final list promulgated by the Secretary of the Treasury under T.D. 54521. Plaintiff-importer contends that the imported wafers at bar are not on the Secretary’s final list, and that said merchandise should be appraised on the basis of export value as defined in 19 U.S.C.A., § 1401a (b) (section 402(b), Tariff Act of 1930, as amended by the Customs Simplification Act of 1956), represented herein by the invoice c.i.f. prices, less non-dutiable invoiced sea freight and marine insurance charges.

The record in this case consists of the invoice and entry papers, a sample of the domestic variety of dietetic wafer marketed by plaintiff (exhibit 2), a sample of the dietetic wafer imported by plaintiff (illustrative exhibit 3), the testimony of four witnesses called on plaintiff’s behalf and invoices covering sales of the imported dietetic wafers to purchasers in Norway and Sweden by the exporter herein (exhibits 4 and 5), and, at the instance of the defendant, a stipulation that matzo crackers (exhibit A) and water biscuits (exhibit B) were imported into the United States during the fiscal year 1954. Also in [704]*704the record are rulings in letter form of the Deputy Commissioner of Customs relative to the inclusion of the imported dietetic wafers on the final list promulgated by the Secretary of the Treasury in T.D. 54521 (collective exhibit 1).

On the matter of the final list promulgated by the Secretary of the Treasury in T.D. 54521, to which the court first addresses itself, the provisions of section 6(a) of the Customs Simplification Act of 1956 read as follows:

Sec. 6(a). The Secretary of the Treasury shall determine and make public a list of the articles which shall be valued in accordance with section 402a, Tariff Act of 1930, as amended by this Act, as follows:
As soon as practicable after the enactment of this Act the Secretary shall make public a preliminary list of the imported articles which he shall have determined, alter such investigation as he deems necessary, would have been appraised in accordance with section 402 of the Tariff Act of 1930, as amended by this Act, at average values for each article which are 95 (or less) per centum of the average values at which such article was actually appraised during the fiscal year 1954. If within sixty days after the publication of such preliminary list any manufacturer, producer, or wholesaler in the United States presents to the Secretary his reason for belief that any imported articles not specified in such list and like or similar to articles manufactured, produced, or sold at wholesale by him would have been appraised in accordance with such section 402 at average values which are 95 (or less) per centum of the average values at which they were or would have been appraised under section 402a, Tariff Act of 1930, as amended by this Act, the Secretary shall cause such investigation of the matter to be made as he deems necessary. If in the opinion of the Secretary the reason for belief is substantiated by the investigation, the articles involved shall be added to the preliminary list and such list, including any additions so made thereto, shall be published as a final list. Every article so specified in the final list which is entered, or withdrawn from warehouse, for consumption on or after the thirtieth day following the date of publication of the final list shall be appraised in accordance with the provisions of section 402a, Tariff Act of 1930, as amended by this Act.

The Customs Simplification Act of 1956, which became chapter 887 of Public Law 927, 84th Congress, was approved August 2, 1956 [70 Stat. 943]. The “preliminary list” provided for in section 6(a) of said Act was promulgated by the Secretary of the Treasury in the Federal Register on August 23, 1957 (22 F.R. 6842) and the “final list” on January 28, 1958 (23 F.R. 539). And by virtue of sections 6(a) and 8 of said Act the old and new valuation provisions thereof became effective on February 27,1958.

The Deputy Commissioner of Customs, in responding to a request for a ruling on whether dietetic wafers such as those at bar were on [705]*705the Secretary’s filial list, concluded that they were on said final list. The rationale of the Commissioner’s ruling is as follows (collective exhibit 1) :

A review of the background files upon which this listing was based discloses that a wide assortment of biscuits, wafers, cakes and other baked articles were considered. The term was considered in its broadest sense without any limitation. The only items excluded are puddings and rice crackers which are exempted specifically by the language of this listing.
Therefore, it is the opinion of the Bureau that dietetic articles in the form of biscuits and wafers are within the Final List description heretofore mentioned and subject to appraisement under section 402a, notwithstanding that these identical articles may not have been manufactured or imported during fiscal year 1954.

The “listing” to which reference is made in the Commissioner’s ruling is the description of articles set forth in the “preliminary list” as follows (T.D. 54521):

AGRICULTURAL PRODUCTS AND PROVISIONS
Baked Articles
Biscuits, cake, cakes., wafers, and similar baked articles other than puddings or rice crackers; all the foregoing by whatever name known, whether or not containing chocolate, fruits, nuts, or confectionery of any kind.

Plaintiff contends here that the aforementioned description does not embrace the merchandise at bar because said description covers only merchandise appraised during the fiscal year 1954, and that the involved dietetic wafers were not imported in or prior to 1954, and hence, were not appraised during fiscal ,1954. Defendant, on the other hand, contends that the involved wafers come within the description of a group of articles which were appraised in 1954, and hence, are embraced by such description in the final list, notwithstanding the fact that the imported article at bar was not imported in or prior to 1954.

The preliminary list, together with the additions thereto provided for in section 6(a) [identified in T.D. 54521 by an asterisk] comprises the final list of articles subject to appraisement pursuant to section 402a of the Tariff Act of 1930, as amended by the Customs Simplification Act of 1956.

In connection with the interpretation óf final list application both parties have called the court’s attention to the cases of National Carloading Corporation v. United States, 55 Cust. Ct. 723, A.R.D. 191 (1965), and Ciba Company, Inc. v. United States, 54 Cust. Ct. 797, A.R.D. 187, 243 F. Supp. 394 (1965), among other cases. The National Carloading case involved the question of whether spark plugs (which appear to have been imported and appraised in 1954) were [706]*706enumerated on the “final list” via the preliminary list designation for “automobile parts, finished”.

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Related

Ciba Co. v. United States
50 Cust. Ct. 493 (U.S. Customs Court, 1963)
Ciba Co. v. United States
54 Cust. Ct. 797 (U.S. Customs Court, 1965)
National Carloading Corp. v. United States
55 Cust. Ct. 723 (U.S. Customs Court, 1965)

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Bluebook (online)
65 Cust. Ct. 702, 1970 Cust. Ct. LEXIS 3080, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/estee-candy-co-v-united-states-cusc-1970.