Farnsworth v. United States

50 Cust. Ct. 62, 1963 Cust. Ct. LEXIS 1450
CourtUnited States Customs Court
DecidedMarch 27, 1963
DocketC.D. 2389
StatusPublished
Cited by11 cases

This text of 50 Cust. Ct. 62 (Farnsworth 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
Farnsworth v. United States, 50 Cust. Ct. 62, 1963 Cust. Ct. LEXIS 1450 (cusc 1963).

Opinion

Johnson, Judge:

The merchandise involved in these cases, consolidated at the trial, consists of wood charcoal briquettes, imported from Mexico between ¡September 9, 1957, and January 13, 1958, inclusive. It was assessed with duty at 15 per centum ad valorem under paragraph 216 of the Tariff Act of 1930, as modified by the General Agreement on Tariffs and Trade, T.D. 51802, as articles composed wholly or in part of carbon, not specially provided for. It is claimed that the merchandise is entitled to free entry under paragraph 1802 as wood charcoal.

When this case was called for trial, it was stipulated that the merchandise covered by entry number 170 of September 9,1957, included. [63]*63in protest number 58/17930, was similar in all material respects to the merchandise the subject of Britton & Company v. United States, 41 Cust. Ct. 64, C.D. 2021, which merchandise was held free of duty under paragraph 1802 of the Tariff Act of 1930 as wood charcoal.

Alonzo L. Farnsworth, general manager of a charcoal plant located in Nogales, Sonora, Mexico, described the production of the wood charcoal involved herein as follows: Wood is piled in mounds, covered with dirt and straw in two layers, lit, and allowed to smolder for 15 to 30 days. Then, oxygen is cut off so that the fire will go out. The wood is allowed to cool for a week; then, the mounds are torn down and the wood repiled and covered with dirt again to make sure there is no fire left. Then, it is cleaned out with pitchforks, loaded on trucks, and shipped by railroad to the witness’ plant in Nogales.

The witness stated that, in producing merchandise such as that covered by entry number 170, the charcoal is first weighed and separated into 200-pound lots. Each lot is combined with 14 pounds of starch (7 per centum), placed in a mixer, and run through a hammer mill, which grinds the ingredients into a fine mesh. From there, it goes into a bin, where it is mixed with 20 per centum water. The mixture is put into a press which rolls the material into small briquettes about 2 inches square and about an inch in diameter. The briquettes are dropped onto a belt and taken to an oven for drying for 2 to 3 hours. When they are completely dried, they are put into 5-, 10-, and 20-pound bags and shipped across the border for sale.

According to the witness, the merchandise covered by the other entries involved herein was produced by a slightly different process, in that 6 pounds of starch (3 per centum) and 12 pounds of clay (6 per centum) were combined with 200 pounds of charcoal. In other respects, the process was the same. Clay was used in order to reduce the cost, as starch was quite expensive and there was a pile of clay available on the premises.

Mr. Farnsworth testified that the purpose of using starch is to bind the charcoal together and that clay has the same effect once it gets dry, but not while it is still wet. Therefore, some starch had to be used; otherwise, the briquettes would fall apart when they dropped out of the press. In other respects, the use of clay is detrimental as it causes a smothering effect on the charcoal, making the briquettes very hard to light. For this reason, sales fell off and customers started bringing the merchandise back. As a result, the manufacturer used clay only during the period involved herein and for about 2 weeks in 1961, when two loads of briquettes were returned from San Diego as unsatisfactory and had to be remanufactured.

The witness testified that charcoal briquettes are used for the same purpose as plain charcoal — to charcoal broil steaks. He knew of no other use.. He said that, briquettes were preferred to natural. [64]*64charcoal, because they were easier to light and because the uniform size made it less difficult to get a uniform fire for broiling. This form also eliminated the necessity of breaking up larger pieces of natural charcoal and getting the hands dirty.

Mr. Farnsworth said he had never heard of a retarder being used in the manufacture of charcoal briquettes. He said that a briquette made without clay would burn for 8 hours and that it was not desirable to cause it to burn longer, as a person does not usually charcoal broil for over 30 minutes.

The merchandise involved in Britton & Company v. United States, supra, consisted of briquettes, made from ground wood charcoal, with 9 per centum starch used as a binder. The briquettes were formed in a pelletiser and cut into pieces about 2yz inches long, 1% inches wide, and 114 inches high. In holding that this merchandise was classifiable as wood charcoal, the court stated (pp. 66-67):

* * * It is well settled that an eo nomine statutory designation of an article, without limitation or a shown contrary legislative intent, judicial decision, or administrative practice, and without proof of commercial designation, includes all forms of the article, Nootka Packing Co. et al. v. United States, 22 C.C.P.A. (Customs) 464, T.D. 47464. Whether an article which, at one stage of its production is appropriately classified under a particular designation, has been so altered by subsequent operations that that designation is no longer proper, is a question of fact, depending upon the circumstances of the case. John J. Coates Co. et al. v. United States, 44 C.C.P.A. (Customs) 97, C.A.D. 643.
£ $ $ >Jt >>: $
In the instant ease, the only purpose of the starch was to act as a binder to hold the ground charcoal together. Except for that, its use was detrimental, since it produced an odor. According to the testimony herein, the briquettes are used for the same purpose as the charcoal in its original form- — to furnish heat for cooking. Although this particular type of charcoal, in its original form and in briquette form, has only one use, it may still be classified as charcoal. Wagner Bros. & Co. v. United States, supra.
In our view, the evidence in this case is sufficient to establish that the imported merchandise is a form of wood charcoal. The grinding of the charcoal and forming it into briquettes with the use of starch as a binder did not effect so significant a change in its physical characteristics or use as to indicate that it had become something more than wood charcoal. Cf. John J. Coates Co. et al v. United States, supra.

In a subsequent case, James G. Wiley and Eijiu Sasajima v. United States, 44 Cust. Ct. 346, Abstract 63822, the merchandise was shown to have the appearance of charcoal briquettes, but no evidence was presented as to its composition. In holding that the record was insufficient to establish that the merchandise was classifiable as wood charcoal, the court referred to the Britton case, stating (p. 347) :

In the course of the opinion, we cited a number of eases where it was held that charcoal in powdered or briquette form did not fall within the charcoal paragraph [citing cases]. In those cases, there was evidence that the additives [65]*65changed the character of the merchandise. In the Britton

Free access — add to your briefcase to read the full text and ask questions with AI

Related

Yuasa Trading Co. v. United States
58 Cust. Ct. 891 (U.S. Customs Court, 1967)
Davi v. United States
58 Cust. Ct. 867 (U.S. Customs Court, 1967)
Coast Oil Co. v. United States
57 Cust. Ct. 828 (U.S. Customs Court, 1966)
F. W. Woolworth Co. v. United States
54 Cust. Ct. 374 (U.S. Customs Court, 1965)
Novelty Import Co. v. United States
53 Cust. Ct. 216 (U.S. Customs Court, 1964)
Stores v. United States
53 Cust. Ct. 251 (U.S. Customs Court, 1964)
Frank P. Dow & Co. v. United States
52 Cust. Ct. 332 (U.S. Customs Court, 1964)
Hybern, Inc. v. United States
52 Cust. Ct. 286 (U.S. Customs Court, 1964)
The Cherry Co. v. United States
52 Cust. Ct. 286 (U.S. Customs Court, 1964)
National Lead Co. v. United States
51 Cust. Ct. 13 (U.S. Customs Court, 1963)

Cite This Page — Counsel Stack

Bluebook (online)
50 Cust. Ct. 62, 1963 Cust. Ct. LEXIS 1450, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/farnsworth-v-united-states-cusc-1963.