Gal v. United States

36 Cust. Ct. 555
CourtUnited States Customs Court
DecidedApril 27, 1956
DocketReap. Dec. 8573; Entry Nos. 720153/1; 708931
StatusPublished
Cited by1 cases

This text of 36 Cust. Ct. 555 (Gal 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
Gal v. United States, 36 Cust. Ct. 555 (cusc 1956).

Opinion

Rao, Judge:

These cases are before me by virtue of an order entered May 26, 1952 (28 Cust. Ct. 656, Reap. Dec. 8119, appeal dismissed 30 Cust. Ct. 589, A. R. D. 15, and 33 Cust. Ct. 357, Abstract 58385), restoring them to the calendar for further bearing, specifically to afford plaintiff an opportunity to prove export value of similar merchandise.

The product in issue is aluminum metal-covered paper of various grades, entered and appraised as follows:

[557]*557Invoice description Entered at reichs-marks per ream, 20 by 26" by 500 sheets Appraised at reichsmarks per 100 sq. meters

Reappraisement 139494-A

(1) Metal-paper 0.009/10 mm, white, plain, bright, backed with 60 gr Cellulose-paper, size: 26 x 48y2" 80 cases, 100000 sheets, 81357.310 qm.=485 reams 19. 7197 16. 25 Less 2% Net, packed. F. V.

(2) Metal-paper 0.010 mm, gold, plain, bright, backed with 50 gr Cellulose (B45S50) Reels 26" wide, 7 cases, 12200 metres=50 reams 24. 86 22. 75 Less 2% Net, packed. F. V.

(3) Metal-paper 0.009/10 mm, white, embossed, backed with 60 gr Cellulose-paper 6 Cases, 8636 mtr=5700.-qm = 34 reams emb. 666 “ME” 5 eases, 7620 mtr=5029.-qm= 30 reams emb. 470 “WA” 28. 687 17. 00 Less 2% Net, packed. F. V.

(4) Metal-paper 0.010 mm, white and gold, plain, bright, backed with 60 gr Cellulose-paper, 20. 690 15. 75 Less 2% Net, packed. F. V.

a) 4 cases, 6096 metres= 24 reams=4096 qm white

b) 2 eases, 2286 metres =1536 qm = 9 reams gold 27. 631 22. 75 Less 2% Net, packed. F. V.

(5) Metal-paper 0.010 mm, 28. 044 backed with 60 gr Cell-paper, a) 1 case 1490 mtr=757 qm= 4.515 reams design 4588 (blue) 22. 75 Less 2% Net, packed. F. V.

b) 2 cases, 3460 mtr=1758, qm= 32. 005 10.485 reams, design 5529 (Schotten-design) (green and blue) 29. 75 Less 2% Net, packed. F. V.

Reappraisement 139535-A

(6) Metal-Paper 0.015 mm 1 39. 192 gold, plain, highly polished, backed with 80 gr Cellulose Paper, 6924 metres=27.260 reams 29. 26 Less 2% Net, packed. F. V.

[558]*558Invoice description Entered at reichs-marks per ream, 20 by 26" by 500 sheets Appraised at reichsmarks per 100 sq. meters

(7) Metal-Paper 0.009/10 mm white, embossed, backed with. 60 gr Cellulose Paper, embossed No. 715, TM 153J 6714 metres=26.433 reams embossed No. 736, TO 1531, 7112 metres=28 reams 17. 037 17 Less 2% Net, packed. P. V.

(8) Metal-paper 0.010 mm white, plain, bright, half dull quality, 1 21. 613 20. 35 Less 2% Net, packed. P. V. backed with 70 gr Cellulose Paper, 4064 metres=16 reams

During the original hearing, counsel for defendant conceded that, although appraisement was predicated upon the basis of foreign value, there were no foreign values for such or similar merchandise. It was further established that, by virtue of an exclusive purchasing agreement between the importer and the German manufacturer and exporter of this merchandise, to wit, Aluminiumwerk Tscheulin G. m. b. EL (hereinfater called Tscheulin), there were no export values for such merchandise.

In attempting to sustain the contention that the proper basis of value for the merchandise at bar was United States value, as that value is defined in section 402 (e) of the Tariff Act of 1930, plaintiff introduced evidence purporting to show that there was no export value for similar merchandise. Particularly, it was urged that aluminum metal-covered paper offered for sale for export by other German manufacturers, of whom there were three, differed in essential and material respects from the aluminum metal-covered paper manufactured and sold by Tscheulin.

The testimony of plaintiff Nicholas Gal, whereby he sought to contrast the aluminum metal-covered paper imported by him with that sold by Breisgau-Walzwerk, G. m. b. EL, and Aluminum-Walzwerke Singen G. m. b. EL, two German manufacturers of aluminum metal-covered paper, was reviewed and analyzed in detail in my prior opinion (28 Cust. 656, Reap. Dec. 8119, appeal dismissed, 30 Cust. Ct. 589, A.R.D. 15), and held insufficient to establish dissimilarity between the two types. In this connection, I stated the following:

Despite the protestations of the plaintiff to the effect that there were substantial differences in quality and price between the aluminum metal covered paper which he offered for sale, and that sold by other German manufacturers, and that the [559]*559two types of paper were not commercially interchangeable, I am of opinion that it is fairly inferable from the record taken as a whole that a prospective purchaser, finding the Tscheulin products unavailable, would accept those of other German manufacturers as satisfactory substitutes, since they were adaptable to the same ultimate uses and would accomplish substantially the same results. It would appear that a manufacturer of aluminum metal covered paper boxes or of aluminum seals could produce those articles whether he used the Tscheulin aluminum metal covered paper or some other. It might, perhaps, be a less efficient process if the Tscheulin paper were unavailable, but it does not appear from this record that the use of other aluminum metal covered paper would produce an inferior box or seal.
Differences in the grade of aluminum used, in the production of aluminum metal covered paper, in the weight and thickness of the final product, in its softness, brittleness, tensile strength, cost of production, and its adaptability for machines of various speeds were held, in the cases of Hensel, Bruckmann & Lorbacher, Inc., v. United States, 6 Cust. Ct. 746, Reap. Dec. 5097, affirmed in United States v. Hensel, Bruckmann & Lorbacher, Inc., 7 Cust. Ct. 355, Reap. Dec. 5329, and United States v. Nicholas Gal et al., 15 Cust. Ct. 395, Reap. Dec. 6192, insufficient to establish dissimilarity of aluminum metal covered paper offered for sale for foreign consumption and that available for exportation to the United States, in the absence of proof as to “similarity of use or adaptability to use of both kinds of paper.” The omission of proof of use in the cited cases, which has been here supplied, is of doubtful benefit to the plaintiff herein, as it has been established that the same general class of users, namely, paper box manufacturers and seal manufacturers, purchases competitive aluminum metal covered papers as purchase the imported products.
Accordingly, I am of opinion that merchandise similar to that involved in reappraisements 139494-A and 139535-A was offered in Germany for exportation to the United States. As to whether it was freely offered for sale in compliance with the provisions of section 402 (d), supra, and the prices of such offerings, the record is silent. Under the provisions of 28 U. S. C. § 2631, I am required to find values for the imported merchandise. As the appraised values have been admitted to be erroneous, and there is insufficient evidence of record from which a finding of export values can be made, the issue of similarity having been resolved against the plaintiff, I hereby direct that the said two appeals be severed from reappraisement 140802-A and restored to the calendar for further proof in accordance with the views hereinbefore expressed.

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Related

Gal v. United States
42 Cust. Ct. 280 (U.S. Customs Court, 1959)

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36 Cust. Ct. 555, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/gal-v-united-states-cusc-1956.