Gallagher & Ascher Co. v. United States

54 Cust. Ct. 141, 1965 Cust. Ct. LEXIS 2518
CourtUnited States Customs Court
DecidedMarch 31, 1965
DocketC.D. 2522
StatusPublished
Cited by11 cases

This text of 54 Cust. Ct. 141 (Gallagher & Ascher 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
Gallagher & Ascher Co. v. United States, 54 Cust. Ct. 141, 1965 Cust. Ct. LEXIS 2518 (cusc 1965).

Opinion

Lawrence, Judge:

The three protests enumerated in the schedule attached hereto have been consolidated for purposes of decision. The [142]*142question presented to the court thereby is whether certain lock cylinders, each with two keys, composed of metal, described on the invoices accompanying the entries as “part plugs for automobile gas tank caps for further manufacture with 2 keys each” properly are subject to classification as articles not specially provided for, composed in chief value of steel, in paragraph 397 of the Tariff Act of 1930 (19 U.S.C. § 1001, par. 397), as modified by the Sixth Protocol of Supplementary Concessions to the General Agreement on Tariffs and Trade, 91 Treas. Dec. 150, T.D. 54108, and dutiable at the rate of 19 per centum ad valorem, plus the pertinent copper tax assessment where applicable pursuant to section 4541 of the Internal Revenue Code (26 U.S.C. § 4541), or as amended.

The contention relied upon by plaintiff herein is that said articles should properly have been classified as parts of automobiles in paragraph 369(c) of said act (19 U.S.C. § 1001, par 369(c)), as modified by the sixth protocol, supra, and subjected to duty at the rate of 10% per centum ad valorem.

The pertinent statutory provisions referred to are here set forth.

Paragraph 397 of the Tariff Act of 1930, as modified by the sixth protocol, supra:

Articles or wares not specially provided for, whether partly or wholly manufactured:
*******
Composed wholly or in chief value of iron, steel, copper, brass, nickel, pewter, zinc, aluminum, or other base metal (except lead), but not plated with platinum, gold, or silver, or colored with gold lacquer:
*******
Not wholly or in chief value of tin or tin plate :
Carriages, drays, * * *
# * * # * * *
Other, composed wholly or in chief value of iron, steel * * *_19% ad val.

Paragraph 369 of said act, as modified by the sixth protocol, supra:

(a) Automobile trucks valued at $1,000 or more each, automobile truck and motor bus chassis valued at $750 or more each, automobile truck bodies valued at $250 or more each, motor busses designed for the carriage of more than 10 persons, and bodies for such busses, all the foregoing, whether finished or unfinished-10%% ad val.
(b) All other automobiles, automobile chassis, and automobile bodies, all the foregoing, whether finished or unfinished— 8%% ad val.
(e) Parts (except tires and inner tubes and except parts wholly or in chief value of glass), finished or unfinished, not specially provided for, for any of the articles described in item 369(a) or 369(b) in this Part-10%% ad val.

[143]*143Whereas plaintiff does not contend that the articles in issue are in themselves parts of automobiles, it does contend that they are parts of parts of automobiles and, on the recognized principle that a part of a part is part of the whole, the lock cylinders are within the purview of paragraph 369 (c), supra, as parts of automobiles.

It is the position of the Government, on the other hand, that the articles are not parts of automobiles in any sense and, although chiefly used on automobiles, they are not necessary to the production or functioning of such vehicles.

These cases have been submitted for our determination on the testimony of one witness who appeared on behalf of plaintiff and two exhibits, which were received in evidence and which will be referred to, infra.

Plaintiff’s witness, Donald E. Edelmann, associated since 1957 with the Wayne Metalcraft Co., manufacturer of automobile parts and accessories, testified that, as vice president, he manages the production department of his company and supervises purchasing. He stated he is familiar with the merchandise involved in this case and described on the invoices as part plugs with keys, a sample of which was received in evidence as plaintiff’s exhibit 1.

Edelmann stated that said articles are used in the assembly of locking gasoline caps, a sample of the latter being received in evidence as plaintiff’s exhibit 2. Said exhibit 2 is a device which is fastened to the filler neck of an automobile gas tank which makes the gas tank pilfer-proof and the contents theft-proof to anyone not in possession of either of the two keys. Edelmann stated that there is no other use for the device and that he has never seen these gas tank covers on any object other than automobiles. Edelmann testified that all automobiles have a gas tank cover but not all automobiles have a locking gas tank cover.

Exhibit 1 does not constitute a complete locking device. Before a locking gas cap assembly can be used as a locking device, a locking cover, a back plate, a pair of locking bolts, a pair of lock bolt springs, retainer plates, and gasketing materials have tobe incorporated around the locking cylinder, represented by exhibit 1.

It was Edelmann’s testimony that exhibit 1 can not be inserted into an object other than a gas tank cover, such as is in evidence as exhibit 2. The reason for this is that his company’s engineering department has designed and engineered the lock cylinder to be a component of a specific cap, and, because of the size, shape, tolerance, location of the driving pin, and so forth, it can only fit a specific cap or possibly two or three other gas tank caps in its line.

After the gas tank cover is inserted over the gas tank neck and the key is removed, it is not possible by normal means to remove the cover [144]*144from the neck of the gas tank without the key. It would have to be forcibly removed. And when the imported cylinder is attached to a housing, the cylinder can not be removed without disassembling the whole unit.

Edelmann testified that the imported articles are composed wholly of metal.

The witness stated further that he had never seen a locking cap on anything except an automobile. He had never seen such a cap made for a motorcycle and explained that the filler necks on motorcycles are not standardized. Moreover, he did not believe there would be a sufficient market for locking caps for motorcycles. He testified also that he had never seen a locking cap on the gas tank of a motorboat and, due to the comparatively limited production of any one model of motorboat, he did not believe that manufacturers would be interested in producing locking caps for such a market.

Edelmann stated that not every automobile has a locking cap; ■that such a cap is not necessary for the automobile to function; and that he does not know of any law that requires a locking cap on an automobile gas tank for the operation of such a vehicle on the streets. He added, however, that all gas tanks have a cover of one type or another and that an automobile can not operate without a gas tank or some supply of fuel.

The court is here presented with the determination of two questions.

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Bluebook (online)
54 Cust. Ct. 141, 1965 Cust. Ct. LEXIS 2518, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/gallagher-ascher-co-v-united-states-cusc-1965.