General Dyestuff Corp. v. United States

4 Cust. Ct. 256, 1940 Cust. Ct. LEXIS 64
CourtUnited States Customs Court
DecidedMay 16, 1940
DocketC. D. 337
StatusPublished

This text of 4 Cust. Ct. 256 (General Dyestuff Corp. 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
General Dyestuff Corp. v. United States, 4 Cust. Ct. 256, 1940 Cust. Ct. LEXIS 64 (cusc 1940).

Opinion

BrowN, Judge:

This suit against the United States was brought at New York for the recovery of duties claimed to have been improperly exacted by the collector of customs on an importation from Germany of a commodity known as I. G. Wax Z. Duty was assessed thereon at the rate of 20 per centum ad valorem under the provisions of paragraph 1536 of the Tariff Act of 1930 reading, so far as pertinent, as follows:

* * * manufactures of * * * wax, or of which these substances or any of them is the component material of chief value, not specially provided for

It is claimed to be entitled to free entry under the provisions of paragraph 1796 of the same act reading as follows:

Wax: Animal, vegetable, or mineral, not specially provided for.

or, alternatively, to be entitled to free entry under paragraph 1733, which reads as follows:

Oils, mineral: Petroleum, crude, fuel, or refined, and all distillates obtained from petroleum, including kerosene, benzine, naphtha, gasoline, paraffin, and paraffin oil not specially provided for.

plus 1 cent per pound under the provision in section 601 (c) (4) of the Revenue Act of 1932 for paraffin and other petroleum wax products.

Counsel have stipulated that the merchandise—

is produced from Montan Wax by the following process:
Montan Wax, which is obtained from lignite or brown coal, is bleached with chromic acid;
Bleached Montan Wax is then reduced with iron powder and hydrogenated with a nickel catalyst;
The resulting hydrocarbon is the merchandise at bar.

The evidence produced at the trial consists of a sample of the involved merchandise, marked Exhibit 1, the testimony of a witness who identified the same, and the testimony of three chemists, all on behalf of the plaintiff.

By uncontradicted competent evidence plaintiff has established that analysis of the merchandise at bar shows the following results:

Acid number_None
Ester number_None
Saponification number.. None
Melting point_85° C.
Completely melted_99° C.
Carbon_ 84. 87%
Hydrogen_ 14.88%
Very difficultly soluble in chloroform
Insoluble in the usual organic solvents

From the foregoing analysis, which was made by him, plaintiff’s witness Seil, a well-qualified consulting and analytical chemist, con-[258]*258eluded that tbe merchandise was a hydrocarbon wax similar to paraffin except that its melting point was some 30 degrees Centigrade higher. Plaintiff’s witness Padgett, a chemist shown to have had long experience in research, practical application, and in. the manufacture of waxes, came to the same conclusion, based upon the results of Dr. Seil’s analysis and a physical examination made by him of a sample of the merchandise in issue. Plaintiff’s witness Sweet testified that besides being a chemist his work was as a technical salesman and developer for the plaintiff of waxes, and that he had sold the merchandise in issue to manufacturers of wax polishes, as a substitute for paraffin; to manufacturers of drinking cups, to raise the melting point of the product so that hot beverages could be placed in them, and to manufacturers of imitation food displays, of anodyzed aluminum plates, and of coated or impregnated paper, in each case because of its high melting point. Mr. Sweet also testified that it has the same uses as wax but in addition has the advantage of a melting point some 30 degrees higher than paraffin wax, and it should be noted that witness Padgett testified that some of the petroleum waxes also have a melting point as high as that of the wax in issue.

In approaching the determination of the issue herein it must be remembered that the competing provisions of the tariff act are those for “mineral wax” and “manufactures of * * * wax or of which * * * [wax] * * * is the component material of chief value.” Therefore, if the merchandise in issue is still no more than mineral wax, no matter how many processes it has been subjected to, it is properly dutiable as claimed by the plaintiff, while if by reason of such processes it has risen to the dignity of a manufacture of wax the collector’s classification must be upheld.

The doctrine expressed in Hartranft v. Wiegmann, 121 U. S. 609, has been long accepted as settled law in customs cases that to constitute a manufacture of a material an article must have been—

manufactured into a new and different article, having a distinctive name, character or use.

In support of the collector’s classification of the merchandise as manufactures of wax the Government contends that because of the treatment to which it was subjected the merchandise at bar attained a distinctive character different from that of the original material, in that the montan wax lost its oxygen, acid, and saponifiable matter.

The “character” of a thing is defined by Webster’s New International Dictionary as—

The sum of qualities or features by which a thing is distinguished from others; essential peculiarity.

and by Funk & Wagnalls’ New Standard Dictionary as—

The quality or qualities commonly attributed to any person or thing; * * *
* * * * * * %
[259]*259That by which a thing is especially known or distinguished; a quality; property; condition; characteristic; as ductility is a character of gold; deciduous antlers are a character of deer; the cap is a character of mushrooms.

Referring to the character of mineral wax plaintiff’s witnesses considered physical characteristics such as crystalline appearance, melting point above room temperature, and comparability with paraffin wax and other waxes and compounds. These are the characteristics which determine the character of mineral wax and the merchandise at bar possesses them. It follows therefrom that it has the character of mineral wax.

While it is true that in the processes to which it was subjected it was bleached and its color was thereby changed, presumably from brown or black to white, and it lost oxygen, organic acids, and saponi-fiable matter, yet none of these changes affected its character as mineral wax; it retained that character. The record shows that other mineral waxes have the same color and that some have melting points as high as that of the merchandise in the case at bar. Bleaching, reduction, and hydrogenation probably advanced the montan wax in value and condition and modified its chemical structure, but they did not alter its character as mineral wax.

It is further contended by the Government that by reason of having a high melting point the wax in issue acquired a new use, i. e., as a product which can be employed wherever a wax article of high melting point is desired.

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Related

Hartranft v. Wiegmann
121 U.S. 609 (Supreme Court, 1887)
United States v. American Thermo-Ware Co.
4 Ct. Cust. 21 (Customs and Patent Appeals, 1913)

Cite This Page — Counsel Stack

Bluebook (online)
4 Cust. Ct. 256, 1940 Cust. Ct. LEXIS 64, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/general-dyestuff-corp-v-united-states-cusc-1940.