Gerhard & Hey Co. v. United States

27 Cust. Ct. 479, 1951 Cust. Ct. LEXIS 1388
CourtUnited States Customs Court
DecidedNovember 23, 1951
DocketNo. 8063; Entry No. 896245, etc.
StatusPublished
Cited by3 cases

This text of 27 Cust. Ct. 479 (Gerhard & Hey 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
Gerhard & Hey Co. v. United States, 27 Cust. Ct. 479, 1951 Cust. Ct. LEXIS 1388 (cusc 1951).

Opinion

Laweence, Judge:

The 11 appeals for reappraisement enumerated in schedule “A,” attached to and made a part of this decision, were consolidated for hearing and decision.

[480]*480Said appeals pertain to certain filters, parts thereof, and filtering materials exported from Germany. The merchandise was invoiced at certain per se prices less a stated discount. Entry was made under duress, and the merchandise was appraised on the basis of foreign value, as defined in section 402 (b) of the Tariff Act of 1922 and section 402 (c) of the Tariff Act of 1930, at the same per se prices but less a smaller discount than invoiced.

The parties hereto agree that the merchandise presently before the court is similar to that involved in appeals for reappraisement 55526-A, etc., which, after extended litigation, were finally decided by the Court of Customs and Patent Appeals in United States v. Philipp Wirth et al. and Philipp Wirth et al. v. United States, 24 C. C. P. A. (Customs) 188, T. D. 48654, and will be referred to infra as the test case. It is further agreed that the exporter and importer herein are the same as those in the cases referred to above.

' In passing, it might be noted that the lapse of time in the disposition of the present case is due largely to several delays incident to appeals to the appellate division and to the appellate court in the test case, and to difficulty in securing evidence from Europe because of unsettled world conditions.

The test case terminated in a dismissal of the appeals for failure of proof of statutory cost of production (section 402 (e) of the Tariff Act of 1922 and section 402 (f) of the Tariff Act of 1930). The court, however, was satisfied that there was no foreign value, export value, or United States value applicable to the merchandise.

. It has been agreed by counsel for the parties to the present case that the proper basis for appraisement of the instant merchandise is cost of production.

• The presumption of correctness of the appraiser’s valuation based on foreign value having been overcome, plaintiff is required to go further and prove the correct dutiable value in order to prevail. Harry Garbey v. United States, 24 C. C. P. A. (Customs) 48, T. D. 48332; and Sears, Roebuck & Co. et al. v. United States, 31 C. C. P. A. (Customs) 36, C. A. D. 246.

To that end, the plaintiff offered, and there were received in evidence, the following exhibits:

Collective exhibit 1, an affidavit dated October 20, 1933, of Carl Weichel, legal adviser and general supervisor of the firm of Seitz-Werke G. m. b. H., Bad Kreuznach, Germany, supplier of the merchandise here involved. Attached to said exhibit is an exhibit A containing certain cost-of-production statistics. (These documents were in evidence in the test case, supra, as exhibit 13.)

Collective exhibit 2, an affidavit of said Carl Weichel, dated February 10, 1933, together with an attached exhibit A. (These documents were in evidence in the test case, supra, as exhibit 12.)

[481]*481Exhibit 3, an affidavit of said Carl Weichel, dated May 18, 1949.

Exhibit 4, an affidavit, dated May 18, 1949, of Theodor Baeder, head of the bookkeeping department of the Seitz-Werke.

Defendant submitted certain documents which were received in evidence and markéd as follows:

Collective exhibit A, a Treasury attaché’s report, dated September 20, 1933, together with supporting documents. (These papers were in evidence in the test case, supra, as exhibit 14.)

Exhibit B, a Treasury attaché’s report, dated May 15, 1933. (This document was in evidence in the test case, supra, as exhibit 18.)

Exhibit C, a Treasury attaché’s report, dated July 7, 1937.

Exhibit E, a photostatic copy of a letter, duly authenticated, from the Consular Branch, Office of the Political Adviser for Germany, Erankfort, to the Department of State, Washington, D. C., da.ted June 23, 1949.

Exhibit P, a copy of a telegram, duly authenticated, from James W. Riddleberger, Counselor of Mission, Frankfurt, to the Secretary of State, dated June 22,1949.

Defendant’s exhibits D-l, D-2, and D-3, originally marked for identification, were subsequently withdrawn with the approval of the court, and two of said exhibits for identification are now in evidence as exhibits E and F, supra.

The statutes involved are the cost of production provisions of the Tariff Act of 1922 and of the Tariff Act of 1930, section 402 (e) and section 402 (f), respectively, and, being identical in content, only the latter is here set forth:

SEC. 402. VALUE.

*******
(f) Cost op Production. — For the purpose of this title the cost of production of imported merchandise shall be the sum of—
(1) The cost of materials of, and of fabrication, manipulation, or other process employed in manufacturing or producing such or similar merchandise, at a time preceding the date of exportation of the particular merchandise under consideration which would ordinarily permit the manufacture or production of the particular merchandise under consideration in the usual course of business;
(2) The usual general expenses (not less than 10 per centum of such cost) in the case of such or similar merchandise;
(3) The cost of all containers and coverings of whatever nature, and all other costs, charges, and expenses incident to placing the particular merchandise under consideration in condition, packed ready for shipment to the United States; and
(4) An addition for profit (not less than 8 per centum of the sum of the amounts found under paragraphs (1) and (2) of this subdivision) equal to the profit which ordinarily is added, in the case of merchandise of the same general character as the particular merchandise under consideration, by manufacturers or producers in the country of manufacture or production who are engaged in the production or manufacture of merchandise of the same class or kind.

[482]*482In the brief of plaintiff herein, it is stated:

It is the contention of the plaintiff herein that Exhibit 1 (R. 11) and Exhibit 2 (R. 12) when taken together with Exhibit 3 (R. 12) and Exhibit 4 (R. 13), are more than sufficient evidence to prove the cost of production figures contained in the affidavits of Carl Weichel.

The brief further recites, however, that—

In the plaintiff’s Exhibits 1 and 2 (affidavits of Carl Weichel), there is attached on each an Exhibit- “A” which gives the various elements of cost of production. . In Column 5 of these Exhibits “A” (of Exhibits 1 and 2) is shown the “percentage of net profit based-on Column 2.” Column 2 is the “Cost of Materials, Fabrication, Labor, Manipulation, or other process.” Therefore, the “percentage of net profit based on Column 2” which is found in Column 5 is not the profit to be added since it is not in conformity with Section 402 (e). Section 402 (e) (4) states:
An addition for profit (not less than 8 per centum of the sum

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Related

General Wool Co. v. United States
56 Cust. Ct. 730 (U.S. Customs Court, 1966)
United States v. Berben Corp.
49 Cust. Ct. 497 (U.S. Customs Court, 1962)
Gerhard & Hey Co. v. United States
30 Cust. Ct. 580 (U.S. Customs Court, 1953)

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27 Cust. Ct. 479, 1951 Cust. Ct. LEXIS 1388, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/gerhard-hey-co-v-united-states-cusc-1951.