Giddings & Lewis Machine Tool Co. v. United States

61 Cust. Ct. 284, 292 F. Supp. 394, 1968 Cust. Ct. LEXIS 2148
CourtUnited States Customs Court
DecidedNovember 12, 1968
DocketC.D. 3612
StatusPublished
Cited by5 cases

This text of 61 Cust. Ct. 284 (Giddings & Lewis Machine Tool 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
Giddings & Lewis Machine Tool Co. v. United States, 61 Cust. Ct. 284, 292 F. Supp. 394, 1968 Cust. Ct. LEXIS 2148 (cusc 1968).

Opinion

Ford, Judge:

The merchandise involved in these cases, consolidated at the trial, consists of three models of machines bearing the trade name “Endomatic”, produced by Giddings & Lewis-Fraser, Ltd., of Arbroath, Scotland. They were entered at the ports of Boston and New York in December 1963 and on various dates in 1964 and 1965, and were assessed with duty at 15 per centum ad valorem under item 674.35, Tariff Schedules of the United States, as “Metal-working-machine tools: Other”. It is claimed that they should have been classified at 12 per centum ad valorem under item 674.32 as “Metalworking machine tools: Boring, drilling, and milling machines, in-[286]*286eluding vertical turret lathes”, or at 10 per centum ad valorem under item 678.50, as machines not specially provided for.

The pertinent provisions of the said tariff schedules are as follows:

Machine tools:

Metal-working machine tools:

674.30 Machine tools for cutting or hobbing

gears_!_20% ad val.

674. 32 Boring, drilling, and milling machines,

including vertical turret lathes_12% ad val.

674.35 Other-15% ad val.

678.50 Machines not specially provided for, and

parts thereof_10% ad val.

The record consists of the testimony of three witnesses and 24 exhibits introduced in evidence by plaintiffs and the testimony of one witness and 8 exhibits introduced in evidence by the defendant.

Plaintiffs’ first witness was William M. Bitter, manager of international sales at Giddings & Lewis Machine Tool Company, which is a 50 percent owner of Giddings & Lewis-Fraser, Ltd. Giddings & Lewis imports a broad line of machine tools and Mr. Bitter is responsible for the sale of such machine tools, works with potential customers, and supervises field installations and service. In the course of his duties he has become familiar with the design and operation of the Endo-matics, with the uses for which customers intended them, and also with the characteristics and design of other manufacturers’ machine tools which compete with the Endomatics.

Plaintiffs’ second witness was Dr. John G. Bollinger, professor of mechanical engineering at the University of Wisconsin. He holds a Ph. D. in the field of mechanical engineering and his professional specialty has been in the area of machine tool design. He has published papers on various aspects of this subject and has served as a consultant in this area for a number of American firms. He has had practical shop experience and has done research in the design factors pertinent to the economical operation of machine tools. He had reviewed the sales literature and maintenance and operating instructions for the Endomatics, had discussed the design and characteristics of the Edo-matics with Mr. Bitter and with Mr. Walter McCann, vice president for engineering at Gidding & Lewis Machine Tool Company, and had personally examined a Model MC Endomatic.

Plaintiffs’ third witness was Bobert W. Gunn, assistant sales manager of Budel Machinery Company, Inc., an independent distributor of machine tools, representing about 25 machine tool manufacturers in the United States and Europe. Mr. Gunn is responsible for the sales of all the basic types of machines handled by Budel, including boring, drilling, and milling machines. He has become familiar with the [287]*287capabilities of such machines, has attended' numerous training sessions organized by machine tool manufacturers, and had been provided with the engineering specifications and drawings necessary to ascertain the capabilities and limitations of the Endomatics. Iiis firm actively participates in the sale of Endomatics; he has sold one model and has promoted the others.

Defendant’s witness was Walter W. Gibbons, who has been in the machine tool business since 1903 and is presently associated with the Morey Machinery Company, manufacturers and dealers in new and used machine tools. His knowledge of the Endomatics was derived from the testimony of plaintiffs’ witnesses and the exhibits introduced at the trial.

The merchandise before the court consists of three models of the Endomatics, designated 'as MC, SC, and HDB. They are advertised in sales promotion literature (exhibits 1, 2, 3, and 4) as versatile tool rotating machines by means of which both ends of a workpiece can be machined simultaneously. The functions of the MC are described in exhibit 1 as follows:

* * * Two heads, one on each transverse slide, mill or saw the component to precise length. Centering, facing, chamfering, drilling or turning operations are then performed by the other two heads.

Exhibit 2 states as to the SC:

Geeat Operational Versatility . . .

spotfacing, centering, drilling, chamfering and turning ... all these operations either in combination or individually

Exhibit 2 describes the HDB as follows:

A heavy duty boring machine with slide feed heads. Can be supplied with outfeedmg units for relief and taper boring, etc.

Mr. Bitter testified that ¡all Endomatics are made on a building block principle whereby common components are used in more than one model. The basic miits can be assembled to suit a variety of purposes. All the models have a large rectangular base to which the various heads and holding devices are attached. Each head is driven by its own motor. The machines are 3 feet wide, about 5 feet high, and range in length from around 6 feet up to a maximum of about 18 feet. They are similar in shape to a lathe.

The work is done 'by the machine by means of various cutting tools which are inserted into adapters, which are in turn inserted into the rotating member of the machine. The tools are advanced into or across the work, which remains fixed. Among the tools used are standard twist drills, center drills, block-type boring tools, combination spot-facing and center drilling tools, block type cutters used for facing, combination center drilling and chamfering tools, hollow mills, [288]*288reamers, step drills used for counterboring operations, shell end mills, slot milling cutters or straddle milling cutters, and slitting saws. According to the testimony these are all basically forms of boring, milling, or drilling tools and can be used with machines other than the Endomatics. The Endomatics do not use anything other than these basic tools.

The SC and MC models prepare parts for subsequent operations on other machines, such as lathes or ‘grinders, wherever a workpiece might be 'held between two centers. A center, according to the witness, is a conical shaped piece of metal on a lathe or other machine tool on which a workpiece can rotate. A center drill is used to put a tapered hole into the end of a workpiece so that it can be held between the centers of another machine tool.

Dr,. Bollinger testified that a metal working machine tool is a machine designed to shape or form or surface work a metal workpiece. He divided metal working techniques into metal cutting, metal disintegrating, and metal forging techniques. He subdivided metal cutting techniques into sis categories: Milling, drilling, boring, planing, grinding, and turning. He made the distinctions on the basis of the geometry of the tools, the orientation of the tools and the workpiece, and the design of the machinery that performs these functions.

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Bluebook (online)
61 Cust. Ct. 284, 292 F. Supp. 394, 1968 Cust. Ct. LEXIS 2148, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/giddings-lewis-machine-tool-co-v-united-states-cusc-1968.