Gimbel Bros. v. United States

73 Cust. Ct. 223, 1974 Cust. Ct. LEXIS 3014
CourtUnited States Customs Court
DecidedAugust 6, 1974
DocketC.R.D. 74-8; Court Nos. 66/36724, etc.
StatusPublished
Cited by1 cases

This text of 73 Cust. Ct. 223 (Gimbel Bros. 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
Gimbel Bros. v. United States, 73 Cust. Ct. 223, 1974 Cust. Ct. LEXIS 3014 (cusc 1974).

Opinion

Maletz, Judge:

This is a motion by plaintiff for summary judgment in four consolidated actions. The question involved concerns the proper tariff classification of merchandise imported in 1964 and 1965 which, the parties agree, consisted of and was described in the invoices as:

Racing car set1 with over & under track chicane, lap counter, start & finish gates, 2 Cooper sports racing cars, 20 pcs. track, spare contacts; Stock car road set2 with two (2) switches, remote control and with triple oval layout track; and Mini-Sport El.3

The imported merchandise was assessed at the rate of 35 percent ad valorem under item 737.90' of the tariff schedules, as modified, as “[t]oys * * * not specially provided for: [o]ther.” It is claimed to be dutiable at the rate of 10 percent ad valorem under the provisions of item 734.20 of the tariff schedules, as modified, for “[gjame machines * * * having mechanical controls for manipulating the action, and parts thereof.”

[224]*224To the extent relevant to the present motion, the recoi'd consists of the pleadings; two affidavits executed by William M. McDuffee, who has been plaintiff’s buyer of toys for some 36 years; interrogatories directed by defendant to plaintiff and answered by McDuffee; and the deposition of McDuffee taken by defendant.4

Plaintiff contends that on the basis of this record, there is no genuine issue as to any material fact and that plaintiff is entitled to judgment as a matter of law. Defendant ai-gues to the contrary that the record fails to establish the exact nature of the importations and that they are chiefly used as game machines. Thus, in defendant’s view, genuine issues of fact remain and summary judgment must be denied.

In this setting, we ixow proceed to examine the record starting with McDuffee’s first affidavit which was executed in November, 1970. In that affidavit, McDuffee deposed that he purchased racing and stock car sets (including those involved here) in Hong Kong and Japan for the plaintiff-importer during 1964 — 65; that he was personally familiar with these sets and had viewed them in operation at various stores of the plaintiff; that plaintiff’s records showed that two of the protests here involved concerned the racing car sets which were imported from Hong Kong, one protest concerned the stock car road sets which were imported from Japan, and one protest concerned the Mini-Sport El sets which were imported from West Germany; and that he was personally familiar with the West German sets, although he did not purchase them.

McDuffee further deposed that “all the above-mentioned sets consist of two cars, start and finish gates, lap counters, tracks of various shapes, aixd manipulative controls”; that “the above sets are games to be played by two players, each controlling his own vehicle”; that the purpose of the game is for one player to cause his particular vehicle to reach the finish gate before his opponent”; that “[e]ach player may regulate the speed of his vehicle by a manipulative device so that the vehicle’s speed may be increased, maintained or decreased, as desired by the player”; and that “[t]he game requires a degree of skill and dexterity on the -part of each player or the vehicle will leave the track before coming to the finish gate.”

McDuffee also deposed that samples of the imported items were not available since all had been sold; and that the “Kader Road Racing Set, No. 3755” — a sample of which, it was stated, accompanied the affidavit — was currently being sold in plaintiff’s stores and was the same in all material respects as the imported items.5

[225]*225A second affidavit of McDuffee, executed in July, 1972, was substantially similar to bis earlier affidavit witb the exception that in the latter affidavit McDuffee deposed that the “High Rev Dune Buggy Race Set” — a sample of which accompanied the affidavit — was currently being sold in plaintiff’s stores and was the same in all material respects as the imported items and was illustrative thereof.6

In answer to defendant’s interrogatories, McDuffee stated that the only document in existence which described the importations was an advertisement in the New York Daily News of September 27, 1964 which contained a photograph of the Kader set as ássembled and stated in part:

[S]pectacular racing fun and thrills for kids and' adults
* * * * * * *
20-piece race set with 2 racing cars! It’s battery operated
6-feet long, 2-feet wide “figure 8” over-and-under track
2 colorful Cooper racing cars
2 individual push-button speed controls
automatic lap counter
starting gate and finish line
guard rails and crash bails

On his deposition, McDuffee testified that “a racing car set is a competitive game consisting of two or more cars with track and * * * usually powered by electric or battery”; that a “stock car road set is exactly the same”; that he purchased items on the basis of actual samples and on the basis of his background and knowledge; that recently he had received from plaintiff’s agent in Hong Kong a Kader Road Racing set which, in his view, was the same as that in question here;7 that the speed of a racing car is increased or decreased by a control; that each car of a two-car set contains a control for the competitor; that the imported stock racing car sets made in Japan by Yonezawa were racing car sets; that the imported Mini-Sport El set made in Germany was not identical to but was in the same category as the Kader set in issue since it was a racing car set; that the sets as imported contained specific playing rules; that competition is involved whenever a set contains two cars, two tracks, two controls, and mechanical, battery or electric power; that there was no essential difference [226]*226among the three types of importations in issue since they consisted of two or more cars, start and finish lines or gates, tracks of various shapes and kinds, and some kind of manipulative control on each car; and that many children merely let the vehicles travel around the track at the same time and “practice for when they meet a competitor.”

An examination of the “Kader Road Racing Set” (defendant’s exhibit D) and of the “High Rev Dune Buggy Race Set” reveals that they are of plastic material and, except for the size of their component parts, are essentially the same with respect to their characteristics and nature of operation. Each set contains two racing cars, unassembled prefabricated tracks, a plunger control mechanism in each car, and a battery box. When assembled and the batteries installed, the cars move along the tracks at the desired rate of speed by the manipulation of the plunger control device.

The Kader set which is contained in the record has accompanying instructions which read in pertinent part:

The principal technique of operating a road racing car lies in the adequate control of its speed — that is, while the car is kept running at full speed, it is alertly guided against derailment.

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Cite This Page — Counsel Stack

Bluebook (online)
73 Cust. Ct. 223, 1974 Cust. Ct. LEXIS 3014, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/gimbel-bros-v-united-states-cusc-1974.