Glanson Co. v. United States

40 Cust. Ct. 644
CourtUnited States Customs Court
DecidedJanuary 6, 1958
DocketReap. Dec. 9047; Entry No. 792815
StatusPublished
Cited by2 cases

This text of 40 Cust. Ct. 644 (Glanson 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
Glanson Co. v. United States, 40 Cust. Ct. 644 (cusc 1958).

Opinion

Mollison, Judge:

This is an appeal for reappraisement of the values of certain cribbage boards exported from Canada on or about June 14, 1948. In a decision reported as Glanson Co. v. United States, 29 Cust. Ct. 508, Reap. Dec, 8182, the writer found on the law as applied to the evidence adduced that neither a foreign nor an export value for such or similar merchandise existed. On appeal, the said decision was reversed and the cause remanded for further proceedings. Glanson Co. v. United States, 31 Cust. Ct. 473, A. R. D. 33.

Under the order of remand, further proceedings were had, as the result of which, in Glanson Co. v. United States, 38 Cust. Ct. 638, Reap. Dec. 8793, the writer found that-there was neither a foreign, export, nor United States value for the merchandise at bar, within the meaning of the definitions thereof as found in section 402 of the Tariff Act of 1930, as amended. Evidence was offered on behalf of the plaintiff with respect to the cost of production value of the merchandise, defined in section 402 (f) of the tariff act, consisting of an affidavit of P. Roug-Jensen, who identified himself therein as the plant manager of the manufacturer and exporter, having access to sales and cost records thereof. The said affidavit was received in evidence as plaintiff's exhibit 8 and reads as follows:

P. Roug-Jensen, being duly sworn, deposes and says:

1. That he is Plant Manager of the Acme Ruler & Advertising Co. Ltd., which is located in the City of Toronto, Province of Ontario, Dominion of Canada, and has been associated with said company for 24 years.
2. That in his capacity as Plant Manager, he has access to the sales reeordsi records of cost of manufacturing its products and records pertaining to general expenses and other expenses involved in the manufacturing and selling of the products of Acme Ruler & Advertising Co. Ltd.

[646]*6463. That said records of said company show that cribbage boards, sizes 28 and 29, such as or similar to those sold for export to the United States, from 1946 through 1949, were produced at approximately the following costs, the following general expenses, the following packing costs, and the following profits were realized on their sale:—

From January 1, 1946 through November 30,
1948
Per dozen Size 28 Size 29
Cost of materials_ $1. 44 $2. 96
Labour and processing_ 2. 76 4. 34
General Expenses_ .46 .81
Packing_ .06 .08
Profit_ . 83 2. 91
Totals — Can. $6. 55 11. 10
From December 1, 1948 through December 31, 1949
Per dozen Size 28 Size 29
Cost of materials_ $2. 08 $2. 96
Labour and processing_ 3. 95 4. 34
General Expenses_ .71 .81
Packing_ .08 .08
Profit_ 1.58 2. 91
Totals — Can. $8.40 11. 10

4. That the profits set forth above represents the profits realized on the cribbage board sold at prices reflecting the greatest volume of all cribbage board sales made by Acme Ruler & Advertising Co. Ltd., and are not less than the profits which are ordinarily added by manufacturers of merchandise of the same class or kind in Canada.

In addition to objections to its admissibility made at the trial “as calling for conclusions and hearsay testimony,” counsel for the defendant pointed out in the brief filed in its behalf that the evidence as to the item for profit given in the affidavit was not in accordance with the law on the subject in at least two respects:

First, calling attention to the fact that, in paragraph 4 of the affidavit, the affiant states—

That the profits set forth above represents the profits realized on the cribbage board sold at prices reflecting the greatest volume of all cribbage board sales made by Acme Ruler & Advertising Co. Ltd. * * *

counsel for the defendant contended that the statute, calling for—

* * * the profit which ordinarily is added, in the case of merchandise of the same general character as the particular merchandise under consideration * * *

requires evidence of the profit added or realized in the case of sales of all of the merchandise of the same general character as the involved merchandise, rather than, as the affidavit appears to state, the profits realized on a portion of all of the sales of cribbage boards.

[647]*647Just what was meant by the affiant by the use of the quoted language is not very clear. Counsel for the defendant believes that it was intended to mean that the profits shown represented the profits made by the manufacturer on the major portion of sales of cribbage boards (which the evidence shows to have been those made to wholesalers), and it would appear that this is a reasonable interpretation of the language. Seemingly, then, the evidence as to the item of profit in plaintiff’s exhibit 8 relates only to the profit added or made in the case of a particular type of sale of cribbage boards, that is to say, sales to wholesalers only, and disregards the profits made in other types of sales, i. e., to chain and department stores, retailers, and in export transactions. The profit made in the case of sales to chain and department stores and to retailers would be higher than that shown, inasmuch as the record indicates that the prices charged those customers were higher than the prices charged the wholesalers.

Second, counsel for the defendant pointed out that the evidence given in the affidavit related only to the profit of the manufacturer of the particular merchandise under consideration, instead of, as called for by the statute, the profit added-—

* * * 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.

A consideration of these matters induced the writer to hold that the proof contained in plaintiff’s exhibit 8 fell short of establishing the elements specified in the cost-of-production statute, and, it appearing that the basis upon which the value returned by the appraiser was made had been demonstrated to have been erroneous, in the interests of justice, to restore the case to the calendar “for the sole purpose of permitting the introduction of evidence by both parties with respect to the addition for profit called for by paragraph (4) of the cost of production statute, section 402 (f) of the Tariff Act of 1930.” See memorandum reported as Reap. Dec. 8793.

On the hearing thus permitted, counsel for the plaintiff produced and offered in evidence a supplementary affidavit by Mr. Roug-Jensen, the pertinent portion of which reads as follows:

* * * * * * *

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Related

Maher-App & Co. v. United States
64 Cust. Ct. 598 (U.S. Customs Court, 1970)
Glanson Co. v. United States
49 Cust. Ct. 109 (U.S. Customs Court, 1962)

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Bluebook (online)
40 Cust. Ct. 644, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/glanson-co-v-united-states-cusc-1958.