Globe Shipping Co. v. United States

63 Cust. Ct. 639, 1969 Cust. Ct. LEXIS 3721
CourtUnited States Customs Court
DecidedDecember 12, 1969
DocketR.D. 11687; Entry No. 901247
StatusPublished
Cited by3 cases

This text of 63 Cust. Ct. 639 (Globe Shipping 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
Globe Shipping Co. v. United States, 63 Cust. Ct. 639, 1969 Cust. Ct. LEXIS 3721 (cusc 1969).

Opinion

Ford, Judge:

This appeal for reappraisement involves the question of the proper dutiable value of certain grain milling machines entered at New York by plaintiff, Globe Shipping Co., Inc., the customhouse broker for Simon Carter Co. The parties are in agreement that the merchandise does not appear on the final list, 93 Treas. Dec. 14, T.D. 54521, and therefore the merchandise is properly subject to appraisement under section 402, Tariff Act of 1930, as amended by the Customs Simplification Act of 1956, 91 Treas. Dec. 295, T.D. 54165.

The involved machines were appraised under section 402(d), Tariff Act of 1930, as amended, supra, on the basis of constructed value. Plaintiff contends alternatively that said merchandise is properly subject to appraisement under section 402(b) or 402(d) of said act, as amended, supra, on the basis of exjtort or constructed value, respectively. The value contended for in each instance is the invoice unit value plus packing, less 20 percent or the equivalent. The basic dispute revolves around the 20 percent discount. A similar case involving the same importer and issue, but different machines, was decided in favor of defendant. Donald Schmidt and Simon Carter Company v. United States, 58 Cust. Ct. 584, R.D. 11259 (1967).

The pertinent portions of section 402 of the Tariff Act of 1930, as amended, supra, provide as follows:

(a) Basis.- — Except as otherwise specifically provided for in this Act, the value of imported merchandise for the purposes of this Act shall be—
(1) the export value, or
(2) if the export value cannot be determined satisfactorily, then the United States value, or
(3) if neither the export value nor the United States value can be determined satisfactorily, then the constructed value;
* * ‡ * * . # *
(b) Export Value. — -For the purposes of this section, the export value of imported merchandise shall be the price, at the time of exportation to the United States of the merchandise undergoing-appraisement, at which such or similar merchandise is freely sold or, in the absence of sales, offered for sale in the principal markets of the country of exportation, in the usual wholesale quantities and in the ordinary course of trade, for exportation to the United States, plus, when not included in such price, the cost of all containers and coverings of whatever nature and all other expenses [641]*641incidental to placing the merchandise in condition, packed ready for shipment to the United States.
# ‡ $ ‡ ‡ ‡
(d) Constructed Value. — For the purposes of this section, the constructed value of imported merchandise shall be the sum of—
(1) the cost of materials (exclusive of any internal tax applicable in the country of exportation directly to such materials or their disposition, but remitted or refunded upon the exportation of the article in the production of which such materials are used) and of fabrication or other processing of any kind employed in producing such or similar merchandise, • at a time preceding the date of exportation of the merchandise undergoing appraisement which would ordinarily permit the production of that particular merchandise in the ordinary course of business;
(2) an amount for general expenses and profit equal to that usually reflected in sales of merchandise of the same general class or kind as the merchandise undergoing appraisement which are made by producers in the country of exportation, in the usual wholesale quantities and in the ordinary course of trade, for shipment to the United States; and
(3) the cost of all containers and coverings of whatever nature, and all other expenses incidental to placing the merchandise undergoing appraisement in condition, packed ready for shipment to the United States.
>ji sjí ífí í«í í{í í{c H*
(f) Definitions. — For the purposes of this section—
(1) The term “freely sold or, in the absence of sales, offered for sale” means sold or, in the absence of sales, offered- — •
(A) to all purchasers at wholesale, or
(B) in the ordinary course of trade to one or more selected purchasers at wholesale at a price which fairly reflects the market value of the merchandise,
* $ * $ * * *
(g) Transactions Between Related Persons.—
(1) For the purposes of subsection '(c) (1) or (d), as the case may be, a transaction directly or indirectly between persons specified in any one of the subdivisions in paragraph (2) of this subsection may be disregarded if, in the case of any element of value required to be considered, the amount representing that element does not fairly reflect the amount usually reflected in sales in the market under consideration of merchandise of the same general class or kind as the merchandise undergoing appraisement. If a transaction is disregarded under the preceding sentence and there are no other transactions available for consideration, then, for the purposes of subsection (d), the determination of the amount required to be considered shall be based on the best evidence available as to what the amount would have been if the transaction had [642]*642occurred between persons not specified in anyone of the subdivisions in paragraph (2).
(2) The persons referred to in paragraph (1) are:
* * * * * * $
(F) Two or more persons directly or indirectly controlling, controlled by, or under common control with, any person.

The record herein consists of the testimony of one witness called on behalf of plaintiff and five exhibits.

Exhibit 1 is an affidavit of Eric Arthur Stanger, a director of Henry Simon, Ltd., the exporter herein. This affidavit states there are seven other divisions in addition to the grain milling division which manufactured the involved machines and of which the affiant is in charge. The invoiced price per unit “was calculated in accordance with the basis laid by the Company for this type of machine” and the 20 percent discount was given on his authority. The parent -company of the exporter Henry Simon, Ltd., is Simon Engineering, Ltd., which is a public corporation listed on the London Stock Exchange. Henry Simon, Ltd., had a 13 percent interest in Simon Carter by virtue of ownership of that percentage of stock of Hart Carter, the parent company of Simon Carter. The 20 percent discount was 'based upon the fact that expenses for sales to Simon Carter were approximately 20 percent less than sales in the home market or to third countries and that Simon Carter was obliged to incur various expenses which would ordinarily be incurred by Henry Simon, Ltd. The profit, based upon an examination of the books, was not lower to Simon Carter than in sales in the home market or to third countries.

The affiant further stated that the price after taking into account the difference in selling expenses in the home market and to third countries was equivalent to the invoiced price. The involved transaction was a direct sale made pursuant to a request for a price for said merchandise.

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Cite This Page — Counsel Stack

Bluebook (online)
63 Cust. Ct. 639, 1969 Cust. Ct. LEXIS 3721, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/globe-shipping-co-v-united-states-cusc-1969.