Hecht Pearl Co. v. United States

18 C.C.P.A. 171, 1930 CCPA LEXIS 75
CourtCourt of Customs and Patent Appeals
DecidedNovember 3, 1930
DocketNo. 3354
StatusPublished

This text of 18 C.C.P.A. 171 (Hecht Pearl Co. v. United States) is published on Counsel Stack Legal Research, covering Court of Customs and Patent Appeals primary law. Counsel Stack provides free access to over 12 million legal documents including statutes, case law, regulations, and constitutions.

Bluebook
Hecht Pearl Co. v. United States, 18 C.C.P.A. 171, 1930 CCPA LEXIS 75 (ccpa 1930).

Opinion

Garrett, Judge,

delivered the opinion of the court:

Certain imitation pearl beads on strings imported by appellant were classified and assessed for duty by the collector of customs at the port of New York as jewelry under paragraph 1428 of the Tariff Act of 1922, the material portion of which reads:

Par. 1428. Jewelry, commonly or commercially so known, finished or unfinished, of whatever material composed, valued above 20 cents per dozen pieces, 80 per centum ad valorem; * * *

Appellant protested, claiming the merchandise to be properly dutiable undef that portion of paragraph 1403, which reads:

Par. 1403. * * * imitation pearl beads of all kinds and shapes, of whatever material composed, strung or loose, mounted or unmounted, 60 per centum ad valorem; * * *

The Customs Court arrived at the conclusion that the articles are unfinished jewelry; the action of the collector was sustained, and the protests overruled. Appeal was then taken to this court.

At the trial of the case a number of samples representative of the merchandise involved in the several protests were introduced as exhibits. The Customs Court made specific findings relative to the nature and condition of each of the items. These findings are as follows :

Item 343 is represented by Exhibit 3. This consists of a complete necklace of imitation pearl beads. The pearls are fastened together in three strands, the center strand being the largest. Pendent from this necklace is a large egg-shaped pearl bead, partially covered with strands of small pearl beads. This article has all the appearances of a finished necklace, ready to wear, and is highly ornamental.
No. 200 is represented by Exhibit 1.' This sample is not in good condition. Some of the pearl beads are lacking therefrom. The beads are strung on double silk threads in an ornamental design with large and small beads alternating.
[173]*173No. 957 is stated by the witness to be represented by Exhibit 2. It is not in good condition, and could not be worn in the condition in which it is presented to the court. It consists of a necklace of imitation pearl beads strung on double silk threads.
The witness then testified that items 343 and 483 are the same, the difference • being in the pendant, the bead in one being oval and in the other round.
Item 336 is described by the witness as a bracelet “with three or four parts of metal,” and is represented by Exhibit 4. It consists of a short band composed of four strands of imitation pearls. The sample does not contain metal, is not in good condition, and could not be worn in the shape in which it is presented to the court. The threads on which the beads are strung’ appear to be of silk and of ample strength.
Exhibit 5 consists of a necklace of imitation pearl beads strung on double silk threads. The strands are triple, and are held together in two places by short white metal strips pierced with three holes through which the silk threads pass. In the middle of each strand are graduated pearl beads of a larger size than those composing the bulk of the necklace. It is not in good condition.
Exhibit 6 is not in good condition. It is a necklace of imitation pearl beads strung in an ornamental design on double silk threads. There is a pendant therefrom composed of a larger bead ornamentally covered with small beads, below which are two short strands of graduated beads each of which terminates in a pear-shaped imitation pearl bead.
Item 999 consists of imitation pearl beads fancifully strung in nécklace length on double silk threads. The bulk of the article consists of small beads, but at intervals on the string are clusters of larger graduated beads. Pendent fróm the article is a sort of tassel composed of three strands of graduated pearl beads. It needs a clasp to complete it.
■Exhibit 8 consists of imitation pearl beads strung on quadruple silk strings, in fancy designs. It appears to be an unfinished necklace which only lacks a clasp to complete it.
Exhibit 9 appears to be a complete necklace composed of several strands of strung imitation pearl beads. One has seven, the other five strands separated and held in line by strips of white metal pierced with holes through which the strings of the strands of beads pass. These samples appear ready for use as necklaces without further manufacture. They are without clasps.

It is the insistence of appellant that the merchandise is not “jewelry” in a tariff sense but “imitation pearl beads, strung” provided for eo nomine in paragraph 1403, and that it is the rule of law that “an eo nomine designation must prevail against terms of general description and designation.” In support of this the brief quotes from the opinion of the Supreme Court in the case of Chew Hing Lung v. Wise, 176 U. S. 156:

The designation of an article, eo nomine, either for duty or as exempt from duty, must prevail over words of a general description which might otherwise include the article specially designated.

Appellant’s brief quotes from Bouvier’s Law Dictionary, Words and Phrases, and the Eleventh Edition of the Encyclopedia Britannica, relative to the definition of the word “jewelry” and from the Century Dictionary the definition of “necklace.”

As we understand the contention of appellant it is that “jewelry” is a term of broad import including “all articles under the genus” [174]*174while “imitation pearl beads, strung,” even if included under the general designation of “jewelry,” is specific, and, being specific, should be classified where eo nomine designated.

Furthermore, the insistence is that even if some articles made of imitation pearl beads, such as necklaces, are, under the court decisions, specifically “jewelry” and classifiable as such, because they have become “articles,” they are articles which have been carried to a further state of completion than has the merchandise.here involved; that the “imitation pearl beads, strung” here at issue are “material” and have not become “articles” subject to paragraph 1428, because they are unfinished and, in many instances, are restrung and rearranged before being sold, and because most of them, in the condition as imported, are without clasps or other items which are required to be upon them in order for them to be worn.

It is also insisted that the legislative history of paragraph 1403 “seems to preclude the possibility of imitation pearl beads such as those in the case at bar being excluded from that paragraph by the phraseology of -any other paragraphs,” and the court is favored with a statement of this history.

These insistences involve questions of law, except that the one relative to their being “material” and not “articles” necessitates a finding of fact relative to their condition as imported. The Customs Court has made this finding and it is, we think, amply supported by the weight of the testimony.

To add to the length of this opinion by quoting the testimony is not deemed necessary. There are liberal quotations in the opinion of the Customs Court.

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18 C.C.P.A. 171, 1930 CCPA LEXIS 75, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/hecht-pearl-co-v-united-states-ccpa-1930.