Henry Wedemeyer, Inc. v. United States

63 Cust. Ct. 417, 1969 Cust. Ct. LEXIS 3738
CourtUnited States Customs Court
DecidedNovember 20, 1969
DocketC.D. 3928
StatusPublished

This text of 63 Cust. Ct. 417 (Henry Wedemeyer, Inc. 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
Henry Wedemeyer, Inc. v. United States, 63 Cust. Ct. 417, 1969 Cust. Ct. LEXIS 3738 (cusc 1969).

Opinion

WatsoN, Judge:

The merchandise in the case at bar consists of cigarette lighters described on the invoice as “Anti. 3 assorted Old-Timer with Cigarette Lighter”.

The lighters were assessed with duty under item 756.06 of the Tariff Schedules of the United States at the rate of 45 per centum ad valorem which provides for “Pocket lighters, combination pocket and table lighters, and articles in which lighters are incorporated as integral parts and which are ordinarily carried in pockets or handbags: * * * Valued over $5 per dozen pieces”.

Plaintiff claims the merchandise is properly classifiable under item 756.10 of said tariff schedules at the rate of 24 per centum ad valorem under the provision therein for “Lighters and articles in which lighters are incorporated as integral parts, and which are ordinarily used on the table * * *’’. Specifically, plaintiff maintains that these lighters “are not pocket lighters, or combination lighters, or articles ordinarily carried in pockets or purses, but instead they are lighters which are ordinarily used on the table”, properly classifiable as claimed.

The statutes herein involved are as follows:

Tariff Schedules of the United States:
Schedule 7, part 9, subpart B:
Cigar and cigarette lighters (including articles in which lighters are incorporated as significant integral parts), and parts thereof:
Pocket lighters, combination pocket and table lighters, and articles in which lighters are incorporated as integral parts and which are ordinarily carried in pockets or handbags:
•¡5 ^ 5|'« ¥
Other:
***** * *
756.06 Valued over $5 per dozen _ 45% ad val.
756.10 Lighters and articles in which lighters are incorporated as integral parts, and which are ordinarily used on the table, not provided for heretofore in this subpart_ 24% ad val.

The record consists of the testimony of one witness for the plaintiff and a number of exhibits received in evidence.

Plaintiff’s exhibit 1 consists of one of the articles of merchandise covered by the invoice in this protest (a 1910 Model Ford Lighter). Plaintiff’s exhibit 2 consists of a similar model of an automobile base [419]*419with a lighter, together with packing and the box in which the merchandise was imported. Plaintiff’s illustrative exhibit 3 consists of a picture printed in a brochure of plaintiff company, of a table lighter (#264 Knight Table Lighter) which has been imported by plaintiff for many years, and which has been understood by the"trade to be a table lighter. Plaintiff’s exhibit 4 is a table lighter which consists of a base designed as a dice with a cylindrical lighter insert. Plaintiff’s exhibit 5 is a combination lighter and flashlight in the form of a small pistol imported by plaintiff company.

The defendant introduced one exhibit (exhibit A) which was described by plaintiff’s witness as a “pocket lighter” having two flanges, one at the top and one at the bottom.

It appears that each of the cigarette lighters before the court is comprised of two separate parts. One part is the base, which is in the form of a facsimile of the body of an “Old-Timer” automobile (cars that were made at the beginning of the century). The other part is the cigarette lighter insert which has a flange that extends around the top of the lighter portion to keep it from falling through the hole provided in the base. The lighter portion fits into the hole in the base and is easily removable therefrom.

Miss Marie Cappiello, the secretary-treasurer and general manager of Henry Wedemeyer, Inc., testified for the plaintiff that there was a well recognized difference in the trade between table lighters and pocket lighters and that plaintiff’s exhibit 1 would be considered a table lighter, and the same would be true of plaintiff’s exhibit 2. She further stated that, by her own knowledge, she had never seen anyone or known of anyone who has carried articles like plaintiff’s exhibit 1 or 2 in their pocket or purse.

Plaintiff’s witness further testified that plaintiff’s exhibit 4 falls within the trade understanding of the term table lighters. Miss Cap-piello testified that plaintiff’s exhibit 5 (i.e. a combination cigarette lighter and flashlight in the form of a small pistol) would not fall within the trade understanding of the category “table lighter” but was considered in the trade as “more than a pocket lighter” and was described in the trade as “a combination pocket lighter and flashlight”.

On cross-examination, plaintiff’s witness testified that her company does not sell replacements for the lighter parts of plaintiff’s exhibit 1, and that if the lighter portion should be lost, the base portion loses its value. The witness agreed that the lighter portion in plaintiff’s exhibit 1 is capable of being carried upon the person and used as a lighter. She stated that while she had not seen the type of lighter in plaintiff’s exhibit 1 used as a pocket lighter, she had seen similar articles so used. Plaintiff’s witness further testified that the presence of the “flange” on plaintiff’s exhibit 1 would not detract from its ability to be carried and used on a person; and agreed that the lighter [420]*420portion of plaintiff’s exhibit 1 vrould fit readily into a woman’s band-bag or purse. Miss Cappiello then stated that when she observed the lighter portion of plaintiff’s exhibit 1 in use, the automobile model and the lighter were used together, but agreed that the lighter could be removed and used by itself “but not very conveniently”; that “if you use it alone, and if your hand is large, this thing could slip right out of your hand. It is not very convenient because it’s so small, but in the car you could use the car as leverage and it’s easy to use.” The witness agreed that the lighter when removed from the base, is a cigarette lighter and that its presence in the base does not detract from its being a lighter.

Plaintiff’s witness further testified that her company had never purchased the lighter portion of plaintiff’s exhibit 1 separate from the base. She stated that the base portion of the exhibit would have no value as a model automobile for decorative or ornamental purposes in a home “without the lighter” because the base has a hole in it and “a [model] car does not have a hole in the middle of it” — the base portion alone would be an “incomplete [article] because of the hole in the center.”

The record further discloses that defendant’s exhibit A, a pocket lighter, has two flanges, one at the top and one at the bottom and that the flange at the bottom would prevent that lighter from being inserted into a base in the same manner as the lighter portion fits into plaintiff’s exhibit 1,2, or 4.

The question for determination in this case, is not whether the articles in question are table lighters. As to the involved articles being at least in part a table lighter, there is no dispute. In common understanding of the term, there is no question but that the involved items are suitable for use on the table. They would be classifiable under item 756.10 of the tariff schedules if they were not provided for elsewhere in schedule 7, part 9, subpart B.

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Cite This Page — Counsel Stack

Bluebook (online)
63 Cust. Ct. 417, 1969 Cust. Ct. LEXIS 3738, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/henry-wedemeyer-inc-v-united-states-cusc-1969.