Hensel, Bruckmann & Lorbacher, Inc. v. United States

44 Cust. Ct. 722
United States Customs Court·Decided May 18, 1960·No. Reap. Dec. 9709; Entry No. 75962·Published·Cited by 1 cases

Opinion

Wilson, Judge:

This appeal to reappraisement has been limited by the parties herein to the item invoiced as “Diamond black PLC,” a coal-tar product, which was exported from West Germany on August 7,1955, and entered at the port of New York on August 18,1955. The merchandise in question was entered at $1.03 per pound. It was appraised on February 26,1958, on the basis of American selling price, as defined in section 402(g) of the Tariff Act of 1930,- as amended, and paragraph 28(c) of the act at $2,057 per pound, less 1 per centum, packed.

It was stipulated by counsel for the respective parties as follows:

1. That the above product was not competitive with a domestic product at any time before July 5, 1955, and was listed as non-competitive in the Supple[723]*723mentary Competitive and Non-Competitive Lists prepared for public distribution’ by the U.S. Appraiser of Merchandise, New York, New York, in accordance with the provisions of Section 14.5(d) of the Customs Regulations, copies of which are appended hereto as Plaintiff’s Collective Exhibit I, and that importations of Diamond Black PLC were uniformly appraised on a non-competitive basis if imported prior to July 5,1955;
2. That on July 5, 1955, a domestic manufacturer, National Aniline Division of Allied Chemical & Dye Corporation, submitted a sample of Superehrome Black CD to the Chief Chemist of the U.S. Customs Laboratory, at New York, New York, in accordance with Section 14.5 of the Customs Regulations, T.D. 53594, as amended by T.D. 53689;
3. That the said domestic manufacturer on July 5,1955, and thereafter, freely offered for sale and sold for domestic consumption the said Superchrome Black CD to all purchasers in the principal market of the United States, in the ordinary course of trade and in the usual wholesale quantities in such market;
4. That the Supplementary Competitive and Non-competitive lists dated November, 1955, for the first time, showed Diamond Black PLC to be competitive (copy of which is appended hereto and marked Plaintiff’s Exhibit II).
5. That the Appraiser notified the importer on February 7, 1956, that Diamond Black PLC was competitive with the above named product.

In the determination of the present issue, the following pertinent statutes and customs regulations are noted:

Paragraph 28(c), in effect at the time of importation herein, of the Tariff Act of 1930:

(e) The ad valorem rates provided in this paragraph shall be based upon the American selling price (as defined in subdivision (g) of section 402, Title IV), of any similar competitive article manufactured or produced in the United States. If there is no similar competitive article manufactured or produced in the United States then the ad valorem rate shall be based upon the United States value, as defined in subdivision (e) of section 402, Title IV.

Section 315 (b) of the Tariff Act of 1930, as amended:

No administrative ruling resulting in the imposition of a higher rate of duty or charge than the Secretary of the Treasury shall find to have been applicable to imported merchandise under an established and uniform practice shall be effective with respect to articles entered for consumption or withdrawn from warehouse for consumption prior to the expiration of thirty days

Section 402(g) of said act reads:

(g) American Selling Price. — The American selling price of any article manufactured or produced in the United States shall be the price, including the cost of all containers and coverings of whatever nature and all other costs, charges, and expenses incident to placing the merchandise in condition packed ready for delivery, at which such article is freely offered for sale for domestic [724]*724consumption to all purchasers in the principal market of the United States, in the ordinary course of trade and in the usual wholesale quantities in such market, or the price that the manufacturer, producer, or owner would have received or was willing to. receive for such merchandise when sold., for. domestic consumption in the ordinary course of trade and in the usual wholesale quantities, at the time of exportation of the imported article.

Section 501 of said act, as amended, reads:

The collector shall give written notice of appraisement to the consignee, his agent, or his attorney, if (1) the appraised value is higher than the entered value, or (2) a change in the classification of the merchandise results from the appraiser’s determination of value. * * *

Section 14.5(d), customs regulations, reads as follows:

(d) The appraiser at New Tork shall from time to time issue lists of coal-tar products which he believes to be competitive and noncompetitive within the contemplation of sub-paragraphs (c) and (d) of paragraph 27 or 28 of the tariff act, and add articles thereto or remove articles therefrom as investigation shall justify. This list is advisory only and in no manner relieves appraising officers from the duty of independent appraisement required by law. The appraiser shall furnish copies of such lists and amendments thereof to the Customs Information Exchange for circulation among other appraising officers and the public upon request.

The question presented for determination here is whether the provisions of section 315(d) of the Tariff Act of 1930, as amended, are applicable to the involved merchandise, which had been noncompetitive with a domestic product and uniformly appraised on the basis of United States value, which merchandise subsequently became competitive with a domestic product, thus rendering it subject to appraisement on the basis of American selling price. That is, whether, as stated by counsel for the defendant, “appraisements on the basis of United States value and American selling price for articles dutiable under paragraph 28 are concluded on the basis of established and uniform practices.”

Plaintiff contends that the subjection of the involved merchandise, heretofore appraised on the basis of United States value, to appraise-' ment on the basis of American selling price is a “charge” against the goods, as contemplated under the provisions of section 315(d), as amended, supra, and that, pursuant to said section, notice of such change of practice or “charge” must be given by publication in the weekly Treasury Decisions, and that said change cannot become effective until 30 days after publication of said notice. As heretofore noted, the domestic product became competitive with the involved importation on July 5, 1955; the product at bar was exported on August 7, 1955; and the importer did not receive notice that the domestic product was competitive until February 7,1956.

[725]*725In support of the above contention, counsel for the plaintiff, in his brief, maintains that while the language in section 315(d), supra,

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