Humble Oil & Refining Co. v. United States

32 Cust. Ct. 32, 1954 Cust. Ct. LEXIS 1680
CourtUnited States Customs Court
DecidedJanuary 14, 1954
DocketC. D. 1577
StatusPublished
Cited by24 cases

This text of 32 Cust. Ct. 32 (Humble Oil & Refining 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
Humble Oil & Refining Co. v. United States, 32 Cust. Ct. 32, 1954 Cust. Ct. LEXIS 1680 (cusc 1954).

Opinion

Lawrence, Judge:

This cause of action arose at the port of Houston, Tex., by virtue of three protests, which are enumerated in the schedule of protests attached to and forming part of this decision. They were filed pursuant to the provisions of § 1583, United States Code, title 28, and consolidated for the purposes of trial and decision.

Certain imported articles, described in the record as “seamless A. P. I. casings” (or by similar descriptive terms), of various diameters, lengths, and weights, were classified for duty by the collector of customs in accordance with the provision in paragraph 328 of the Tariff Act of 1930 (19 U. S. C. § 1001, par. 328) for “* * * all other finished or unfinished iron or steel tubes not specially provided for * * *.” The statutory rate of duty for such merchandise — 25 per centum ad valorem — was reduced to 12}( per centum ad valorem by the Annecy Protocol to the General Agreement on Tariffs and Trade, 84 Treas. Dec. 403, T. D. 52373, supplemented by Presidential proclamation, 85 Treas. Dec. 116, T. D. 52462.

Plaintiffs rely upon the claim that the subject merchandise should be classified as “structural shapes of iron or steel * * * advanced beyond hammering, rolling, or casting * * *” in paragraph 312 of said act (19 U. S. C. § 1001, par. 312) and subjected to duty at the rate of 10 per centum ad valorem, if entered between January 1, 1948, and June 5, 1951, inclusive, in accordance with the General Agreement on Tariffs and Trade, 82 Treas. Dec. 305, T. D. 51802, effective January 1, 1948, or at 7% per centum ad valorem, if entered on or after June 6, 1951, in accordance with the Torquay Protocol to the General Agreement on Tariffs and Trade, 86 Treas. Dec. 121, T. D. 52739.

It is not disputed that the merchandise in controversy is substantially like that which was before this court in the case of The Winkler-Koch Engineering Company v. United States, 30 Cust. Ct. 26, C. D. 1494, affirmed in United States v. The Winkler-Koch Engineering Company, 41 C. C. P. A. (Customs) 121, C. A. D. 540. Inasmuch as the record in that case is not incorporated herein, it becomes necessary for us to review the voluminous record upon which the present case was submitted in order to reach a proper conclusion.

At the trials at New York and at Houston, Tex., plaintiffs introduced the testimony of nine witnesses upon the merits of the case, and it was stipulated that if three other named witnesses had been called, they would have testified in the same manner as one of the plaintiffs’ previous witnesses, and that the record should stand as if such testimony had been orally introduced.

In addition to the testimonial record, three motion-picture films were introduced by the plaintiffs, describing in graphic detail the use of oil-well casings and the forces to which they are subjected in their construction and operation. Schematic diagrams and numerous other [34]*34exhibits, consisting of sketches, specifications, pamphlets, tabulations, photographs, films, books, et cetera, were also received in evidence and, without giving a detailed description of them here, they will be referred to wherever necessary in the course of this opinion.

Defendant offered no evidence in rebuttal.

The nine witnesses who testified on the merits of the case in behalf of the plaintiffs are the following:

Randolph E. Wright, at present assistant division petroleum engineer in the producing department of The Texas Co., Houston, Tex., graduated from the University of Texas in 1942, receiving the degree of petroleum engineer, after which he spent 3 years in the United States Navy, Naval Reserve, primarily engaged in engineering work, and during that period taught Diesel engineering in the Navy at the University of California at Berkeley and at Cornell University at Ithaca, N. Y. Since 1946, he was engaged in various engineering capacities with The Texas Co.

Peter A. Mills, owner of the Moody Engineering Co. of Pittsburgh, Pa., inspector of material, equipment, and machinery, who began work with respect to the inspection of casing in 1914.

C. A. Dunlop, in the employ of the Humble Oil & Refining Co. since 1924 in the various capacities of engineering draftsman, senior engineer, supervising engineer, and senior supervising engineer, being in charge of equipment engineering and equipment standardization of the production department of the Humble company, whose business is the production, refining, and marketing of petroleum and its products.

Lawrence J. Yitirup, employed by The Texas Co. since 1933, and, since 1937, senior geologist in the South Texas division of the producing department of that company, which is engaged in the production, refining, and sale of petroleum and its products.

Terrell V. Miller, in the employ of the Humble oil company since 1935, and, since 1949, supervising petroleum engineer in charge of the material-management group of the petroleum engineering division and production department of that company.

William G. Ereitag, employed by the American Republics Corp. and its affiliates, oil producer and refiner, since 1920, and, since 1933, purchasing agent for that corporation.

Norbert C. Draper, employed by the Shell Oil Co. for 26 years in various capacities and presently engaged as buyer of oil country goods for his company.

It was agreed between the parties that the three witnesses whose names, positions, and years of experience are listed below, would testify to the same effect as the witness Draper:

S. M. Stanley, purchasing agent, Pan American Production Co., 18 years.

[35]*35George M. Larson, purchasing agent, Standard Oil Co. of Texas, 40 years.

J. C. Calkins, purchasing agent, Humble Oil & Refining Co., 20 years.

The last two witnesses were M. H. Hough, purchasing agent for the Amerada Petroleum Co. since 1927, and Wilfred S. Crake, who was for 26 years with the Shell Oil Co., engaged in the production, refining, and marketing of petroleum products, started with the company as a trainee engineer, and has held various engineering jobs, production-operating jobs, production foreman, district foreman, senior mechanical engineer, division mechanical engineer in the field, construction engineer, electrical engineer, division production manager, and, at present, chief mechanical engineer for the Houston office of the Shell Oil Co.

These witnesses were men of unchallenged ability, intelligence, and integrity, each of whom was familiar with the nomenclature, terminology, and technology in his particular line of activity in the great oil-producing centers of southwestern United States where they held responsible positions of great importance.

Since no evidence was introduced on behalf of defendant, the testimony and other evidence introduced by plaintiffs stand uncon-tradicted, unrebutted, and unimpeached.

The importations consisted of hollow, cylindrical, seamless sections of steel, produced by a hot-rolling process, with various outside diameters, ranging from 5}í inches to 10% inches, although it appears from the record that casings may range in outside diameters from 4% inches to 20 inches.

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Bluebook (online)
32 Cust. Ct. 32, 1954 Cust. Ct. LEXIS 1680, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/humble-oil-refining-co-v-united-states-cusc-1954.