Hummel Chemical Co. v. United States

29 C.C.P.A. 178, 1941 CCPA LEXIS 164
CourtCourt of Customs and Patent Appeals
DecidedDecember 29, 1941
DocketNo. 4356
StatusPublished
Cited by1 cases

This text of 29 C.C.P.A. 178 (Hummel Chemical 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
Hummel Chemical Co. v. United States, 29 C.C.P.A. 178, 1941 CCPA LEXIS 164 (ccpa 1941).

Opinion

Lenroot, Judge,

delivered the opinion of the court:

This is an appeal from a judgment of the United States Customs Court (First Division) overruling a protest by appellant against the [179]*179assessment by tbe Collector of Customs at the port of New York, under the provisions of section 701 of the Revenue Act of 1936, of a tax of 3 cents per pound upon certain “wool grease” imported from Japan.

The merchandise was classified by the collector under paragraph 52 of the Tariff Act of 1930 as “wool grease containing more than 2 per centum of free fatty acids,” and regular tariff duty was imposed thereon at the rate of 1 cent per pound.

Appellant’s protest made no reference to the classification of the merchandise under paragraph 52, but claimed that the merchandise was not subject to the tax of 3 cents per pound upon the ground that it consisted of animal wax rather than animal fat.

Upon the trial before the Customs Court it was conceded that the merchandise is dutiable under paragraph 52, and the only controverted question is whether the.merchandise is subject to.said tax of 3 cents per pound.

Paragraph 52 of the Tariff Act of 1930 reads as follows:

Pae. 52. Oils, animal and fish: Sod, herring, and menhaden, 5 cents per gallon; whale and seal, 6 cents per gallon; sperm, crude, 10 cents per gallon; sperm, refined or otherwise processed, 14 cents per gallon; spermaceti wax, 6 cents per pound; wool grease containing more than B 'per centum of free fatty acids, 1 cent per pound; containing 2 per centum or less of free fatty acids and not suitable for medicinal use, 2 cents per pound; suitable for medicinal use, including adeps lanae, hydrous or anhydrous, 3 cents per pound; all other animal and fish oils, fats, and greases, not specially provided for, 20 per centum ad valorem. [Italics ours.]

Section 701 of the Revenue Act of 1936, insofar as it is here pertinent, reads as follows:

SEC. 701. TAX ON CERTAIN OILS.
The first sentence of section 601 (e) (8) of the Revenue Act of 1932, as amended, is amended to read as follows:
(8) Whale oil (except sperm oil), fish oil (except cod oil, cod-liver oil, and halibut-liver oil), marine-animal oil, tallow, inedible animal oils, inedible animal fats, inedible animal greases, fatty acids derived from any of the foregoing, * * * all the foregoing, -whether or not refined, sulphonated, sulphated, hydrogenated, or otherwise processed, 3 cents per pound; * * *. [Italics ours.]

The question presented for determination is whether the involved wool grease is an inedible grease subject to the aforesaid tax of 3 cents per pound.

As hereinbefore noted, appellant conceded on the trial that the involved merchandise is provided for under paragraph 52 of the Tariff Act of 1930 as wool grease, but contends that it is not an inedible oil, fat, or grease provided for in section 701 of the Revenue Act of 1936, and that it is an inedible animal wax not provided for in said section.

Appellant introduced the testimony of four witnesses, three of whom were chemists, and the Government introduced the testimony [180]*180of six witnesses, two of whom were chemists, one of the two being a Government chemist.

Samples of the involved merchandise were introduced in evidence by appellant as Exhibits 1, 3, and 4, and each of the parties introduced in evidence chemical analyses of samples of the involved merchandise.

One August T. Hummel, president of the appellant corporation, testified in part as follows:

Q. Mr. Hummel, with what firm are you connected? — A. I am connected with Hummel Chemical Co., Inc., 90 West Street, New York.
Q. What is the business of that company? — A. Importing, buying and selling chemicals and kindred products.
Q. Among other products that you import and sell, is the so-called wool grease one of them? — A. Yes, we import wool grease.
Q. * * * How is this merchandise described on the invoice and entry here? — A. This merchandise is described as wool grease.
Q. Have you, at my request, examined your records to find out how this merchandise was sold, under what designation? — A. Yes, I have.
Q. How was it sold? — A. It was sold as degras.
Q. Explain that apparent discrepancy between the name on the entry and invoice and the name under which you sold it. — A. There are various designations for the material. Although it may vary, it is all one and the same kind of material. It is known as wool grease or wool fat, or wool wax, or degras.

Appellant’s witness Ralph W. Bailey, a chemist, testified in part as follows:

Q. Based upon the tests that you made of this sample out of Collective F/x-hibit 3, would you, as a chemist, say this is an oil or a wax? — A. I would say it is a wax.
% sfc * # *
By Presiding Judge McClelland.
Q. Would you say it was a chemical distinction or a commercial proposition?— A. No, that is a chemical distinction.
Q. Chemically, what is the difference between wool grease and wax? — A. The difference is that when you saponify an animal wax you split out glycerine, comes out in soap powder. When you split a wax up by its saponification gly-cerine does not come out in the soap powder. I am using the common terms for the sake of-
Q. Can an article be wool grease, degras, and wax at the same time? — A. Not from a chemical standpoint, no.
Q. How would you say this has been changed from wool grease into wax? — A. The term “wool grease’’ is the common designation, but it is not the correct designation from a chemical standpoint. It is wool wax from a chemical standpoint, speaking as a chemist. [Italics ours.]
Q. What must be done to wool grease to make it result in wax? — A. It is a wax as it stands.
Q. As a basic proposition, as it comes from a sheep, it is a wax? — A. Yes, sir; a wax, not a fat.
By Mr. Lebch.
Q. Explain just how they are different. In other words, will you refer to Collective Exhibit 3 and state what you find there, as distinguished from what [181]*181you would find in oils, fats, or greases? — A. Well, in carrying out the ordinary oils, fats, or greases, fatty oils, the saponification value would be very much higher. When saponified as stated, glycerine would be present in the solution.
Q. In what solution? — A. In the acid solution resulting from saponification of this material. If this was a fat, we would get glycerine in the product.
Q. Fat, oil, or grease? — A. Yes, sir; present in the product of saponification.
Q. And you found no glycerine present in this commodity? — A. No, sir.
Q. Any other distinctions you find there? — A. The saponification value was very low compared with ordinary fats, oils, or greases.

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29 C.C.P.A. 178, 1941 CCPA LEXIS 164, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/hummel-chemical-co-v-united-states-ccpa-1941.