Hurricane Import Co. v. United States

58 Cust. Ct. 541, 1967 Cust. Ct. LEXIS 2319
CourtUnited States Customs Court
DecidedJune 28, 1967
DocketC.D. 3046
StatusPublished
Cited by5 cases

This text of 58 Cust. Ct. 541 (Hurricane Import 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
Hurricane Import Co. v. United States, 58 Cust. Ct. 541, 1967 Cust. Ct. LEXIS 2319 (cusc 1967).

Opinion

Watson, Judge:

The merchandise in the case at bar consists of rattan side chair frames, which were classified under paragraph 409 of the Tariff Act of 1930, as modified by the Sixth Protocol of Supplementary Concessions to the General Agreement on Tariffs and Trade, T.D. 54108, and assessed with duty at the rate of 25% per centum ad valorem under the provision in said paragraph for “Furniture wholly or in chief value of rattan.” The protest was limited to the item invoiced as No. 8137F or 8137 (R. 2).

Plaintiffs in this protest claim the merchandise in question properly classifiable at the rate of 17 per centum ad valorem under paragraph 412 of the Tariff Act of 1930, as modified, supra, as “Furniture wholly or partly finished and parts thereof, wholly or in chief value of wood, and not specially provided for.”

Plaintiffs also claim that an established and uniform practice of classifying such merchandise at the rate of 17 per centum ad valorem under paragraph 412 of the tariff act existed, and that no notice of “change of practice” was published by the Bureau of Customs as required by section 315(d) of the Tariff Act of 1930, as amended. The Government, on the other hand, contends that no such established and uniform practice ever existed. Section 315 (d) of the Tariff Act of 1930, [543]*543as amended by the Customs Simplification Act of 1953, T.D. 53318, provides as follows:

(d) 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under an established and uniform practice, shall be effective with respect to articles entered for consumption or withdrawn from warehouse for consumption prior to the expiration of thirty days after the date of publication in the weekly Treasury Decisions of notice of such ruling; but this provision shall not apply with respect to the imposition of antidump-ing duties.

The record in this case consists of the testimony of four witnesses called by the plaintiffs and, in addition, there were introduced in evidence a number of exhibits, including a sample of the item here under consideration.

Plaintiffs’ exhibit 1 consists of a sample of item No. 8137, designated as “1 piece rattan side chair frame,” here in question. (R. 5-7.) Plaintiffs’ exhibit 2 consists of a sample of a chair seat installed on plaintiffs’ exhibit 1, subsequent to importation of the item at bar, to complete the chair. (R. 9.) Plaintiffs’ collective exhibit 3 consists of copies of certain documents from the files of customhouse brokers relative to alleged liquidations of rattan furniture at various ports . (R. 20-27.) Plaintiffs’ illustrative exhibit 4 consists of photographs of unfinished rattan chairs imported by another importer, Calif-Asia Co. at the port of Los Angeles. Plaintiffs’ illustrative exhibit 6 consists of a photograph of an upholstered seat for use with plaintiffs’ exhibit 4 after importation. (R. 51-52.) Plaintiffs’ illustrative exhibit 7 consists of a photograph of a seat cover for use with the stool depicted in plaintiffs’ collective illustrative exhibit 5. Plaintiffs’ exhibit 8 consists of a letter from the appraiser of merchandise at Los Angeles with respect to the rate of duty assessed at that port on unfinished rattan chairs and other furniture. (R. 59.) Plaintiffs’ collective exhibit 9 consists of copies of certain letters exchanged between the importer herein, the Treasury Department and the appraiser’s office in San Francisco relative to the rate of duty assessed on certain furniture. Plaintiffs’ collective exhibit 10 consists of certain correspondence between the importer, the Bureau of Customs, and the Secretary of the Treasury in connection with the assessment of duty on furniture in chief value of wood. Such reference to these exhibits will be hereinafter made as is deemed pertinent to a determination of the issue herein.

Plaintiffs called, as their first witness, Mr. Fred Schlesinger, president of Hurricane Import Company, importers of rattan furniture and other merchandise of that nature. The witness stated that he has been engaged in the designing, manufacturing, supervision, and sale [544]*544of rattan furniture. (R. 4-5.) Specifically, fie stated that fie fiad handled sales of the involved item, No. 8137, and had observed the work performed on it after importation. On cross-examination, Mr. Scfilesinger testified that he imported the item in question only through the ports of Los Angeles, San Francisco, Portland, and Seattle. The witness testified that plaintiffs’ exhibit 1 is known as a rattan side chair frame and is sold to furniture stores and department stores. (R. 13.) In the opinion of this witness, plaintiffs’ exhibit 1 is not an item of furniture in its imported condition because “it is not complete and not usable.” (R. 13.) He agreed, however, that the item has no other use than as a piece of furniture. (R. 14.)

Plaintiffs’ second witness was Mr. Morris Greenblat, chairman of the board of the Hurricane Import Company. His duties included taking care of the business of the company, being responsible for selling and merchandising items such as plaintiffs’ exhibit 1. (R. 16.) He stated that he believed the importing of such items began in 1955, 1956, or 1957 and that it has continued for some “five or six or seven years,” (R. 16.) The witness testified that item 8137F was sold to department stores, furniture stores, and hotel and restaurant supply people to be used as a chair, but that it is never sold in the form as imported without the seat to go with it. (R. 35-36.)

Plaintiffs also called as a witness Mr. William Grimm, Jr., executive vice president of Calif-Asia Rattan Co., whose principal business is the importation of rattan furniture. (R. 42-43.) The witness stated that his firm had been importing an item similar to plaintiffs’ exhibit 1 since December 1960. He testified that he considered such an item as “being unfinished, not ready for sale.” (R. 45.) Mr. Grimm stated that since March 1956 his firm had imported unfinished stools of rattan (plaintiffs’ collective illustrative exhibit 5). He further testified that plaintiffs’ exhibit 4, “a side chair or dining chair,” is sold with a cushion in the United States, but that it is never sold as depicted in plaintiffs’ exhibit 4 (R. 50); that he tried to sell it in that condition but customers refused to buy it, stating that “it was unfinished and incomplete”; that it was necessary to add an upholstered seat (R. 51) and that the same thing prevailed in the case of plaintiffs’ exhibit 5. (R. 52.) He further testified that when he described plaintiffs’ exhibit 4 as “a side chair or dining chair,” he was referring to it in its completed state. (R. 62.)

Mr. P. F. Feran, assistant customs appraiser at the port of Los Angeles, testified that he had been advisorily classifying merchandise such as that at bar, since 1953. He stated that the merchandise was initially classified under paragraph 409 as articles in part of rattan at 45 per centum until about 1954 when it was classified under para[545]*545graph 412 as an unfinished'chair (E. 64), which classification continued until March of 1960. (E. 65.)

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61 Cust. Ct. 642 (U.S. Customs Court, 1968)

Cite This Page — Counsel Stack

Bluebook (online)
58 Cust. Ct. 541, 1967 Cust. Ct. LEXIS 2319, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/hurricane-import-co-v-united-states-cusc-1967.