Import-Export Service v. United States

46 Cust. Ct. 4
CourtUnited States Customs Court
DecidedJanuary 5, 1961
DocketC.D. 2225
StatusPublished
Cited by1 cases

This text of 46 Cust. Ct. 4 (Import-Export Service 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
Import-Export Service v. United States, 46 Cust. Ct. 4 (cusc 1961).

Opinions

Johnson, Judge:

The merchandise involved in this case consists of tungsten scrap and tungsten sludge, imported from Canada on or about June 19, 1957. It was assessed with duty at 23y2 per centum ad valorem under paragraph 316(b) 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, as scrap, containing more than 50 per centum of tungsten. It is claimed that the merchandise is American goods returned, entitled to entry under paragraph 1615(f) of the Tariff Act of 1930, as amended by the Customs Administrative Act of 1938 and the Customs Simplification Act of 1953.

Counsel have submitted this case on a stipulation reading as follows:

[5]*5IT IS HEREBY STIPULATED AND AGREED by and between counsel for plaintiff and the Assistant Attorney General for the United States, subject to the approval of the Court, that the merchandise here in issue consists of tungsten scrap and tungsten sludge derived from the processing in Canada of tungsten rods manufactured in the United States and exported to Canada with benefit of drawback paid on the tungsten content thereof. That the tungsten, the subject of this importation, has not been advanced in value or improved in condition by any process of manufacture or other means, but duty was assessed upon said tungsten at 23% per centum ad valorem under the provisions of paragraph 316 (b) of the Tariff Act of 1930 as amended.
IT IS FURTHER STIPULATED AND AGREED that the duty was imposed at the rate provided in Paragraph 316 (b) by reason of the failure of the importer to comply with sections 10/1-10/3 of the Customs Regulations of 1954 then in effect, that if said Regulation had been complied with, the merchandise would have been assessed with duty in an amount equal to the estimated drawback paid on the like amount of tungsten previously exported in rod form, as provided in section 1615(f) of the Tariff Act of 1930.
IT IS FURTHER STIPULATED AND AGREED that the importer has now complied with the Customs Regulations which were in effect at the time of importation.
IT IS FURTHER STIPULATED AND AGREED that all papers contained in the official entry jackets be received in evidence.
Counsel for plaintiff limits the protest to the claim that:
“The merchandise is American goods returned and is entitled to entry under paragraph 1615(f) of the Tariff Act of 1930, as amended, and is subject to duty in the amount of its proportionate share of the drawback allowed on the exportation from the United States of the tungsten bars from which the scrap and sludge were derived.”
IT IS FURTHER STIPULATED AND AGREED that the protest shall be submitted on this stipulation.

Paragraph 1615 of the Tariff Act of 1930, as amended, provides as follows:

(a) Articles, the growth, produce, or manufacture of the United States, when returned after having been exported, without having been advanced in value or improved in condition by any process of manufacture or other means; [Free.]
* . * * * * * *
(e) The foregoing provisions of this paragraph shall not apply to — •
(1) Any article upon which an allowance of drawback has been made under section 313 of this Act or a corresponding provision of a prior tariff Act, unless such article is in use at the time of importation as the usual container or covering of merchandise not subject to an ad-valorem rate of duty;
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(f) Upon the entry for consumption or withdrawal from warehouse for consumption of any article previously exported, which is excepted from free entry under this paragraph by the foregoing subparagraph (e) and is not otherwise exempted from the payment of duty, there shall be levied, collected, and paid thereon, in lieu of any other duty or tax, a duty equal to the total duty and internal-revenue tax, if any, then imposed with respect to the importation of like articles not previously exported from the United States, but in no case in excess of the sum of customs draw-back, if any, proved to have been [6]*6allowed upon the exportation of such article from the United States plus the amount of the internal-revenue tax, if any, imposed at the time such article is entered for consumption or withdrawn from warehouse for consumption upon the importation of like articles not previously exported from the United States. * * *
*******

Plaintiff’s claim is that the imported merchandise, tungsten scrap and tungsten sludge, is the article or a portion of the article previously exported, tungsten rods, and that said merchandise is classifiable under paragraph 1615(f), supra, and is subject to duty only in the amount of a proportion of the drawback allowed on exportation of the rods. No brief has been filed by plaintiff in support of its position nor has the Government submitted one in defense of the collector’s classification. Apparently, both parties have viewed the issue as involving solely compliance with the regulations. However, before plaintiff can be entitled to judgment, it must be established that the imported merchandise does, in fact, fall within the purview of paragraph 1615(f), supra.

According to the record presented, the tungsten rods from which the imported merchandise was derived had been exported to Canada with benefit of drawback. It is evident, therefore, that the tungsten rods were manufactured in the United States with the use of imported merchandise, since drawback is allowed under section 313 of the Tariff Act of 1930 only “Upon the exportation of articles manufactured or produced in the United States with the use of imported merchandise.” Such allowance of drawback is made upon the articles manufactured in the United States and not upon the imported materials used in said manufacture. Chas. Adler’s Sons, Inc. v. United States, 21 C.C.P.A. (Customs) 573, T.D. 46992; Nordberg Manufacturing Company v. United States, 43 Cust. Ct. 235, C.D. 2133. Thus, the “article previously exported,” within the meaning of paragraph 1615(f), is the tungsten rods, not tungsten as material.

While the exported tungsten rods were manufactures of the United States, they would not have been entitled to free entry under paragraph 1615(a), supra, had they been returned, without having been advanced in value or improved in condition, because of the limitation in subparagraph (e) (1), supra. They would, however, have been entitled to entry under subparagraph (f) and subject to a duty equal to the duty then imposed with respect to the importation of like articles not previously exported but not in excess of the drawback previously allowed upon their exportation.

In the instant case, however, it is not the tungsten rods which have been returned but tungsten scrap and tungsten sludge derived from [7]*7the processing of the rods in Canada. The question before us is whether said scrap and sludge can be considered the article previously exported within the meaning of paragraph 1615(f), sufra.

In United States v. Tower & Sons, 9 Ct. Cust. Appls. 185, T.D.

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46 Cust. Ct. 4, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/import-export-service-v-united-states-cusc-1961.