J. C. De Jong & Co. v. United States

50 Cust. Ct. 89, 1963 Cust. Ct. LEXIS 1401
CourtUnited States Customs Court
DecidedApril 24, 1963
DocketC.D. 2395
StatusPublished

This text of 50 Cust. Ct. 89 (J. C. De Jong & 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
J. C. De Jong & Co. v. United States, 50 Cust. Ct. 89, 1963 Cust. Ct. LEXIS 1401 (cusc 1963).

Opinion

Lawrence, Judge:

An importation of articles, known interchangeably as pole ends, end knobs, or finials, was classified by the collector of customs as articles in chief value of brass, not specially provided for, in paragraph 397 of the Tariff Act of 1930 (19 U.S.C. § 1001, par. 397), as modified by the Sixth Protocol of Supplementary Concessions to the General Agreement on Tariffs and Trade, 91 Treas. Dec. 150, T.D. 54108, and duty was imposed thereon at the rate of 19 per centum ad valorem. The copper tax assessment pursuant to section 4541 of the Internal Revenue Code (26 U.S.C. § 4541) is not in issue.

Plaintiff claims that said merchandise should be classified as household utensils, not specially provided for, in chief value of brass, in paragraph 339 of said act (19 U.S.C. § 1001, par. 339), as modified by the sixth protocol, sufra, and dutiable at the rate of 12^4 per centum ad valorem.

The pertinent text of the competing statutes is here set forth.

Paragraph 397 of the Tariff Act of 1930, as modified, supra:

Articles or wares not specially provided for, whether partly or wholly manufactured:
*******
Composed wholly or in chief value of iron, steel, copper, brass, nickel, pewter, zinc, aluminum, or other base metal (except lead), but not plated with platinum, gold, or silver, or colored with gold lacquer:
*******
Not wholly or in chief value of tin or tin plate:
Carriages, drays, * * *
*******
Other, composed wholly or in chief value of * * * brass * * *_19% ad val.

Paragraph 339 of said act, as modified, swpra:

Table, household, kitchen, and hospital utensils, and hollow or flat ware, not specially provided for, whether or not containing electrical heating elements as constituent parts:
*******
[91]*91Not plated with platinum, gold, or silver, and not specially provided for, composed wholly or in chief value of—
Brass_12%% ad val.

The following exhibits were introduced at the trial:

Plaintiff’s exhibit 1 — a pole end representing the. 1-inch size.

Plaintiff’s exhibit 2 — a pole end representing the i^-inch size.

Plaintiff’s collective illustrative exhibit 3 — consists of a curtain rod, curtain pole rings, bracket, and pole ends, together with a curtain or drapery. The composite article illustrates an actual use of the pole ends.

It was stipulated by adversary counsel that the imported commodity is chiefly used in the household.

It remains to be determined, therefore, whether the articles above described, represented by plaintiff’s exhibits 1 and 2, are household utensils within the meaning of that term, as it is used in said paragraph 339.

The only witness in the case was Jacques De Jong who, since 1956, had been president' of the plaintiff company, whose business was that of importer and wholesaler of interior decorators’ and builders’ hardware. Prior to 1956, De Jong was employed by Kroder Keubel Co., Ino., manufacturer of drapery hardware.

Based upon his experience and familiarity with the nature, character, and use of articles such as exhibits 1 and 2, De Jong stated—

On a curtain rod a pole end is needed for two reasons: First, to prevent that the last ring will fall off when the curtains are open; secondly, to prevent dampness and humidity and dirt to come into the room [sic], and thus preventing corrosion and rust.

The witness then demonstrated in more detail how the various exhibits would be put to practical use. A curtain, to which curtain hooks were fastened, was attached to the curtain rod by placing the hooks through the eyes of the pole rings. The witness explained that while there are many different ways of hanging a curtain rod to the wall, in this particular case, a bracket is attached to the wall, and between the bracket and the pole end a ring would be placed, the purpose of the pole end being to prevent the curtain from sliding off the end of the pole.

In support of its claim for classification of the imported pole ends as household utensils in paragraph 339 of the tariff act, as modified, supra, plaintiff, in its brief, relies primarily on the decision of this court in Kroder Reubel Co., Inc., and Alltransport, Inc. v. United States, 41 Cust. Ct. 274, C.D. 2186, 185 F. Supp. 515. We there said—

The term “household utensils,” as it appears, in the statute above quoted, has been judicially defined as relating to articles which serve a utilitarian purpose and are chiefly used in the household for the care and maintenance of [92]*92tlie home and for the convenience and comfort of its members. Pramette Juvenile Furniture Company v. United States, 36 C.C.P.A. (Customs) 61, C.A.D. 398.

It appears from the opinion in the Kroder Reubel case that pole rings, invoiced as three-quarters of an inch, 1 inch, iy2 inches, and 2 inches in size, similar to those forming part of plaintiff’s exhibit 3 in this case, were used by sliding them over curtain rods and attaching thereto curtains or draperies on hooks to facilitate their free movement. On the record there presented, the court held the pole rings to be household utensils in paragraph 339 of the Tariff Act of 1930, as claimed.

While the parties have agreed that the pole ends in the present controversy are chiefly used in the household, it is for the court to determine on the record before it whether said articles are, hi fact and in law, household utensils within the meaning of the statute.

From the testimony of witness De Jong, it has been shown with the use of plaintiff’s exhibit 3 that a curtain pole is attached to a window framework by brackets, with a pole ring placed between the bracket and the pole end. The pole end prevents the last pole ring, as well as the curtain or drapery, from dropping off the rod when the curtain or drapery attached thereto is opened. In such a use of the imported commodity, and it may be used on any curtain pole of the proper diameter, it is our opinion that the pole end serves primarily a utilitarian purpose. The fact that it may also provide a decorative appearance would not necessarily deprive it of its utilitarian character as a household utensil.

However, the defendant urges that the pole ends are not household utensils within the common meaning of that term, citing the case of Frank P. Dow Co., Inc. v. United States, 21 CCPA 282, T.D. 46816, wherein it was held that certain electric vacuum cleaners and floor polishers were household utensils.

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Related

Dalton Cooper, Inc. v. United States
41 Cust. Ct. 271 (U.S. Customs Court, 1958)
Kroder Reubel Co. v. United States
44 Cust. Ct. 274 (U.S. Customs Court, 1960)

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Bluebook (online)
50 Cust. Ct. 89, 1963 Cust. Ct. LEXIS 1401, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/j-c-de-jong-co-v-united-states-cusc-1963.