J. J. Gavin & Co. v. United States

54 Cust. Ct. 414, 1965 Cust. Ct. LEXIS 1953
CourtUnited States Customs Court
DecidedApril 26, 1965
DocketNo. 69266; protests 59/19447, etc. (New York)
StatusPublished
Cited by5 cases

This text of 54 Cust. Ct. 414 (J. J. Gavin & 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. J. Gavin & Co. v. United States, 54 Cust. Ct. 414, 1965 Cust. Ct. LEXIS 1953 (cusc 1965).

Opinion

Ford, Judge:

The eases listed in schedule “A,” attached hereto and made a part hereof, consolidated for the purpose of trial, bring before the court the claim of plaintiffs that the classification by the collector of customs of certain machines, designated as “RAPID-d” slitting machines and the “PRACTICA” slitting machines, and assessed with duty at the rate of 13% per centum ad valorem under the provisions of paragraph 353 of the Tariff Act of 1930, as modified by the Torquay Protocol to the General Agreement on Tariffs and Trade, 86 Treas. Dec. 121, T.D. 52739, is erroneous.

It is the position of plaintiffs herein that the imported machines do not have as an essential feature an electrical element or device to bring them within the purview of said paragraph 353 of the Tariff Act of 1930, as modified, supra, and are more correctly subject to classification under the provisions of paragraph 372 of the Tariff Act of 1930, as modified by the Sixth Protocol to the General Agreement on Tariffs and Trade, 91 Treas. Dec. 150, T.D. 54108, and, as such, dutiable at the rate of 12 per centum ad valorem or 11% per centum ad valorem, depending upon the date of entry or withdrawal from warehouse, as machines, “other,” not specially provided for, or at the same rate of duty, as “parts” under the same paragraph with respect to parts.

The pertinent portions of the statutes involved herein read as follows: Paragraph 353 of the Tariff Act of 1930, as modified by the Torquay Protocol to the General Agreement on Tariffs and Trade, supra:

Articles having as an essential feature an electrical element or device, such as electric motors, fans, locomotives, portable tools, furnaces, heaters, ovens, ranges, washing machines, refrigerators, and signs, finished or unfinished, wholly or in chief value of metal, and not specially provided for:
* * * * * * *
Other (except * * *)_13% ad val.

Paragraph 372 of the Tariff Act of 1930, as modified by the Sixth Protocol of Supplementary Concessions to the General Agreement on Tariffs and Trade, supra:

Machines, finished or unfinished, not specially provided for:
* * :K * * * *
Other (except * * *)_12% ad val. or . 11%% ad val.
Parts, not specially provided for, wholly or in chief The rate for the value of metal or porcelain, of any article provided article of which for in any item 372 in this Part. they are parts.

[415]*415The record herein consists of the testimony of Peter Van Gunten, called on behalf of plaintiffs, and the receipt in evidence of two brochures covering the two types of machines involved herein, which were received in evidence as plaintiffs’ illustrative exhibits 1 and 2, and a roll of 'paper produced by the machine depicted by plaintiffs’ illustrative exhibit 2, which was received in evidence as plaintiffs’ illustrative exhibit S.

Mr. Van Gunten described the operation of the “RAPID-d” machine as follows:

A. A slitter rewinder, which the Rapid-D is a type, takes what we call a parent roll, a mill roll of paper such as would come from a paper mill shipped direct to a paper converter.
Q. How large would that be? — A. Perhaps 40 inches in diameter and 50 or so inches wide. Now, the Rapid-D machine will take this roll, will be mounted on the back of the machine and unwound, and run over idlers into a cutting head, which would then split the paper into nominal widths and rewind it.
$ ***** *
A. Now, the Rapid-D is a center-wind machine, which means that the rewinding shaft, after the material is split it is wound on a shaft which is called a rewind shaft. And this rewind shaft is driven, is turning. And this causes— this is what pulls the paper through the machine.

The witness also described the operation of the machine, designated as the “PRACTICA,” as follows:

A. The Practica, again, receives a mill roll of paper. I am using paper as an example, we also do foil and cellophane on these machines, but paper being the most familiar thing. But the operation is identical. We take a mill roll, again, 40 inches wide in diameter, and either 40 or 50 inches wide, unwind it over a series of idlers, through a cutting head, and rewind it. In this case we rewind much smaller rolls than we do on the Rapid-D. And we are making— adding machine rolls would be the easiest example to give you. That roll is done on a Practica.
* * * * * * *
Q. Would you proceed with your description of the operation of the Prac-tica? — A. The operation of the Practica, here we are using very small cores on this exhibit. There is a small wooden core in the center of the rewound roll.
Q. That’s Exhibit S you referred to? — A. Exhibit 3. And in using the small core it is necessary to use a different type of winding method than we use on a Rapid-D. We use in this case a surface winding method, which means that the winding impulse is transmitted to the surface of the paper rather than to the core. The end result is the same, and it’s a little bit more complicated method of winding. This machine will run at speeds up to a thousand feet a minute. I think that fairly well covers it, unless you would like more technical information.

A prime mover in both instances, as used in this country, is a domestic electric motor, which is provided after importation. In both these machines, the prime mover is bolted to the machine but it is not so required, and the power is transmitted to the machines by V-belts. In the ease of the “RAPID-d” machines, in addition to the drive motor, a special rheostat is also supplied after importation. The rheostat is used to control the electric field in the drive ,motor, thereby maintaining a constant surface speed of the roll. This is utilized because, as the roll gets larger and larger, the surface speed increases. The rheostat is not used in the country of manufacture. The same result could be accomplished by controlling the speed of the main drive. There are no other electrical features in the “RAPID-d” machine.

With respect to the “PRACTICA” machine, in addition to the prime mover, which is domestically supplied after importation, there is, in its condition as imported, a fractional horsepower motor called a booster motor, which is actuated by a foot pedal. This booster motor lifts and lowers the rider roller [416]*416to enable the operator to remove the rewound rolls. Witness Van Gunten testified that said booster motor was not essential since the operation could be easily accomplished mechanically, by adding a bracket to mount a shaft with a gear on the end of it. This could be accomplished for approximately $100. There is also attached to the machine at the time of importation a transformer which supplies compatible voltage to the booster motor.

In addition to the foregoing, there is also attached to the “PRACTICA” at the time of importation an automatic diameter shutoff. This device is set for a particular size diameter and, when the rewound roll attains the desired size, the position of the rider roller actuates a mieroswitch which shuts off the drive.

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Miller v. United States
59 Cust. Ct. 212 (U.S. Customs Court, 1967)
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56 Cust. Ct. 909 (U.S. Customs Court, 1966)
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56 Cust. Ct. 528 (U.S. Customs Court, 1966)

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54 Cust. Ct. 414, 1965 Cust. Ct. LEXIS 1953, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/j-j-gavin-co-v-united-states-cusc-1965.