Jamison v. United States

42 Cust. Ct. 429
CourtUnited States Customs Court
DecidedDecember 22, 1958
DocketReap. Dec. 9280; Entry No. 560, etc.
StatusPublished
Cited by3 cases

This text of 42 Cust. Ct. 429 (Jamison 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
Jamison v. United States, 42 Cust. Ct. 429 (cusc 1958).

Opinion

Johnson, Judge:

The merchandise in these cases, listed in schedule “A,” attached hereto, consists of hand-stamped leather riding saddles imported from Mexico between November 18, 1944, and May 6, 1946, inclusive. Twenty-nine importations are involved herein, each including 20 to 34 saddles, manufactured by A. Gamez of Magdalena, Sonora, Mexico, and imported by Tom Jamison, Nogales, Ariz. Most of the shipments were made at intervals of about 2 weeks, but there were a few intervals of a month or more. The merchandise was invoiced at 190 pesos (Mexican currency) per saddle, entered at the invoice value, plus sales tax, and appraised at 214 pesos each.

[430]*430When this case was first before me, I held that foreign value, as defined in section 402 (c) of the Tariff Act of 1930, as amended by the Customs Administrative Act of 1938, was the proper basis for the determination of the value of the merchandise and that such value was 190 pesos each, plus sales tax. Tom Jamison v. United States, 28 Cust. Ct. 610, Reap. Dec. 8110.

On appeal to the first division of this court, said decision and judgment were reversed and the case remanded for the purpose of giving the parties an opportunity to offer further proof as to the usual wholesale quantities in which this merchandise was freely offered to all purchasers. United States v. Tom Jamison, 31 Cust. Ct. 468, A. R. D. 32.

Thereafter, an additional hearing was held before me and further evidence presented.

At the original hearing, three witnesses testified on behalf of the plaintiff: Tom Jamison, the importer; Alejandro Gamez, the manufacturer; and Manuel Enciso, customhouse broker. There were received in evidence a contract between Mr. Jamison and Mr. Gamez, dated May 18, 1945 (plaintiff's collective exhibit 1), and a report of Customs Agent Benjamin S. White, Jr., dated August 30, 1946 (defendant’s collective exhibit 2).

From this evidence, it appears that Mr. Jamison purchased saddles from Mr. Gamez in 1944, 1945, and 1946, and possibly in 1943. According to Mr. Jamison, when he first went into the saddle business, in 1943, he purchased cheaper saddles in quantities of 5 to 10. Thereafter, the majority of the saddles he purchased were of the type before me and were bought from Mr. Gamez for 190 pesos each, at Magdalena, Sonora, Mexico, a principal market and the place of manufacture. These purchases were made pursuant to verbal agreements and written contracts, of which there were two or three. The contracts called for 50 saddles a month or 25 every 2 weeks, delivery to be taken at Magdalena. One contract was introduced into evidence as plaintiff’s collective exhibit 1. According to this contract, Mr. Gamez was to manufacture 400 saddles for Mr. Jamison of the smooth-stamped type and of the hand-tooled type, at the price of 190 pesos each for the first and 265 pesos each for the second. They were to be manufactured and delivered in partial shipments of 25 to 30 saddles every 15 days between June 15 and December 15, 1945.

Mr. Jamison testified that the prices were the same during the entire period involved herein; that he was not given a better price than anyone else and did not get the entire output of the manufacturer. He said he could have purchased the same or similar merchandise from other manufacturers in Magdalena at the same price. He never purchased such saddles in quantities of less than 10 and considered a wholesale quantity to be no less than 10.

[431]*431Mr. Gamez testified that be freely offered such saddles to the public in wholesale quantities at 190 pesos each during the period from 1944 to 1946; that be considered 10 saddles or more a wholesale quantity; that the price to purchasers of less than 10 was a little higher. However, since he had such a large order from Jamison, there were few occasions when he was able to offer more than 10 to other buyers. He stated:

I had my established value of 190 pesos for lots of more than 10, and naturally when the order did not exceed 10, I had to protect myself and get a little bit more.
X Q. In other words, you based your prices on quantity purchases, is that right?
* ***** *
The Witness: When I sold more than 10 saddles, I got 190 pesos, and when the order was less, I got a little more.
By Me. Spectob:
X Q. It didn’t make any difference who bought the saddles, if they bought less than 10 saddles you would charge more money? — A. Yes, when the order was less than 10, I charged them more than 190 pesos.

The witness explained that he sold saddles to tourists who came to his shop for 210 or 220 pesos each. He also said that, occasionally, when Mr. Jamison did not call for the saddles he had ready and he (the witness) was in urgent need of money, he took saddles to Nogales, Sonora, Mexico, and sold them there at a higher price, which included the transportation charges amounting to about one dollar. He remembered selling some to Carrasco Bros, in Nogales at 214 pesos each, in quantities of 3, 4, or 8. One of these sales is referred to in the report of the customs agent, which states:

* * * According to Mr. Gamez, the 214.00 pesos charged Carrasco Hermanos was what he considered his “retail” value and not a wholesale value. No verification of Mr. Gamez’ statements was available.

Another sale referred to in the report included six plain saddles identical to those involved herein at $44 each, covered by an entry made by J. B. Stiles at Nogales, Ariz., on June 5, 1944.

Both Mr. Jamison and Mr. Gamez stated that similar saddles were offered by other manufacturers in Magdalena at 190 pesos each in wholesale quantities and that such saddles could be purchased at other markets further south at lower prices. Mr. Gamez stated that he had purchased some from one Salazar.in Hermosillo at 180 pesos and had sold them at 190 pesos, to fill Mr. Jamison’s order.

At the rehearing, Fernando Gallego testified that, during the period from November 1944 to the summer of 1946, he had been employed and paid by Mr. Jamison to haul saddles for him from Magdalena to Nogales. He picked up the saddles from Mr. Gamez when they were ready, and delivered them to Mr. Jamison who gave him a check for Mr. Gamez. On receiving the check, Mr. Gamez gave him a [432]*432receipt which he forwarded to the broker. A packet of these receipts was received in evidence as plaintiff’s collective exhibit 2.

There were also received in evidence an affidavit of Lino Carrasco Bravo, dated January 20, 1958 (plaintiff’s exhibit 3), and an affidavit of Alejandro Gamez, also dated January 20,1958 (plaintiff’s exhibit 4).

The affiant, Lino Carrasco Bravo, stated that he was the proprietor of Carrasco’s Curio Store; that, during March 1944, said store purchased 5 plain leather saddles from Alejandro Gamez at Nogales, Sonora, Mexico, at 214 pesos each; that, on a few other occasions during 1944 and 1945, the store purchased a few saddles of the same type from Alejandro Gamez at Nogales at the same price; and that it never purchased saddles from Gamez at Magdalena.

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42 Cust. Ct. 429, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/jamison-v-united-states-cusc-1958.