John B. Hewett Co. v. United States

48 C.C.P.A. 24, 1960 CCPA LEXIS 200
CourtCourt of Customs and Patent Appeals
DecidedNovember 17, 1960
DocketNo. 5038
StatusPublished

This text of 48 C.C.P.A. 24 (John B. Hewett Co. v. United States) is published on Counsel Stack Legal Research, covering Court of Customs and Patent Appeals primary law. Counsel Stack provides free access to over 12 million legal documents including statutes, case law, regulations, and constitutions.

Bluebook
John B. Hewett Co. v. United States, 48 C.C.P.A. 24, 1960 CCPA LEXIS 200 (ccpa 1960).

Opinion

Martin, Judge,

delivered the opinion of the court:

This is an appeal from the judgment of the United States Customs Court, Second Division, C.D. 2140, overruling the importer’s [25]*25protest and sustaining the classification of B.T.U. meters for tariff purposes as “Instruments suitable for measuring flowage of liquids” under paragraph 368(a) of the Tariff Act of 1930. Appellant contends that the imported merchandise should be classified as machines, not specially provided for, under paragraph 372 of the Act or as manufactures of metal, not specially provided for, under paragraph 397 of the Act.

Paragraph 368(a) of the Tariff Act of 1930, as modified by the supplementary trade agreement with Switzerland, 90 Treas. Dec. 174, T.D. 53832, so far as pertinent, reads:

* * * any mechanism, device, or instrument intended or suitable for measuring distance, speed, or fares, or the flowage of water, gas, or electricity, or similar uses * * *
******* Other * * *
*******
Over $10_$2.25 each and 35% 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, 91 Treas. Dec. 150, T.D. 54108, reads:

Description of Products A3 B4
Machines, finished or unfinished, not specially provided for:
Adding machines * * *
*******
Other_13% ad val. 12% ad val.

Paragraph 397, modified as is paragraph 372, supra, reads:

Description of Products A3 B4

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 * * *
******
Not wholly or in chief value of tin or tin plate:
Carriages, drays, trucks * * *
******
Other * * *_21% ad val. 20% ad val.

It is evident that the meters in controversy are designed and intended to measure the amount of heat which is lost from or gained by a water circulating system. This amount of heat is measured in British Thermal Units (B.T.U.). A B.T.U. is the amount of heat required to raise one pound of water one degree Fahrenheit. It ap[26]*26pears undisputed that the following testimonial statement is properly descriptive of the meters:

* * * The b.t.u. meter consists of a flow meter, an integrating mechanism mounted on the liquid or flow meter, and two temperature-sensitive bulbs filled with mercury which are inserted into the supply and return pipe or into the cold and hot water lines. The integrator includes two six-digit counters, one of which indicates the total heat supplied in b.t.u.’s, the second counter records total gallons passed through the meter. A pointer above the counter indicates the temperature differences in degrees Fahrenheit of the supply and return liquid.

In a hot water circulating system intended to heat a room, for example, water enters through a hot water supply line, passes through radiators, and leaves through a cold water return line. The cold water is then reheated and recirculated. The B.T.U. meter is installed in such a system. The flow of water through the meter and the mercury in the two temperature-sensitive bulbs in the supply and return lines together actuate the integrating mechanism which in turn actuates the B.T.U. counter. Thus the counter records in a cumulative fashion the amount of heat leaving the circulating system. During the meter operation, an observer may also read the temperature difference in the supply and return lines at the instant of observation and the number of gallons of water which has flowed through the meter since the last observation. It appears that gallon flow and temperature difference observations are intended only as checks on meter operation. The primary function of the meter is to measure heat loss or gain in the water circulating system.

It was stipulated by adversary counsel that the B.T.U. meters in issue are composed wholly or in chief value of base metal, not plated with gold, silver, or platinum, and not colored with gold lacquer.

The Customs Court held that the B.T.U. meters in controversy come within the purview of the provisions of paragraph 368(a), as modified, supra. That court said:

Even were it found that the instant B.T.U. meters, as a whole, are not mechanisms, devices, or instruments intended or suitable for measuring the flowage of water, it is our view that the meters presently before the court are measuring devices having a similar use to the items denominated in paragraph 368, supra. Whereas the record discloses that the primary purpose of the involved meters is to provide a reading in B.T.U.’S of energy used in a heating or refrigerating system and that the user is not interested in the volume of water as such [27]*27which passes through the meter, it, nevertheless, is a fact that in order for the device to supply the desired reading in B.T.U.’s the volume of water passing through the meter is an essential factor in arriving at such reading.

Appellant urges that since the collector did not classify the article in question as one for “similar uses,” there is no presumption that it is a similar article and that it was the duty of the Government to convince the court of similarity.

The Government’s position was summarized by counsel as follows:

For the purpose of the record I would like to make clear that it’s the Government’s position although the classification seemed to put it on the basis of device for measuring the flowage of water, it’s the Government’s position that it is within the provisions of 368, which reads device, instrument, or mechanism suitable for measuring the flowage of electricity, gas, or water, or similar uses. We say and contend that this device, if it doesn’t measure the flowage of water within the true meaning of paragraph 368, that it is similar in use to those specified meters.

There is no doubt that the performance of the meter in measuring the flowage of water is only incidental to the primary objective of the device — measuring the heat loss or gain in the system in which it is used. Consequently, paragraph 368(a) is not applicable to the importations on the basis that they are meters which measure the flowage of water. Therefore, the question before us is whether this paragraph applies to the imported devices by reason of the inclusion of the words “or similar uses” in it. If Congress intended that only those meters which measure distance, speed or fares, or flowage of water, gas or electricity be classified under this part of the paragraph, the words “or similar uses” would be meaningless as all types of mechanisms used to measure these items are specifically covered. It is our belief that Congress intended to include meters which make other measurements.

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48 C.C.P.A. 24, 1960 CCPA LEXIS 200, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/john-b-hewett-co-v-united-states-ccpa-1960.