Judson Sheldon International Corp. v. United States

67 Cust. Ct. 577, 331 F. Supp. 1393, 1971 Cust. Ct. LEXIS 2280
CourtUnited States Customs Court
DecidedSeptember 15, 1971
DocketA.R.D. 295; Entry Nos. 49268; 44336; 41037
StatusPublished
Cited by5 cases

This text of 67 Cust. Ct. 577 (Judson Sheldon International Corp. 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
Judson Sheldon International Corp. v. United States, 67 Cust. Ct. 577, 331 F. Supp. 1393, 1971 Cust. Ct. LEXIS 2280 (cusc 1971).

Opinion

Newman, Judge:

This is an application for review by plaintiffs below of the decision and judgment of the trial court in Judson Sheldon International Corporation, Island Woods International v. United States, 64 Cust. Ct. 760, R.D. 11713 (1970). The merchandise involved is described on the invoices as “Prefinished Philippine Lauan Plywood”, and consists of various styles of prefinished plywood panels, purchased by Island Woods International of California (I.W.I.),1 [578]*578through its buying agent, Island Woods, Inc. of Manila (I.W.M.). Such plywood was exported during the period between December 16, 1966 and February 2, 1967 by three Philippine mills: Findlay Millar Timber Company (Findlay Millar), International Hardwood and Veneer Co. of the Philippines (Inter-Wood), and Taggat Industries, Inc. (Taggat).

The importations were appraised on the basis of constructed value, as defined in section 402 (d) of the Tariff Act of 1930, as amended by the Customs Simplification Act of 1956;2 but an amount representing a 1 percent buying commission was erroneously included in the appraised values.

Appellants contend that the proper basis for appraisement is export value as defined in section 402 (b) of the Tariff Act of 1930, as amended, swpm.3

The parties have stipulated that the merchandise does not appear on the Final List promulgated by the Secretary of the Treasury, T.D. 54521.

DecisioN Below

The trial court found that during the period of exportation I.W.I. was a “selected purchaser at wholesale” within the meaning of section 402(f) (1) (B),4 as well as a “related person” within the meaning of section 402(g),5 and held that the record fails to establish that the selling prices for exportation to the United States of the Subject merchandise “fairly reflect the market value” of said merchandise.

We are in full agreement with the trial court’s determination that I.W.I. was a selected purchaser within the meaning of section 402(f) (1) (B); but we find that the record establishes that the invoice selling prices fairly reflect the market value of the merchandise. Accordingly, we reverse.

Statutes Involved

Section 402(b) of the Tariff Act of 1930, 46 Stat. 708, as amended by the Customs Simplification Act of 1956, 70 Stat. 943:

(b) Export Value. — For the purposes of this section, the export value of imported merchandise shall be the price, at the time of exportation to the United States of the merchandise undergoing appraisement, at which such or similar merchandise is freely sold or, in the absence of sales, offered for sale in the principal markets of the country of exportation, in the usual wholesale quantities and in the ordinary course of trade, for [579]*579exportation to the United States, plus, when not included in such price, the cost of all containers and coverings of whatever nature and all other expenses incidental to placing the_ merchandise in condition, packed ready for shipment to the United States.

Section 402(f) of the Tariff Act of 1930, 46 Stat. 708, as amended by the Customs Simplification Act of 1956, 70 'Stat. 944:

(f) Definitions. — For the purposes of this section—
(1) The term “freely sold or, in the absence of sales, offered for sale” means sold or, m the absence of sales, offered—
(A) to all purchasers at wholesale, or
(B) in the ordinary course of trade to one or more selected purchasers at wholesale at a price which fairly reflects the market value of the merchandise,
without restrictions as to the disposition or use of the merchandise by the purchaser, * * *.
(2) The term “ordinary course of trade” means the conditions and practices which, for a reasonable time prior to the exportation of the merchandise undergoing appraisement, have been normal in the trade under consideration with respect to merchandise of the same class or kind as the merchandise undergoing appraisement.
$ $ $ $ $ $ &

Section 402(g) of the Tariff Act of 1930, 46 Stat. 708, as amended by the Customs Simplification Act of 1956, 70 Stat. 945:

(g) Transactions Between Belated Persons.—
(1) For the purposes of subsection (c) (1) or (d), as the case may be, a transaction directly or indirectly between persons specified in any one of the subdivisions in paragraph. (2) of this subsection may be disregarded if, in the case of any element of value required to be considered, the amount representing that element does not fairly reflect the amount usually reflected in sales in the market under consideration of merchandise of the same general class or kind as the merchandise undergoing ap-praisement. If a transaction is disregarded under the preceding sentence and there are no other transactions available for consideration, then, for the purposes of subsection (d), the determination of the amount required to be considered shall be based on the best evidence available as to what the amount would have been if the transaction had occurred between persons not specified in any one of the subdivisions in paragraph (2).
(2) The persons referred to in paragraph (1) are:
$ $ $ $ # $ *
(E) Any person directly or indirectly owning, controlling, or holding with power to vote, 5 per centum or more of the outstanding voting stock or shares of any organization and such organization; * * *
****** *

[580]*580The Kecoed

The record consists of the oral testimony of three witnesses and thirteen exhibits introduced by appellants; and one exhibit introduced by appellee. The official papers were placed in evidence by appellants, although not specifically marked as exhibits.

The trial court found the following facts (64 Cust. Ct. at 762):

Plaintiff’s [sic] second witness was Mr. John G. Davidson, the president of I.W.I., the chief party of interest in this action. Its business is primarily the importing of plywood from the Philippines. Mr. Davidson, his brother and two other men are the sole owners of I.W.I. They also own I.W.M. which acts as the buying agent of I.W.I. in the Philippines.
The merchandise at bar consists of various styles of prefinished plywood panels. They were purchased by I.W.M. from three plywood mills in the Philippines, Findlay Millar, Taggat and Inter-Wood.
Mr. Davidson and his brother own most of the stock in the Findlay Millar mill and take an active role in the mill’s affairs.
At the time the merchandise in issue was being sold to I.W.I., the above three mills were selling their entire output of pre-finished lauan plywood to plaintiffs. This was necessitated by the fact that the mills were located in the forest and their port facilities were far from the normal shipping lanes. In order for a ship to stop at the mill, the cargo had to fill the entire ship, thus necessitating large sales to one customer. Though I.W.I.

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Bluebook (online)
67 Cust. Ct. 577, 331 F. Supp. 1393, 1971 Cust. Ct. LEXIS 2280, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/judson-sheldon-international-corp-v-united-states-cusc-1971.