Kaysons Import Corp. v. United States

56 Cust. Ct. 146, 1966 Cust. Ct. LEXIS 2017
CourtUnited States Customs Court
DecidedMarch 2, 1966
DocketC.D. 2622
StatusPublished
Cited by13 cases

This text of 56 Cust. Ct. 146 (Kaysons Import 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
Kaysons Import Corp. v. United States, 56 Cust. Ct. 146, 1966 Cust. Ct. LEXIS 2017 (cusc 1966).

Opinion

Nichols, Judge:

The merchandise involved in this case is described on the invoice as “B/O Automatic Tooth-Brush, Operated by Three Flashlight Batteries, Bemote Control System w/Battery Container and Brushes.” It was imported from Japan at the port- of Los Angeles on January 15,1963, and was assessed with duty at 9 cents each and 19 per centum ad valorem under paragraph 1506 of the Tariff Act of 1930, as modified by T.D. 55615 and T.D. 55649, as toothbrushes. It is claimed to be properly dutiable at 12% per centum ad valorem under paragraph 353 of said tariff act, as modified, as articles having as an essential feature an electrical element or device.

The pertinent provisions of said tariff act, as modified, ,are as follows:

[148]*148At the trial, Aaron. D. Kay testified that he is the buyer and is directly in charge of the entire operation of Kaysons International or Kaysons Import, general merchandise importer, and is a salesman, member of the board of directors, and advisor of Jack Kay & Sons, distributor of domestic appliances and housewares. He is vice president and secretary of both companies. He has traveled in the Orient buying merchandise and throughout the United States selling it. He has become familiar with the use made of such merchandise through discussions with the people to whom he sells and knows the possible markets for such items. He has been familiar with the imported article since he bought it in October 1962 and has been familiar with comparable domestic items since about the same time. Almost every electrical appliance manufacturer in the United States whose line his firm carries has come out with an electrical toothbrush. He has seen them used and has demonstrated their uses.

A pictorial representation of a domestic electric toothbrush which the witness said looked like the imported article was received in evidence as plaintiff’s illustrative exhibit 1. The article depicted has a box-like portion at the bottom from which protrude an article consisting of a shaft with a tip and a switch, and 4 articles resembling ordinary toothbrushes, but with shorter handles. The witness said that the article pictured has an electrical unit which plugs into an electric outlet, but that the imported one is battery operated and that the batteries are concealed in the bottom of the unit and attach to the motor with a cord or wire. The motor is apparently in the shaft. The toothbrush head fits onto the small tip at the end of the shaft. The four different toothbrush heads are interchangeable and will each fit onto the motor-driven unit. The purpose of including four in the set is so that all the members of the family can use the motor-driven unit and still have their own toothbrush heads. Although not so stated, it is obvious that either before or after the toothbrush head is attached, the shaft must be taken out of the cabinet for use in brushing the teeth. When the motor is activated, the portion of the unit containing the brush is caused to vibrate and the action back and forth brushes the teeth and massages the gums. The very rapid motion of the toothbrush massages the gums. The witness said that an ordinary toothbrush would have some massaging action, but that, when he brushed his teeth with one, he did not massage his gums as a therapy measure.

Mr. Kay testified that it would not be practical to use the toothbrush heads by themselves without using the motor operating unit because the handles were too short. He also stated that the toothbrush head and the motor unit could not be used without activating the motor because the small tip at the end of the shaft would snap off if any pressure were put on it or the plastic would break.

[149]*149The witness has imported and sold toothbrush heads without the motor handle to replace used-up heads. They cost about 3 to 4 cents apiece. The total unit costs $1.50 f.o.b.

At the close of the trial, it was stipulated that the electric toothbrush involved herein has as an essential feature an electrical element or device, but there was no admission that the article was in chief value of metal.

Plaintiff claims that the imported article is “more than a brush” and, since it has as an essential feature an electrical element or device, it is properly classifiable under paragraph 353, supra. It is, of course, well settled that, in order to prevail, a plaintiff in a classification case must establish not only that the collector’s action is erroneous, but that the claimed classification is correct. Dorward & Sons Co. et al. v. United States, 40 CCPA 159, 162-163, C.A.D. 512; United States v. Ameris Trading Co., 41 CCPA 151, 153, C.A.D. 542 In order for merchandise to be classified under paragraph 353, supra, it must be wholly or in chief value of metal. In the instant case, there is no evidence to show what proportion of the import is metal nor the relative values of metallic and nonmetallic portions. There is no sample in evidence, and the court cannot determine from a photograph of something which the import is said to look like that it is in chief value of metal or any other material. Plaintiff cites Bruce Duncan Company, a/c Sims-Worms v. United States, 45 Cust. Ct. 85, C.D. 2202, where counsel agreed that the article was composed of a plastic body, an electric motor, contacts and switches of metal, and a bristle brush in circular form, and states that the instant merchandise is composed of comparable materials. There, however, the merchandise had been classified as household utensils in chief value of base metal and the classification thus implied a finding that base metal was present in chief value. The claim accepted this as its predicate. Naturally, counsel and the court directed their attention wholly to other issues. The case is not authority that an article can be presumed or assumed to be in chief value of metal when this was not an element of the collector’s classification decision, when no sample is before the court, when Government counsel expressly refuse so to stipulate, and when there is no evidence on which to base a finding. The four toothbrush heads were worth about 4 cents each, out of a total value of the import of $1.50, and besides, the casing was alleged to be plastic, but the rest is silence. The court is not desirous of making a mountain out of the component material of chief value issue, when only a molehill of debatable controversy is really there, as we demonstrated in John S. Connor, Inc. v. United States, 54 Cust. Ct. 213, C.D. 2536. But, to resort to another proverb, neither can we find the forest unless we are shown the trees.

[150]*150The instant protest would have to be overruled on the ground of failure to prove component material of chief value, if for no other reason.

In addition, we think that, so far as the record shows, the instant merchandise was properly classified as toothbrushes.

In Fred Roberts Co. v. United States, 46 Cust. Ct. 254, C.D. 2265, the imported article was described by the court as follows (p. 255) :

* * * It consists in part of what might be termed a handle, made of metal, in form very much like the body of a cylindrical flashlight, holding three battery cells and having a switch conveniently located thereon.

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Bluebook (online)
56 Cust. Ct. 146, 1966 Cust. Ct. LEXIS 2017, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/kaysons-import-corp-v-united-states-cusc-1966.