Lilli Ann Corp. v. United States

51 Cust. Ct. 121, 1963 Cust. Ct. LEXIS 1260
CourtUnited States Customs Court
DecidedOctober 31, 1963
DocketC.D. 2418
StatusPublished
Cited by1 cases

This text of 51 Cust. Ct. 121 (Lilli Ann 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
Lilli Ann Corp. v. United States, 51 Cust. Ct. 121, 1963 Cust. Ct. LEXIS 1260 (cusc 1963).

Opinion

Ford, Judge:

This cause of action relates to the importation of certain wool fabrics, classified by the collector of customs under the provisions of paragraph 1529(a) 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, covering fabrics, wholly or in part of fringes, and assessed with duty at the rate of 45 per centum ad valorem.

Plaintiff claims said merchandise is not in part of fringe and is, therefore, properly subject to duty at the rate of 87y2 cents per pound and 25 per centum ad valorem under the provision for woven fabrics, weighing more than 4 ounces per square yard, wholly or in chief value of wool, as provided for in paragraph 1109(a) of the Tariff Act of 1930, as modified by the General Agreement on Tariffs and Trade, 82 Treas. Dec. 305, T.D. 51802.

The pertinent text of the statutes involved herein is set forth below:

Paragraph 1529(a) of the Tariff Act of 1930, as modified by the Sixth Protocol of Supplementary Concessions to the General Agreement on Tariffs and Trade:

Articles (including fabrics) wholly or in part of any product provided for in paragraph 1529 (a), Tariff Act of 1930:
Whoitly or in part of * * * fringes, * * * if not in part of lace and not ornamented (except * * *)______45% ad val.

[123]*123Paragraph 1109(a) of the Tariff Act of 1930, as modified by the General Agreement on Tariffs and Trade, 82 Treas. Dec. 305, T.D. 51802:

Woven fabrics, wedg'hing more than four ounces per square yard, wholly or in chief value of wool, regardless of value_37%0 per lb. and 25% ad val.

The record, in the instant case, consists of the testimony of one Adolph P. Schuman, president of the plaintiff corporation, as well as a sample of the imported fabrics, received in evidence as plaintiff’s exhibit 1, a lady’s coat manufactured from such fabrics, which was received in evidence as plaintiff’s illustrative exhibit 2, and one photographic exhibit of an advertisement depicting a lady’s suit, received in evidence as plaintiff’s illustrative exhibit 3.

The witness testified that he is president of the plaintiff corporation, whose business is the manufacturing of women’s coats and suits; that he is now chairman of the World Trade Authority for the State of California; that he is past-president of the National ¡Recovery Board; that his background includes serving as an expert for the National Eecovery Board, the United States Government, and the United States Navy; that he served as an expert for the United States Government and assisted in the restoration of the French woolen mills, for which he received the Legion of Honor Medal; that, in addition, for his work with the Italian mills, he was decorated with the Star of Solidarity; that he became familiar with this merchandise through one of his friends, who is a New York manufacturer and who subsequently took him to the wool supplier in France. The witness then testified that the imported fabrics came in rolls of approximately 50 meters long and were approximately 54 inches wide, having a selvage on both sides; that he personally saw fabrics of this type being manufactured in the mills while in France; that the fabrics are a mixture of wool and certain fur fibers, which are woven in the regular manner with the spindle going through the warp, the spindle being a hand-spindle, rather than a flying spindle; that the cloth is thereupon sent to Paris for dyeing and then finishing; that the fabrics are put through a finishing roller and, as they come through the roller, certain lines or warp threads are cut, forming the so-called ornamentation; that this cutting was systematically done at intervals across the fabrics, causing a portion of the threads of the fabric to hang loose on one side and remain anchored in the weave at the other; that all of this merchandise was purchased by him with no intention of using it as a fringe, but for the manufacture of garments; that he had never seen nor heard of anyone ever using this type of fabric in any other manner.

Mr. Schuman testified that, in his 23 years’ experience, he had become familiar with the term, “fringe,” and that his understanding was [124]*124that it was used to ornament or to edge a garment; that he had read the definitions in the case of Davies, Turner & Company v. United States, 39 CCPA 76, C.A.D. 476, and that he agreed with the definitions contained therein; that the only border on exhibit 1 is the selvage; that this cut edge of the fabric is done for ornamentation in the same manner as a plaid would be woven into a fabric, namely, to enhance the beauty of the material; that a fringe is never part of the material, but is sewn on in a manner similar to lace.

While the description of the manufacturing process is rather sketchy, an examination of the fabric and the description of manufacture appear to establish that the extensions of the warp thread at the so-called lines and the subsequent cutting free one end of these threads created an article similar to the “fringe” in the cases involving mufflers in St. Andrews Textile Co., Inc. v. United States, 32 CCPA 117, C.A.D. 294, and Rogers Peet Co. v. United States, 42 CCPA 221, C.A.D. 597.

In the St. Andrews case, sufra, bolts of woven wool goods, intended for use as mufflers, having weft threads omitted at intervals to indicate length and form a fringe, were held to be properly dutiable under the provision for articles in part of fringe in paragraph 1529(a) of the Tariff Act of 1930, rather than under the provisions of paragraph 1115(a) of the Tariff Act of 1930. The court therein held that a fringe for tariff purposes could include those manufactured at the time the article was being manufactured, citing Alfred Kohlberg, Inc. v. United States, 27 CCPA 354, C.A.D. 111.

In the KohZberg case, certain gloves having lace cuffs, which lace was created at the same time as the gloves were manufactured, were held to fall within the purview of paragraph 1529(a) of the Tariff Act of 1930. The question of the applicability of the preexistence rule was thoroughly discussed and found not to be applicable to “articles * * * in part,” under paragraph 1529 (a) of the Tariff Act of 1930. The court therein stated:

* * * It is our view that Congress never intended that the provision “articles * * * in part thereof” should be given such an interpretation as to make it subject to the application of the said principle of a preexisting component material, and the language of the provision, we think, clearly implies that a thing may be a part of the article referred to even though the part was produced in connection with the production of the article itself. * * *

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Inter-Maritime Fwdg. Co. v. United States
69 Cust. Ct. 138 (U.S. Customs Court, 1972)

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Bluebook (online)
51 Cust. Ct. 121, 1963 Cust. Ct. LEXIS 1260, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/lilli-ann-corp-v-united-states-cusc-1963.