M. E. Dey & Co. v. United States

26 Cust. Ct. 226, 1951 Cust. Ct. LEXIS 38
CourtUnited States Customs Court
DecidedMay 17, 1951
DocketC. D. 1328
StatusPublished

This text of 26 Cust. Ct. 226 (M. E. Dey & Co. 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
M. E. Dey & Co. v. United States, 26 Cust. Ct. 226, 1951 Cust. Ct. LEXIS 38 (cusc 1951).

Opinion

Lawkence, Judge:

Upon motion of plaintiff, tide two protests above enumerated were consolidated for trial.

The merchandise to which the protests relate is described on the consular invoices as “Reflector Circles” and “Aluminum Circles,” which are represented by exhibit 1. It is not disputed that they are 18K inches in diameter, 0.057 inch in thickness, and in chief value of aluminum.

The collector of customs classified the merchandise in paragraph 397 of the Tariff Act of 1930 (19 U. S. C. § 1001, par. 397) which provides for “Articles or wares not specially provided for, if composed wholly or in chief value of * * * aluminum,” and duty was imposed thereon at the rate of 45 per centum ad valorem.

The claim relied upon by plaintiff is that the merchandise is dutiable at 6 cents per pound pursuant to the terms of paragraph 374 of said act (19 U. S. C. § 1001, par. 374), as modified by the trade agreement between the United States and the United Kingdom, 74 Treas. Dec. 253, T. D. 49753, which became effective January 1, 1939. Paragraph 374, as modified, reads as follows:

[227]*227Aluminum, and alloys (except those provided for in paragraph 302, Tariff Act of 1930) in which aluminum is the component material of chief value, in coils, plates, sheets, bars, rods, circles, disks, blanks, strips, rectangles, and squares, 60 per lb.

The “Report of Collector on Protest” in each case indicates that the collector was governed in his decision by “Abstract 42587 (Vol. 35—1918) and T. D. 39275 (Vol. 42 — 1922).” For the purposes of this opinion, those cases will be identified, respectively, as follows: B. R. Lawrence v. United States, 35 Treas. Dec. 360, Abstract 42587; and American Foreign Service Corporation v. United States, 42 Treas. Dec. 135, T. D. 39275. They will be discussed, infra.

Plaintiff introduced the testimony of two witnesses, while the defendant offered none. Since the case was submitted, defendant has filed notice that “upon consideration of the record made and the brief filed by counsel for the plaintiff,” it did not desire to file a brief on behalf of the United States.

The firstv witness introduced by plaintiff was Clyde W. Shaw, who testified that he was formerly director of purchases with the Line Material Co. of Milwaukee, Wis., the importer of the merchandise here in controversy, engaged in the manufacture and distribution of lighting equipment, transformers, hardware, and street-lighting equipment sold to the utilities for rural electrification; that he had been in this line of work about 12 or 13 years, during which time he had purchased from 30,000 to 40,000 aluminum circles which were made in the United States and about 9,800 of such articles from the Canadian Line Material, Ltd., Ontario, Canada, which comprised the shipments here under consideration. The witness explained that after the late war there was an acute shortage of aluminum in the United States, and, as it was available in Canada, these purchases were made.

In describing the use of the importations the witness testified, “They needed them in processing of street lighting heads, that is the dome or the cover that you see on the street light”; they were processed by “stamping and drawing and assembling the finished unit from the raw material.” He stated that “* * * any conical shape or round shape article is usually processed from a circle because of its desirability, and it presses and it requires less trim and less work in production”; that certain outside lighting equipment and various parts may be made from either aluminum sheets or circles, but it is more economical to make them from circles; that aluminum circles range in diameter from around 12 inches to 36 inches. The witness further testified that aluminum circles are stamped or cut out of aluminum sheets:

On cross-examination, Mr. Shaw gave the following testimony:

[228]*228■ X Q. Mr. Shaw, are these disks made entirely of aluminum? — A. An alloy aluminum.
X Q. What is the distinction between a sheet and a circle?- — A. A circle is made from a sheet.
When asked by what name the imported articles were known, the Witness replied, “* * * as a circle.”
Judge Lawrence: You buy them as circles?
• The Witness: Yes, sir.

When purchased from the Aluminum Company of America, they are ordered “As aluminum circles.”

Plaintiff's second witness, Austin Thomas Murphy, testified that he had been with the Line Material Co. for 12 years as assistant foreman and general foreman of the machine shop; the work done in the machine shop is “Fabricating of bar stock, sheets, castings, circles”; he saw the importations in question when they arrived at the plant of his company, and he recognized exhibit 1 as a circle of aluminum 18J4 inches in diameter. At the plant the articles “were fabricated into Various parts, primarily they went through a series of formation and stamping that resulted into a particular sheet for a required part. ** * They are taken to the Punch Press Department where they are blanked out; by that I mean they are cut to various shapes as required.”

The witness produced five pieces of material representing the circles after various forms had been stamped from them. These were received in evidence as collective illustrative exhibit 2. The witness then stated that from two to six pieces, depending upon the part being produced, could be stamped out of each chele. As representative of such stampings, five pieces of material were received in evidence as collective illustrative exhibit 3.

,. The witness testified further that aluminum circles may be used for making either reflectors or deflectors; that the imported circles were utilized in making deflectors; “A reflector could be classified as a housing where the bulb or lamp is contained primarily within the design to reflect the light usually toward the street. The deflector is a piece of material placed behind the light under the reflector to guide the light either to the road or the sidewalk, as the case may require.” After the blanking or stamping operation, it appears that various holes are pierced in the articles, which are then “put through a series of forming operations, one, two, or three, as required.” Illustrative exhibit 4 was introduced to represent one of the stampings which had been shaped or pierced.

Next, “the deflector is processed with an anodizing and a polishing process to give a good finish. * * * Then they are usually assembled into the various components required, and that marks the [229]*229end of the piece until it is actually sold.” Illustrative exhibit 5 was. introduced to represent one of the finished articles made from the. circles in question known as a deflector assembly.

When asked if exhibit 1 has any practical use except to cut out pieces like collective illustrative exhibits 2 and 3, the witness replied, “It has not. It must be fabricated into something else.” Mr. Murphy stated that in the preparation of the sheet from which the circles are cut, about 0.5 of 1 per centum of manganese is added.

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Bluebook (online)
26 Cust. Ct. 226, 1951 Cust. Ct. LEXIS 38, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/m-e-dey-co-v-united-states-cusc-1951.