Myers v. United States

58 Cust. Ct. 653, 1967 Cust. Ct. LEXIS 2452
CourtUnited States Customs Court
DecidedApril 12, 1967
DocketR.D. 11289; Entry Nos. F-8714; F-8764; F-9101
StatusPublished
Cited by1 cases

This text of 58 Cust. Ct. 653 (Myers 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
Myers v. United States, 58 Cust. Ct. 653, 1967 Cust. Ct. LEXIS 2452 (cusc 1967).

Opinion

Rao, Chief Judge:

The merchandise involved in this appeal for reappraisement consists of rubber doors exported from Canada in February 1962 by W. B. McGuire Engineering Co., Ltd., and entered at the port of Champlain, N.Y., by the plaintiff for the account of The Peelle Co. of Brooklyn, N.Y. The merchandise was invoiced and entered at various unit prices, less 45 percent, and less $6.30 for nameplate, final polishing, and literature. It was appraised at the unit invoice prices, less $6.30, less 10 percent, on the basis of export value, as that value is defined in section 402(b) of the Tariff Act of 1930, as amended by the Customs Simplification Act of 1956. Plaintiff claims that the dutiable export value is represented by the entered values. An alternate claim for appraisement on the basis of constructed value, as that value is defined in section 402(d) of said tariff act, as amended, has been abandoned.

At the trial, Winston B. McGuire, president of W. B. McGuire Engineering Co., Ltd., testified that his firm manufactures rubber flexible traffic doors, pneumatic tube systems, dock covers, and door seals, and that he is familiar with the operations and policies of his company. A brochure illustrating the kind of doors involved herein was received in evidence as plaintiff’s illustrative exhibit 1. The witness explained that certain industrial and commercial establishments require quick passage through door openings and that these doors, being flexible, facilitate the flow of traffic, which in modern industry is heavy, moves fast, and involves greater loads than formerly. The doors made by his company are not in standard sizes but are made to fit an existing opening or a planned opening. In order to manufacture them, the company must have a drawing or blueprint indicating the opening size and the construction of the door opening. Such drawings must be specifically prepared in each case. Typical blueprints showing the specifications needed were received in evidence as plaintiff’s collective illustrative exhibit 4.

[655]*655Mr. McGuire stated that in his capacity as president lie has engaged in selling in the United States and Canada and has done quite a lot of traveling in Canada. He has kept abreast of his competition and, to the best of his knowledge, there is, and was in 1962, no other Canadian manufacturer of flexible doors of the kind his firm produces.

Mr. McGuire testified that his firm had a standard Canadian selling pricelist. A copy of the one in effect in February 1962 was received in evidence as plaintiff’s exhibit 2. In negotiating selling prices with The Peelle Co., Mr. McGuire said:

We used our standard Canadian selling price list, and we had a discount structure based on quantity. In other words, when any party would contract to purchase more than one pair of doors, up to the range of a hundred our discounts were established to match that. * * *

He explained that the discount schedule was as follows:

1 to 5 doors
6 to 24 doors
25 to 49 doors
50 to 99 doors
Over 100 doors
10%
15%
25%
35%
45%

He testified that The Peelle Co. was granted a discount of 45 percent on the basis of a verbal agreement that it would purchase a minimum of 100 doors a year, which doors might be purchased at any time during the period. In fact, orders, with specifications, were placed by The Peelle Co. at different times during the year, and payment was made 30 days from date of shipment at list prices, less 45 percent. Said discount of 45 percent was conditioned upon Peelle’s agreement to purchase 100 or more doors a year. If the purchaser had not done so, prices would have reverted to the discount scale agreed upon, depending upon the number of doors bought during the year. If, despite the contract to purchase 100 doors, only one had been taken, the difference between 45 percent and 10 percent would have been payable to the seller by Peelle. However, in the years 1961 and 1962, Peelle did purchase more than 100 doors per year and received the 45 percent discount inasmuch as it was fulfilling its agreement.

Lists of sales to The Peelle Co. of flexible rubber doors for the years 1961, 1962, and 1963, prepared by Miss Helen Shaw of the McGuire Co. from copies of invoices, were received in evidence as plaintiff’s collective exhibit 3. They indicate that doors were ordered on various dates throughout 1961 and 1962 and through July 8 of 1963 in quantities of 1 to 6 on any one date and that the totals for 1961 and 1962 were in excess of 100.

In return for the 45 percent discount The Peelle Co., according to the witness, relieved the seller of a very heavy burden of expense. This included the advertising cost involved in selling these doors in the United States, commissions paid sales representatives in the United [656]*656States, the cost of having the necessary drawings or blueprints drawn up, and the expense of communicating with sales representatives throughout the United States. Expenses for comparable items were incurred by the seller when the merchandise was sold in Canada.

Cost of production records for the doors involved herein were received in evidence as plaintiff’s collective exhibit 5. These give costs for the various materials used, plus 2 percent for waste, plus the cost of labor. They note the difference between the total cost of fabrication and the selling price and apportion the difference between overhead (20%) and profit (varying from 18 to 40%). Mr. McGuire said that the costs of material and labor represented the cost of all fabrication and processing at a time preceding the date of exportation which would ordinarily permit the production of these doors in the ordinary course of business. He said that overhead included rent, salaries of office personnel, fixed costs, and all expenses other than actual labor and materials. Some drawback was received on rubber but not in excess of 10 percent. The witness explained that the allowance in the invoices for nameplate, final polishing, and literature was due to the fact that, when doors are manufactured in Canada, the seller’s nameplate is placed on them, they are polished, and installation instructions and guarantee are enclosed. Peelle used its own nameplate and instructions and guarantee.

The cost sheet for doors 8 inches wide and 10 inches high, for example, shows a cost of $216.43 for material and fabrication and a selling price of $229.50. (All prices are in Canadian currency.) Twenty percent of the difference is attributed to overhead and 19 percent to profit. The Canadian pricelist gives a price of $556 for doors of this dimension. That is the invoice unit price, from which 45 percent and $6.30 are deducted, giving a total of $229.50, the entered value.

According to Mr. McGuire, the cost of materials, labor, and overhead on the cost sheets was the same for doors produced for the Canadian home consumption market and for export to the United States, but there were other expenses incurred in order to stay in business in Canada — advertising, commissions to sales representatives, and costs for the preparation of drawings.

Mr. McGuire testified on direct examination that, in February 1962, his firm was not selling to anyone in the United States except The Peelle Co., but said later that it may have sold also to W. B.

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Related

Ellis Silver Co. v. United States
63 Cust. Ct. 647 (U.S. Customs Court, 1969)

Cite This Page — Counsel Stack

Bluebook (online)
58 Cust. Ct. 653, 1967 Cust. Ct. LEXIS 2452, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/myers-v-united-states-cusc-1967.