National Lead Co. v. United States

51 Cust. Ct. 13, 1963 Cust. Ct. LEXIS 1313
CourtUnited States Customs Court
DecidedAugust 8, 1963
DocketC.D. 2407
StatusPublished
Cited by4 cases

This text of 51 Cust. Ct. 13 (National Lead 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
National Lead Co. v. United States, 51 Cust. Ct. 13, 1963 Cust. Ct. LEXIS 1313 (cusc 1963).

Opinion

DoNloN, Judge:

The merchandise in these three cases, consolidated at the trial, is described in the invoices as antimony ore briquettes. It was imported from Algeria at various times between June 29,1955, and April 4, 1956, and assessed with duty at 15 per centum ad valorem under paragraph 214 of the Tariff Act of 1980, as modified by the General Agreement on Tariffs and Trade, T.D. 51802, as earthy or mineral substances, partly manufactured, not specially provided for.

All of the protests, as originally filed, claimed that the merchandise is duty free under section 2 of Public Law No. 869, 81st Congress, as amended by Public Law No. 678, approved August 27, 1954 (TJX 53585), or by Public Law No. 66, approved June 8, 1955 (T.D. 53828). Either in the original protest or by protest amendment claim is also made that the merchandise is duty free, under paragraph 1608 of the Tariff Act of 1930, as antimony ore.

Plaintiff has not presented either evidence or argument in support of its claim under amended Public Law No. 869. We deem that claim abandoned, and it is dismissed.

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

[Pak. 214.] Earthy or mineral substances wholly or partly manufactured and articles, wares, and materials (crude or advanced in condition), composed wholly or in chief value of earthy or mineral substances, not specially provided for, whether susceptible of decoration or not, * * *:

If not decorated in any manner:

Other_15% ad val.
Pab. 1608. Antimony ore. [Free.]

There are in evidence certain written interrogatories and the deposition of Pierre Thiery, taken pursuant to a commission issued by the court, together with the invoices, entry papers, and United States Customs Laboratory analyses attached to the official papers. There is also testimony of Phil W. Ruppert.

The laboratory reports state as follows:

Protest Nos. 324719-K and 58/6849
The sample in the form of small lumps is antimony ore containing 0.6% lead and 0.6% zinc.
Information obtained from the importer indicates that the ore, in the form of “fines”, is mixed with a binder (probably cement) and pressed into bricks. G.I.E. 308/54 noted.
Protest No. 58/6467
The sample in the form of a broken brick is antimony ore containing 0.6% lead and 0.2% zinc.
Information obtained from the importer on similar importations from Algeria indicates that the ore is mixed with a binder and pressed into bricks. G.I.E. 308/54 noted.

[15]*15Pierre Thiery, consulting engineer, testified in answer to the written interrogatories that he was employed as manager of the Societe des Mines d’Ain Kerma, in Algeria, from 1934 to 1960, and that he was familiar with the antimony ore briquettes shipped by the Societe to the United States, including the merchandise of these protests. He said the merchandise was antimony ore, Man iron antimoniate which we call ‘flageolotite.’ ” He described the condition of the merchandise, in the mine, and the processes performed upon it, as follows:

In the mine, layers were 5 or 6 metres thick and the ore was very clayey and friable. It is a hygroscopic ore which is pulverons and has a tendency to absorb the moisture in the air or rain. There are practically no pieces. It is a friable and pulverous yellow ore.
The run-of-mine ore was brought out of the mine in bulk and was roughly sorted by hand to free it from the little calamine it might contain and from the grey clay it contained. To put it into briquettes afterwards, when we had to do so, we mixed it with water and a little cement (5% of the weight of the ore), to agglomerate it. We then passed it through a compacting press. The briquettes were moulded, put to dry and were then ready for shipment.

The briquettes were not shipped in containers, but were handled manually, two by two, and loaded in bulk.

According to M. Thiery, the Societe des Mines d’Ain Kerma sold the greater part of its production to its parent company, in France, in bulk without briquetting. He said that bulk ore had a very poor appearance; that it became powdery in hot weather and that the wind blew some away, causing a good deal of loss; and that when it rained, the ore formed a clayey magma, which was difficult to handle. Several trial lots were shipped to the United States in bags, but the bags were expensive. The witness testified:

* * * We were obliged to ship in bags because the merchandise was being sent to America and had to be unloaded and reloaded in Marseilles, in transit, and we preferred to ship it in bags because if it had rained on it, the merchandise would have looked very bad.
Our Manager asked us whether we could not make briquettes so as to avoid the cost of bags and also the risk of bad weather, loss and moisture. I answered that we could very well do so * * *.

The witness stated that the price of the antimony ore briquettes is not higher than that of the same quality antimony ore, unbriquetted, as the difference is only a matter of packing and form.

Phil W.

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Related

Evvan Importers, Inc. v. United States
85 Cust. Ct. 51 (U.S. Customs Court, 1980)
Union Carbide Int'l Co. v. United States
66 Cust. Ct. 46 (U.S. Customs Court, 1971)
National Lead Co. v. United States
52 Cust. Ct. 369 (U.S. Customs Court, 1964)

Cite This Page — Counsel Stack

Bluebook (online)
51 Cust. Ct. 13, 1963 Cust. Ct. LEXIS 1313, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/national-lead-co-v-united-states-cusc-1963.