Nord Light, Inc. v. United States

46 Cust. Ct. 14
CourtUnited States Customs Court
DecidedJanuary 10, 1961
DocketC.D. 2227
StatusPublished

This text of 46 Cust. Ct. 14 (Nord Light, Inc. 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
Nord Light, Inc. v. United States, 46 Cust. Ct. 14 (cusc 1961).

Opinion

LawreNce, Judge:

An importation described on the consular invoice as “Pulleys with brass stem and plastic nuts with spool 5y¿" [15]*15No. 2500-5A (bakelite and boop-iron) ” was classified by the collector of customs as articles or wares not specially provided for, whether partly or wholly manufactured, composed wholly or in chief value of base metal, in paragraph 397 of the Tariff Act of 1930 (19 U.S.C. § 1001, par. 397), as modified by the General Agreement on Tariffs and Trade, 82 Treas. Dec. 305, T.D. 51802, and assessed with duty at the rate of 22% per centum ad valorem.

Plaintiff claims that the articles should be classified as machines in paragraph 372 of said act (19 U.S.C. § 1001, par. 372), as modified by the Torquay Protocol to the General Agreement on Tariffs and Trade, 86 Treas. Dec. 121, T.D. 52739, and subjected to duty at the rate of 13% per centum ad valorem.

The pertinent text of the statutes above referred to is here set forth: Paragraph 397 of the Tariff Act of 1930, as modified, supra:

Articles or wares not specially provided for, whether partly or wholly manufactured :
Composed wholly or in chief value of iron, steel, lead, copper, brass, nickel, pewter, zinc, aluminum, or other metal (not including platinum, gold, or silver), but not plated with platinum, gold, or silver, or colored with gold lacquer:
Woven wire fencing * * *
# sH * * * * *
Other * * *_22ya% ad val.

Paragraph 372 of the Tariff Act of 1930, as modified, supra:

Machines, finished or unfinished, not specially provided for:
Calculating machines specially constructed for multiplying and dividing- * * *
sj- •!* s}c
Other * * *-13%% ad val.

At the trial, the following exhibits were received in evidence—

Plaintiff’s exhibit 1 — sample of the imported merchandise.

Plaintiff’s illustrative exhibit 2 — represents plaintiff’s exhibit 1 with a length of cable as it is equipped when ready for use.

Plaintiff’s illustrative exhibit 3 — the same as plaintiff’s exhibit 1, except that a portion of its barrel section has been cut out to illustrate the interior workings of the mechanism.

Plaintiff’s illustrative exhibit 4 — a card which has mounted thereon the various parts used in the makeup of plaintiff’s exhibit 1.

Defendant’s exhibit A — -a page of the New York Times Magazine of November 9, 1958, which contains an illustration of a Lightolier product, describing its use with merchandise such as plaintiff’s exhibit 1.

The various parts of exhibit 4 are described in the record as follows:

Number one is a pair of bushing covers. Number two consists of three metal pawls; number three consists of a wing nut; number four is a cotter pin; number five is a spring; number six is a spring washer; number seven is a ratchet [16]*16disc; number eight is a metal axle threaded at one end with a pressure plate in its middle and slit at the other end to allow for the insertion of the spring and also pierced to allow for the insertion of the cotter pin; number nine is a cover plate; number ten is a frame assembly consisting of a frame and two bushings. Number eleven is the barrel shown with a spring mounted in its correct position and exhibit marked A is an additional spring which has been added to this card to show what a spring looks like when it is not mounted in the barrel.

At the trial, two witnesses were called, both of whom appeared for the plaintiff; John Fedoruk, president of the plaintiff corporation, and Barnett M. Evens, a civil engineer. Both witnesses were well qualified from experience, observation, and training to testify regarding the character, construction, and functional qualities of the imported articles, and their testimony is not refuted.

The following information is derived from the testimony of the two witnesses—

The imported pulley (plaintiff’s exhibit 1) is especially designed for and chiefly used with lighting fixtures illustrated in exhibit A. Through its use, the fixture may be lifted or lowered to any desired height and suspended there. It is designed to counterbalance lighting fixtures having a weight between 2 and 10 pounds; it operates, in reverse, on the same principles as those pertaining to the common roller window shade, both of which require manual effort in raising or lowering them.

The record discloses that, when the pulley is fully assembled and wound, the tightening of a wing nut activates the operation of three pawls in connection with the ratchet end plate. The wing nut also brings into action the metal pressure plate on the axle with the flat cavity in the pressure plate. This combination prevents the suspended lighting fixture from falling.

At one end of the barrel, there is a prewound spring; the spring is inserted into the axle and at the other end is attached to the barrel by a rivet; in its prewound condition, a wire or cord is inserted into the passage in the barrel also passing through a bushing at each end.

When the entire assembly has been centered on either a cord or wire, the purpose of the spring is to activate the barrel in such a way as to make it retract the wire or cord and thus contribute to the raising of the fixture.

When a lighting fixture is suspended, it may be brought to a lower level by drawing it down by hand. In doing so, the spring winds up in proportion to the length of the cord or wire which has been drawn down.

Based upon the facts of record, the issue is sharply drawn. Obviously, the pulleys in controversy are articles or wares not specially provided for, whether partly or wholly manufactured, composed wholly or in chief value of base metal, and properly fall within the purview of paragraph 397 of the Tariff Act of 1930, as modified, [17]*17supra, if not more specifically provided for as machines in paragraph 372 of said act, as modified, supra.

In the early case of Simon, Buhler & Baumann (Inc.) v. United States, 8 Ct. Cust. Appls. 273, T.D. 37537, our appellate court held that a brewery mash filter “can not be regarded as a mechanical contrivance for utilizing, applying, or modifying energy or force or for the transmission of motion, and therefore in no sense can it be properly called a machine,” citing lexicographic definitions of “machine,” “mechanical,” and “mechanism.” That concept, with appropriate limitations, modifications, and refinements, has since been applied in a great many cases, with the courts holding that whereas all machines are mechanical contrivances, not all mechanical contrivances are machines. In United States v. Guth Stern & Co., Inc., 21 C.C.P.A. (Customs) 246, T.D. 46777, to which further reference will be made, infra, the court set forth the definition found in Webster’s New International Dictionary as follows—

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Bluebook (online)
46 Cust. Ct. 14, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/nord-light-inc-v-united-states-cusc-1961.