Paillard Products, Inc. v. United States

38 Cust. Ct. 385
United States Customs Court·Decided June 21, 1957·No. C. D. 1891·Published·Cited by 1 cases

Opinion

Wilson, Judge:

The merchandise at bar, invoiced as “M8 Projectors, without lamp,” was classified under paragraph 228 (b) of the Tariff Act of 1930 at the rate of 45 per centum ad valorem as frames and mountings for projection lenses. Plaintiff claims the articles in question properly classifiable at 13% per centum ad valorem under [386]*386paragraph 353 of the Tariff Act of 1930, as modified by the Torquay Protocol to the.^General Agreement on Tariffs and Trade, T. D. 52739, as “Articles haying as an essential feature an electrical element or device * * * Other,” or, alternatively, under paragraph 228 (b) of the Tariff Act of 1930, as modified by the General Agreement on Tariffs and Trade, T. D. 51802, at the rate of 25 per centum ad valorem as “Photographic lenses * * * not specially provided for.”

[385]*385Before Oliver, Mollison, and Wilson, Judges

[386]*386A sample representing the imported projectors, together with certain lenses imported with them (plaintiff’s exhibit 2), was received in evidence as plaintiff’s exhibit 1. It was stipulated that the projectors at bar are wholly or in chief value of metal. There is no dispute as to the classification of these lenses.

Also introduced in evidence was a drawing (plaintiff’s illustrative exhibit 3), showing the operating parts of plaintiff’s exhibits 1 and 2; a cutout, showing the inside of the construction of the lenses (plaintiff’s illustrative exhibit 4, R. 25); and a cutout section (plaintiff’s illustrative exhibit 5) of the so-called lens frame (item “KKK” on the illustrative diagram).

Plaintiff called Mr. Charles Huettenmoser, manager of the service and technical division of the importing concern, who testified that he was familiar with the imported projectors and described their operation substantially as follows: A projector is an apparatus which produces an intermittent movement of a film during which time the light is cut off by a shutter; these intermittent movements are performed by a mechanical part, driven by an electrical motor with a shutter synchronized to it. The film is moved while the shutter blade is covering up the aperture, so that no picture is projected while it is being moved. Then, while the picture is standing still, “which is the intermittent movement,” the shutter blade interrupts once, or more than once, so that the undesirable flicker on the screen is not noticed. The electrical apparatus controls the entire mechanical movement and supplies power to a lamp to give the necessary light reflected through the film, permitting the transfer of the picture from the lens onto the screen. In addition, it controls a blower, which cools the light so as to avoid intense heat which might burn up the machine. There are two lens elements in the housing of the instrument, consisting of four pieces of glass.

The record further discloses that plaintiff’s exhibit 1 contains certain other parts and mechanisms, including electrical elements, more fully identified in plaintiff’s illustrative exhibit 3, all of which are necessary for the operation of the machine in its end use. The witness described a portion of the machine as “the frame housing and entire casting of the projector, electrical apparatus and mechanism” (letter “W”). Mr. Huettenmoser testified that plaintiff’s exhibit 1 is not designed to [387]*387be operated manually and cannot be operated by any means other than electrically. He described the item designated as “KKK” on plaintiff’s illustrative exhibit 3 as “the lens frame which holds the lens in position to the projector and frames the picture area” and the item “GGG” on the said diagram as “the lens housing which holds the optical elements in position in a very precise given space, one from another,” and which, in the opinion of the witness, was the “lens mount” (R. 30-31), stating that a lens “housing” and a lens “mount” are the same thing, namely, that which holds the lens in position (R. 34 — 35). The witness agreed that he knew of no other use for the imported lenses than in connection with the imported projectors. He further testified that he had never separately imported the “lens housing” or the lens frame (items “GGG” and “KKK”), but that the lenses and the lens housing are imported intact and that the lens frame is imported attached to the projection apparatus.

Plaintiff’s witness further testified that plaintiff’s exhibit 1 is “a metal support,” explaining that “The entire frame of the machine supports the mechanism,” the electrical equipment and the mechanical equipment, i. e., “all the parts are supported by the frame” (R. 44). In this connection, the witness admitted that plaintiff’s exhibit 1 has a basic frame upon which the various parts are mounted, including the housing for the lens, “in order that the entire assembly may be a complete motion picture projector when the lens is inserted” (R. 53-54), further explaining “The entire machine is mounted on a housing which can be considered as a frame” (R. 60).

The defendant called two witnesses. Elmer S. Lindfors, vice president in charge of eastern operation with Bell-Howell, manufacturer of motion-picture equipment, stated that, based on his experience, he was familiar with motion-picture projectors and motion-picture machines. He testified that the lens elements in plaintiff’s exhibit 1, exclusive of the rest of plaintiff’s exhibit 2, are not “projection lenses per se,” and are not considered projection lenses, unless they are incorporated in the complete assembly (plaintiff’s exhibit 2) (R. 65).

Mr. Lindfors testified that the “frame” for a projection lens would be “this entire unit which holds the various components which are assembled to the frame.” He described the item “GGG,” the barrel in which the lens elements are mounted, as the mounting for the projection lens, stating: “The projection lens has been slipped into the mounting which attaches the lens to the projector. The mounting is attached to the frame of the projector and is part of the unit.” (R. 66-68.) Referring to plaintiff’s exhibit 1, the witness testified as follows:

Chief Judge Oliver: How do you describe that entire unit?
The Witness: This would be the combination of the projection lens and the lens mounting.
[388]*388Chief Judge Oliver: And all the other elements?
The Witness: Yes (R. 69).

He testified that the entire unit, plaintiff’s exhibit 1, is both a frame for a projection lens and also a frame “for the entire working unit” of the projector, because “it frames everything in there” (R. 71-72), and that the lens elements, as assembled in the housing (plaintiff’s exhibit 2), are known as “projection lens.”

The defendant’s second witness was Robert E. French, associated with the Keystone Manufacturing Co., maker of cameras and projectors, in the capacity of chief engineer since 1950, and, prior thereto, being employed by the same concern as project engineer. He had also been connected with the Office of Naval Intelligence, United States Navy, where he had sold motion-picture projectors and other scientific equipment and, prior to this association, had been employed by the Eastman-Kodak Co., also as a project engineer.

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Paillard Products, Inc. v. United States, 38 Cust. Ct. 385 (cusc 1957).

38 Cust. Ct. 385 (Paillard Products, Inc. v. United States) — published by Counsel Stack Legal Research, free access to 12M+ legal documents.

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