Peters v. United States

40 Cust. Ct. 613
CourtUnited States Customs Court
DecidedJune 20, 1958
DocketNo. 62111; protests 294681-K, 294682-K, 294683-K, and 294684-K (New York)
StatusPublished

This text of 40 Cust. Ct. 613 (Peters 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
Peters v. United States, 40 Cust. Ct. 613 (cusc 1958).

Opinion

Wilson, Judge:

It has been stipulated between the parties in these cases that the merchandise under consideration consists of material known as magnesium sulfate, having the chemical formula MgS04.3Ha0 (3 molecules of water); that magnesium sulfates having from 0 to 7 molecules of water are known as magnesium sulfates, the substance containing 7 water molecules being material known more specifically as Epsom salts. It is further established by uncontroverted testimony that the importation consisted of 52 long tons of the 3HaO magnesium sulfate, packed in bags containing 112 pounds each, all of which material was sold by the plaintiff to Doggett-Pfeil Co., a corporation whose business is the manufacture of fertilizers, insecticides, and chemicals for horticulture. It further appears from the undisputed evidence that all of the material in question was used in the manufacture of a liquid fertilizer.

Ernest S. Peters, a partner in L. D. Peters & Sons, the plaintiff, testified that the importer sold all of the magnesium sulfate imported by it in 1954 and 1955 to Doggett-Pfeil Co., its only customer for the product, and that it sold no other grade of magnesium sulfate to that purchaser, except the 3 water molecule type represented by the importation. He further stated that the merchandise under consideration was not of United States Pharmacopoeia quality and that the imported substance could not be sold to any other chemical companies because it was of fertilizer grade. The witness also testified that the English manufacturer, from whom the importation was purchased, made three grades of 3 water molecule [614]*614magnesium sulfate: (1) B. P. (British Pharmacopoeia) equivalent to United States- Pharmacopoeia grade; (2) veterinary grade; and (3) fertilizer grade; and that the plaintiff purchased only fertilizer grade, which it sold exclusively for use in the manufacture of fertilizers to Doggett-Pfeil Co.

Sidney Doggett, president of Doggett-Pfeil Co., after testifying as to the nature of his corporation’s business and as to the purchase and use of the involved merchandise, further stated that he knew of no other use for MgSC>4.3H20 of a grade such as the 52 tons his company purchased from the plaintiff, except for the manufacture of fertilizers. This witness also testified that his company could not find any substantial quantities of the product in the United States and found none comparable to the imported product under consideration for solubility of the impurities contained therein. He stated that it was necessary to have a product, all of which was highly soluble, so that the sprays and pumps used in scattering the material would not become clogged.

. Dr. Douglas Calsetta, who was in charge of products development and research work for the Doggett-Pfeil Co., testified that magnesium sulfate such as that contained in the imported product was essential to the maintenance of plantlife. He further stated that, in the years 1954 and 1955, when the merchandise under review was imported, he knew of no other uses of magnesium sulfate having 3 molecules of water, such as the grade before the court, except in the’ making of fertilizers.

The defendant called as its only witness one B. T. Palermo, a pharmaceutical chemist in the employ of Merck & Co., Inc. This witness had been with Merck for 19 months and had previously spent 12 years with R. P. Scherer Co. of Detroit, a concern engaged in preparing pharmaceutical dosage forms, as assistant chief of the development laboratory. Mr. Palermo testified that he was familiar with a material having a chemical formula of MgS04.3H20; and that he had used it in testing and in the preparation of pharmaceutical dosage forms. He knew the material under the name of “Magnesium sulphate dried.” This material, as he knew it, was used by Scherer primarily as an ingredient in vitamin-mineral formulas. He stated that Epsom salts, having a chemical formula of MgS04.7H20, differs from magnesium sulfate, having the chemical formula MgS04.3H20 in the magnesium and water content. Mr. Palermo admitted, on cross-examination, that he had never seen or tested any of the material imported by the Peters company. He admitted that MgS04.3H20, as he knew it, would not comply with U. S. P. standards. The witness further admitted that he had no knowledge of the quantity of magnesium sulfate used by the companies that had employed him.

The importation was classified under paragraph 5 of the Tariff Act of 1930, as modified, as a chemical compound, not specially provided for, and assessed with duty at 1Z!4 per centum ad valorem. Plaintiff’s primary claim is that the merchandise should be classified as duty free under paragraph 1685 as a grade of a substance used chiefly for fertilizers, or chiefly as an ingredient in the manufacture of fertilizers, or, alternatively, under paragraph 49 of the Tariff Act of 1930, as modified, at three-eighths of 1 cent per pound as magnesium sulfate.

The Government contends that even though it be admitted that all of the material in question was used as an ingredient in the manufacture of fertilizers, that fact does not establish that the chief use of all such material is as an ingredient in the manufacture of fertilizer, and further contends that, to be classifiable under paragraph 49, the material must be Epsom salts having the chemical formula MgS04.7H20, since magnesium sulfate and Epsom salts, as used in paragraph 49, are synonymous.

[615]*615The pertinent paragraphs involved read as follows:

Paragraph 5 of the Tariff Act of 1930, as modified by the Torquay Protocol to the General Agreement on Tariffs and Trade, T. D. 52739:
All chemical elements, all chemical salts and compounds, all medicinal preparations and all combinations and mixtures of any of the foregoing, all the foregoing obtained naturally or artificially and not specially provided for * * *_ 12J4% ad val.
Paragraph 1685 of the Tariff Act of 1930, as amended:
Guano; basic slag (* * *); manures; * * * when imported to be used in the manufacture of fertilizer; and (* * *) those grades of substances used chiefly for fertilizers, or chiefly as an ingredient in the manufacture of fertilizers.

Paragraph 49 of the Tariff Act of 1930, as modified by the Torquay Protocol to the General Agreement on Tariffs and Trade, T. D. 52739, supplemented by T. D. 52820:

Magnesium sulphate or Epsom salts-per lb.

The first issue for determination is whether the magnesium sulfate now under consideration was, when imported in 1954 and 1955, a grade of magnesium sulfate used chiefly as an ingredient in the manufacture of fertilizer. If so, it would then fall properly under paragraph 1685, notwithstanding the provisions for magnesium sulfate in paragraph 49. In their briefs, counsel have given the count no assistance through the citation of eases but have argued facts about which there is no substantial controversy. The real problem is to determine which provisions of the tariff act are applicable to the undisputed facts.

It is, of course, a well-established principle of customs law, as stated in the case of Mattoon & Co., Inc., (A/C Philip Senegram Co.) v. United States, 42 C. C. P. A. (Customs) 19, C. A. D. 563, that the importer “has the dual obligation of overcoming the presumption of correctness attaching to the collector’s classification and of affirmatively proving its own claim.” See also United States v. G.

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Bluebook (online)
40 Cust. Ct. 613, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/peters-v-united-states-cusc-1958.