Pez Haas, Inc. v. United States

46 Cust. Ct. 290, 1961 Cust. Ct. LEXIS 26
CourtUnited States Customs Court
DecidedJanuary 9, 1961
DocketNo. 65026; protest 59/5089 (New York)
StatusPublished
Cited by5 cases

This text of 46 Cust. Ct. 290 (Pez Haas, 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
Pez Haas, Inc. v. United States, 46 Cust. Ct. 290, 1961 Cust. Ct. LEXIS 26 (cusc 1961).

Opinion

Oliver, Chief Judge:

Plaintiff, an importer of candy, imported certain candy dispensers, consisting of a “Pez” gun which, at the time of importation, contained, in the magazine compartment thereof, a supply of “Pez” peppermints (plaintiff’s exhibit 1). The imported merchandise was assessed with duty at the rate of 14 per centum ad valorem under the provision in paragraph 506 of the [291]*291Tariff Act of 1930, as modified, for confectionery, valued at 6 cents or more per pound. In addition, the collector regarded the “Pez” guns as unusual containers for the candy and, therefore, assessed additional duty thereon, pursuant to the provisions of section 504 of the Tariff Act of 1930, at the rate of 35 per centum ad valorem under paragraph 1513 of the Tariff Act of 1930, as amended, being the rate applicable to toys, not specially provided for, which the collector considered to be the appropriate rate for the “Pez” guns, if they had been imported separately. Section 504 of the Tariff Act of 1930 reads as follows:

SBC. 504. COVERINGS AND CONTAINERS.
If there shall be used for covering or holding imported merchandise, whether dutiable or free of duty, any unusual material, article, or form designed for use otherwise than in the bona fide transportation of such merchandise to the United States, additional duties shall be levied upon such material, article, or form at the rate or rates to which the same would be subjected if separately imported.

Plaintiff makes several claims. Pertinent to our disposition of this ease are the claims, made by valid amendment to the protest, that the “Pez” gun is not an unusual container within the purview of section 504, supra,, and, therefore, not subject to the additional duty imposed thereon, and that the imported merchandise — the “Pez” gun with the candy — is dutiable as an entirety, either at the rate of 35 per centum ad valorem under paragraph 1513, as amended, as a toy, not specially provided for, or at the rate of 10 per centum ad valorem under paragraph 1558 of the Tariff Act of 1930, as amended, as a nonenumerated manufactured article. It is further alleged, by amendment to the protest, that the “Pez” guns “are separately dutiable at 10% ad valorem under Paragraph 1558 as modified or at 35% ad valorem under Paragraph 1513 as modified.”

Plaintiff’s vice president and sales manager was the sole witness who appeared herein. He identified the imported merchandise — the gun containing the candy — as a “Pez candy dispenser.” (R. 8.) The gun is concededly composed of polystyrene and is made to simulate a space gun. The witness stated that he designed the “Pez” gun for the sole purpose of selling more “Pez” candy.

Describing the method of using the imported merchandise, the witness testified that a plate at the bottom of the gun slides out and that a supply of peppermints is inserted in the magazine and the bottom plate is replaced. By pulling the trigger, the gun shoots out a piece of the candy. The witness testified further that, during his association with plaintiff over a period of 7 years, he has traveled throughout the United States and observed the use of the imported merchandise “thousands of times,” that, throughout the entire period, it has been exclusively used by children, and that whenever he saw “a child handling a Pez gun it was used for dispensing candy.” In further testimony, the witness stated that the “Pez” gun is never used without containing a supply of peppermints and that when the supply of candy has been consumed, a refill (plaintiff’s exhibit 3), which is sold separately, is purchased.

The witness identified a collection of different forms of “Pez” candy dispensers (plaintiff’s collective illustrative exhibit 2) that are designed and produced by plaintiff to promote the sale of the candy “for the various holidays” (R. 14), i.e., “Santa Glaus,” “Easter bunny,” “Hollowe’en witch,” “Popeye the Sailor,” “space man,” and a plain plastic container with snap-on cover. All of them consist of a plastic container substantially the same, if not identical, with the magazine compartment of the gun (exhibit 1, supra) and made to hold a package of peppermints, the same as the candy used in the merchandise under consideration. The top of each of the plastic dispensers is the head of the figure it represents, except the plain one. Comparing the method of operation of the group of dispensers (plaintiff’s collective illustrative exhibit 2) with the one in .question (plaintiff’s exhibit 1), the witness testified as follows (R. 14) :

[292]*292Well, the first stage works the same as in' all the other dispensers. In other words, it pushes the candy up. Then the second stage on these dispensers, Exhibit 2, you have to press the head down for the candy to come out. And on the gun you pull the trigger for the candy to come out.

Testifying further with respect to all of the “Pez” candy dispensers, the witness stated that the sole purpose in using such dispensers is to enhance the sale of “Pez” candy and that they are designed for, and actually. used by, children.

At this point, it should be noted that the collector, in assessing the ordinary or regular duties under paragraph 506, as amended, followed the provisions of section 402, which sets forth the basis for the assessment of ad valorem duties, and provides that the value of imported merchandise shall include the cost of “all containers and coverings of whatever nature” (thereby including in the value, the cost of containers, whether usual or unusual). Consequently, the regular ad valorem duties imposed on the imported merchandise were so assessed upon the basis of the combined values of the confectionery and the gun.

It follows therefrom that the primary question before us is whether the “Pez” gun is an unusual container of merchandise, as contemplated by section 504, supra. Substantially the same issue was presented in American Customs Brokg. Co. et al. v. United States, 43 Cust. Ct. 329, Abstract 63321. In that case, the merchandise consisted of a toy pistol that was constructed and designed for use with tiny, colored, candy pellets contained in the magazine compartment at the time of importation. In holding that the toy pistol was not an unusual container of merchandise within the purview of section 504, supra, we followed the statutory construction enunciated in United States v. Yamamoto & Co., 10 Ct. Cust. Appls. 70, T.D. 38338, which arose under the Tariff Act of 1913, that contained provisions (paragraph R of section III) identical with those of section 504, supra. In the Yamamoto case, earlier statutes, having language substantially the same as, or identical with, said section 504, were discussed, and then the court concluded as follows:

The manifest purpose of section 7 of the act of 1883, of section 19 of the act of 1890, of section 28 of the act of 1909, and of paragraph K of Section III of the present act, was to penalize not merchandise used as coverings or containers and imported as merchandise, but merchandise which was imported and sought to be introduced into the country not as merchandise but as coverings or containers. (See sec. 14, act of June 22, 1874.) In other words, these several enactments were aimed not at merchandise avowedly imported as such, but at merchandise masquerading as coverings or containers. * *'* [Italics quoted.]

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Bluebook (online)
46 Cust. Ct. 290, 1961 Cust. Ct. LEXIS 26, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/pez-haas-inc-v-united-states-cusc-1961.