Pitman Publishing Corp. v. United States

28 Cust. Ct. 164, 1952 Cust. Ct. LEXIS 20
CourtUnited States Customs Court
DecidedApril 3, 1952
DocketC. D. 1404
StatusPublished
Cited by7 cases

This text of 28 Cust. Ct. 164 (Pitman Publishing Corp. 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
Pitman Publishing Corp. v. United States, 28 Cust. Ct. 164, 1952 Cust. Ct. LEXIS 20 (cusc 1952).

Opinion

Rao, Judge:

The Pitman Publishing Corporation imported from Canada several thousand sets or collections of blank sheets of ledger paper punched with holes for use in loose-leaf binders. The sets consisted variously of 16, 36, or 60 sheets of paper, with either one or two similarly punched printed sheets of what was described on the invoices as “#101 Polder Stock” serving as a front cover and one or two blank sheets of said “#101 Folder Stock,” also punched with holes, serving as a back cover. Accompanying each set of individual sheets and covers and enclosed therewith in a printed kraft envelope was a bound blank book of either journal or ledger paper.

The collector made separate classifications of the sets of loose-leaf paper, including the “Folder Stock,” the bound books, and the envelopes. His action with respect to the latter two classes of merchandise is not here in issue. The protests before the court are directed against the collector’s classification of the sheets of loose-leaf ledger paper as manufactures of paper, not specially provided for, and his assessment of duty thereon at the rate of 35 per centum ad valorem pursuant to the provisions of paragraph 1413 of the Tariff Act of 1930.

It is claimed in the protests, or by timely amendment thereto, that the merchandise in question is properly dutiable at only 12% per centum ad valorem, as blank books, which are provided for in paragraph 1410 of said act, as modified by the General Agreement on Tariffs and Trade, 82 Treas. Dec. 305, T. D. 51802, or that it is ledger paper, ruled, weighing over 8 pounds to the ream, such as is provided for in paragraph 1407 (a) of said act, as modified by said trade agreement, at the rate of 134 cents per pound and 12% per centum ad valorem.

Except insofar as it is claimed that the merchandise in question is properly dutiable as blank books, no other specific provision for the proper classification of the so-called “Folder Stock” is alleged in either protest. Neither does the record in this case contain any [166]*166evidence purporting to show the composition, nature, or character of that portion of the importation here in controversy.

The relevant tariff provisions read as follows:

Paragraph 1407 (a) of the Tariff Act of 1930, as modified by the General Agreement on Tariffs,and Trade:.

Japan paper and imitation japan paper by whatever name known, ledger, bond, record, tablet, typewriter, manifold, onionskin, and imitation onionskin paper, and paper similar to any of the papers specified in paragraph 1407 (a), Tariff Act of 1930 (except paper valued at less than 40 cents per pound and similar to drawing paper); all the foregoing weighing eight pounds or over per ream:
Ruled, bordered, embossed, printed, lined, or decorated in any manner, whether in the pulp or otherwise, other than by lithographic process
1%£ per lb. and 12%% ad val.

Paragraph 1410, as modified by said agreement:

% * . * * * * *
Blank books and slate books (except diaries, notebooks, and address books), not specially provided for_ 12%% ad val.

,■ Paragraph 1413:

• * * * manufactures of paper, or of which paper is the component material of chief value, not specially provided for, all the foregoing, 35 per centum ad valorem.

Samples of all of the imported merchandise are in evidence in this case. Plaintiff’s exhibit 1 consists of a bound book of blank journal paper, entitled “Journal for Practice Set, Part I,” and a set of 36 loose-leaf ledger sheets with two printed covers, one bearing the title “General Ledger for Practice Set, Part I,” the other, “Subsidiary Ledgers for Practice Set, Part I,” and two plain covers. All are enclosed in an envelope which is marked “Laboratory Material, Part I.”

Plaintiff’s exhibit 2 is entitled “Laboratory Material, Part II.” It consists of the envelope with printed title, a bound blank book of ledger paper marked “Work Sheets for Practice Set, Part II,” which was described as an analysis book, a set of 16 loose sheets of journal paper, ■with a single front and back cover, called “Journal for Practice Set, •Part II,” and a set of 60 sheets of ledger paper, with a single front and back cover, entitled “Ledger for Practice Set, Part II.”

' All. of the loose sheets are ruled and have three holes punched at intervals along the left side. All of the loose covers are punched with holes at points corresponding with those on the sheets.

It appears from the record that the sets of loose sheets of journal or leidger paper, including the covers, and the bound blank books, such .as the samples in evidence, are sold as a unit to colleges and universities in connection with a basic textbook in introductory accounting. [167]*167This laboratory material is for the use of students in completing exercises and problems which are contained in the textbook. Apparently, however, there is nothing which would prevent the use of the sheets in a loose-leaf binder for making any permanent record.

The^parties have stipulated that the loose-leaf sheets in issue consist of ruled ledger paper, measuring less than 110 square inches in area and weighing more than .8 pounds to the ream of 187,000 square inches.

With respect to the claimed classification under paragraph 1410, supra, as modified, plaintiff contends that the sheets are, in effect, unfinished or unbound blank books, which need only a loose-leaf binder or a red tape joining to become a finished blank book. As such, it is urged that the articles are covered by the principle of the case of In re Hempstead, 95 Fed. 967, affirmed 103 Fed. 197, wherein, it is claimed, the court held that unbound books are books for tariff purposes.

We do not construe the Hempstead case, supra, as having the broad implication ascribed to it by plaintiff. The court there held merely that in the absence of a congressional intent to narrow or confine the statutory meaning of the word, that which is in fact a book may not be deprived of classification as such because it is imported in unbound sheets. The court, in holding that the merchandise before it, which consisted of printed sheets' of a work entitled “A Text-Book on Diseases of the Ear and Adjacent Organs,” by Dr. Adam Politzer, was a book, was governed largely by the fact that the unbound sheets contained “in orderly and connected fashion the record of the intellectual and literary work of the author' * *

In any event, we think the present phraseology of paragraph 1410, supra,

Free access — add to your briefcase to read the full text and ask questions with AI

Related

Border Brokerage Co. v. United States
39 Cust. Ct. 326 (U.S. Customs Court, 1957)
Holmes v. United States
37 Cust. Ct. 260 (U.S. Customs Court, 1956)
Consolidated Sewing Machine Co. v. United States
37 Cust. Ct. 314 (U.S. Customs Court, 1956)
Taylor v. United States
33 Cust. Ct. 246 (U.S. Customs Court, 1954)
John P. Herber & Co. v. United States
30 Cust. Ct. 193 (U.S. Customs Court, 1953)
Hirschberg v. United States
30 Cust. Ct. 104 (U.S. Customs Court, 1953)
Pitman Publishing Corp. v. United States
30 Cust. Ct. 525 (U.S. Customs Court, 1953)

Cite This Page — Counsel Stack

Bluebook (online)
28 Cust. Ct. 164, 1952 Cust. Ct. LEXIS 20, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/pitman-publishing-corp-v-united-states-cusc-1952.