Plywood & Door Northern Corp. v. United States

62 Cust. Ct. 1044, 304 F. Supp. 1030, 1969 Cust. Ct. LEXIS 3442
CourtUnited States Customs Court
DecidedJune 11, 1969
DocketA.R.D. 256; Entry No. N-112
StatusPublished
Cited by3 cases

This text of 62 Cust. Ct. 1044 (Plywood & Door Northern 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
Plywood & Door Northern Corp. v. United States, 62 Cust. Ct. 1044, 304 F. Supp. 1030, 1969 Cust. Ct. LEXIS 3442 (cusc 1969).

Opinion

Newman, Judge:

This is an application for review by plaintiff below of the decision and judgment of the trial judge sitting in reap-praisement in Plywood & Door Northern Corporation v. United States, 60 Cust. Ct. 700, R.D. 11448 (1968), holding that the appraised values were the proper dutiable export values of certain imported birch plywood.

The plywood, which is the subject of this case, was exported from Hanko, Finland, on June 24, 1965 by Oy Wilh. Schauman Ab, and entered at the port of Newport News, Virginia, on July 28, 1965. The parties agree that birch plywood appears on the Final List, T.D. 54521; and that export value as defined in section 402a(d) of the Tariff Act of 1930, as amended by the Customs Simplification Act of 1956,1 is the proper basis for appraisement.

This merchandise was sold to appellant on a c.i.f. Norfolk basis, which included the price for the merchandise, packing, inland freight, loading charges at the port of shipment, ocean freight, and insurance. The importation was appraised at the invoiced unit prices, net, less invoiced ocean freight and insurance, packed.

At the trial, the importer claimed, as it now claims on appeal, that the invoiced loading charges are nondutiable, and should be deducted from the appraised value.2 The trial judge found as a fact that there was no method of sale to the United States by Finnish exporters of birch plywood other than on a c.i.f. American port basis, and that the loading charges were part of the one price for the goods. The trial court, therefore, held that the loading charges were subject to duty “as part and parcel of the purchase price.”

In support of its contention that the loading charges are non-dutiable, appellant has cited in its brief several decisions of this court wherein the freely offered price for the merchandise was on a c.i.f. American port basis, and included among other items, loading charges at the port of shipment, which were deducted by the court from the c.i.f. prices in determining the dutiable export value. E.g. Plywood & Door Manufacturers Corporation v. United States, 44 Cust. Ct. 541, R.D. 9581 (1960), resubmitted for decision, 44 Cust. Ct. 745, R.D. [1046]*10469723 (1960), modified and remanded, United States v. Plywood & Door Manufacturers Corporation, 46 Cust. Ct. 797, A.R.D. 133 (1961);3 John A. Steer & Co. v. United States, 30 Cust. Ct. 504, R.D. 8196 (1953). These decisions were considered in the opinion below, and the trial judge concluded that loading charges were not in issue in those cases, whereas they are in issue in the present case.

In Plywood & Door, supra, birch plywood exported from Finland described as “bedrail” plywood, was appraised on the basis of export value, and in determining such value, the appraiser deducted from the unit values the following charges: loading at the port of shipment, ocean freight, insurance, and consular fee. There was no dispute in the case with respect to these charges, and the issue related solely to whether the export value should be based upon a price list prepared by an association of plywood manufacturers in Finland, and adhered to by its members. Other birch plywood from Finland, designated as “panel” plywood, was appraised on the basis of foreign value, but was held by the court to be properly dutiable on the basis of export value. In determining the latter value, the court held that the charges for loading, ocean freight, insurance, and consular fee were nondutiable and deductible from the c.i.f. prices. However, the court did not specifically consider the dutiability of loading charges, which is the sole issue presented for our determination. We, therefore, do not consider this court’s prior decision in Plywood & Door to be authoritative as to the issue which is now before us.

In Steer, by stipulation of the parties, the only question raised by the appeal was whether an item of inland freight properly formed part of the dutiable export value of the merchandise. In appraising the goods, deductions were made from the c.i.f. price for consular fee, forwarding and lading, marine and Avar risk insurance, and ocean freight. Ho issue was raised in the case with respect to loading charges.

The statutory definition of export value in section 402a (d) is intended to provide a valuation formula so that, where appropriate, imported merchandise may be appraised on the basis of the market value or the price at which it is “freely offered for sale to all purchasers in the principal markets of the country from which exported.” However, the selling price may include various costs or charges which were not contemplated by the statutory definition to be included in export value. Such is the situation where merchandise is offered for sale exclusively on a c.i.f. American port basis. Thus, export value in that instance is the freely offered price less the deductions for nondutiable charges. See United States v. New England Foil Corp., 10 Cust. Ct. 596, R.D. 5856 (1943). For example, it has long been held that ocean freight is not part of export value. The John Shillito Company v. United States, [1047]*10475 Treas. Dec. 555, T.D. 23851 (1902); United States v. Samuel Shapiro & Co. et al., 65 Treas. Dec. 1650, R.D. 3268 (1934). It is clear, therefore, that the c.i.f. prices, at which the instant plywood was freely offered for sale to United States importers, could not be used as a basis for determining the dutiable export value in this case. Josef Mfg. Ltd. v. United States, 62 Cust. Ct. 763, R.D. 11616, 294 F. Supp. 956 (1969).

Inland freight charges, incurred hy the seller in transporting merchandise from the factory or principal market to the shipping port, have been held frequently by the courts to be part of dutiable export value where those charges are always included in the selling price of the goods. United States v. Paul A. Straub & Co., Inc., 41 CCPA 209, C.A.D. 553 (1954), and Albert Mottola, etc. v. United States, 46 CCPA 17, C.A.D. 689 (1958), are but two of the leading decisions on this point. Accordingly, it is not significant that charges (inland freight or loading) may “accrue” after the merchandise has been packed ready for shipment to the United States and has left the principal market. Indeed, the inland freight included in the unit values of the plywood involved in this case is conceded by appellant to be dutiable. Hence, as in Straub and Mottola, the important consideration here is that the price 'at which the merchandise was freely offered for sale in the principal market always included the disputed charge, and not that the loading charges accrued after the merchandise had left the principal market, viz., Helsinki.

Additionally, since loading charges like other “inland charges” accrue in the foreign country prior to shipment to the United States, they are not deductible from the c.i.f. selling price in determining export value on the basis of the principle invoked with respect to ocean freight, which of course accrues subsequent to exportation. Thus, in United States v. The Heyman Co., Inc., 50 Cust. Ct. 564, A.R.D. 157 (1963), a charge such as inland freight was distinguished from ocean freight, as follows (id. at 572):

* * * Inland freight, under a f.o.b.

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

Related

Veterans Administration Hospital v. U. S. Department of Commerce
577 F.2d 1131 (Customs and Patent Appeals, 1978)
Kurt Orban Co. v. United States
577 F.2d 1125 (Customs and Patent Appeals, 1978)
Kurt Orban Co. v. United States
78 Cust. Ct. 122 (U.S. Customs Court, 1977)

Cite This Page — Counsel Stack

Bluebook (online)
62 Cust. Ct. 1044, 304 F. Supp. 1030, 1969 Cust. Ct. LEXIS 3442, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/plywood-door-northern-corp-v-united-states-cusc-1969.