Pollak Industrial Corp. v. United States

40 Cust. Ct. 251
CourtUnited States Customs Court
DecidedApril 29, 1958
DocketC. D. 1991
StatusPublished
Cited by28 cases

This text of 40 Cust. Ct. 251 (Pollak Industrial 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
Pollak Industrial Corp. v. United States, 40 Cust. Ct. 251 (cusc 1958).

Opinion

Ford, Judge:

The merchandise covered by the two suits listed in schedule “A,” hereto attached and made a part hereof, was classified by the collector as “Straw hats sewed & colored — Not blocked or trimmed.” Duty was levied upon said merchandise at the rate of $2.50 per dozen, plus 25 per centum ad valorem, under paragraph 1504 (b) (4) of the Tariff Act of 1930, as modified by the Torquay Protocol to the General Agreement on Tariffs and Trade, 86 Treas. Dec. 121, T. D. 52739, and also by T. D. 52857.

Plaintiffs claim said merchandise to be properly dutiable at the rate of $2 per dozen, plus 15 per centum ad valorem, under said paragraph 1504 (b) (4), as modified by the General Agreement on Tariffs and Trade, 82 Treas. Dec. 305, T. D. 51802, as hat bodies, or hats, partly manufactured, composed wholly or in chief value of straw, blocked, and valued at more than $15 per dozen.

In his brief filed herein, counsel for the plaintiffs limits the claim in these suits as follows:

Though, the protests in this case cover four entries, the testimony and exhibits on which plaintiffs rely are related to the straw hat bodies which are described on the following invoices only.
Consular invoice No. 349, dated July 9, 1952, covered by entry No. I. A. 951101.
Consular invoice No. 11,182, dated June 25, 1952, covered by entry I. A. 950361.

The above-specified merchandise was appraised at $24 per dozen, plus packing. There is no contention that the said hat bodies were trimmed. An examination of the samples in evidence fully demonstrates that they are not trimmed. It is established that the material used in these hat bodies is straw braid, called Milan braid.

[253]*253The issue in this case is, therefore, narrowed to the single question of whether or not the subject hat bodies were blocked prior to importation.

Paragraph 1504 (b) (4) of the Tariff Act of 1930, as modified by T. D. 51802, T. D. 52739, and T. D. 52857, under which the merchandise was classified and assessed, and under which the lower rate of duty is claimed, is as follows:

Hats, bonnets, and hoods, composed wholly or in chief value of straw * * * whether wholly or partly manufactured:
‡ ‡ # % * * Hi
If sewed, whether or not blocked, trimmed, bleached, dyed, colored, or stained:
If wholly or in chief value of straw, and blocked or trimmed and valued at $15 or more per dozen, $2 per doz. and 15% ad val.
Wholly or in chief value of straw, not blocked or trimmed, $2.50 per doz. and 25% ad val.
Other, $3 per doz. and 25% ad val.

This case has been submitted upon a stipulation wherein counsel agreed, in effect, that the depositions of Giuseppi Corti, obtained by means of commissions, may be admitted in evidence in the records of these protests, with the same force and effect as though said Giuseppi Corti had appeared in person and testified before this court. Said stipulation reads in part as follows:

That the imported articles covered by said protests, in their imported condition as represented by Exhibit C, are not in their final shape ready to be worn as hats; that in their imported condition, as represented by said exhibit, they are partly manufactured hats; and that, before becoming wholly manufactured hats, they must be subjected to a blocking process in the United States in the course of which blocking process in the United States they are stiffened with suitable sizing and then pressed into permanent shape by means of blocks and given their final shape and form in which they are ready to be worn as hats.

For a fuller understanding of the processes to which these unfinished hats were subjected prior to importation, the following is quoted from the interrogatories, hereinbefore referred to:

Q. Kindly describe, fully and in detail, each operation in the manufacture of those straw hat bodies, beginning with the first operation in making them from the straw material referred to in your answer to interrogatory No. 7 and continuing with the following operation or operations in making them, and stating, with respect to each operation, whether it was performed by hand or by machine or in part by hand and in part by machine.- — A. The first operation is to bleach the braid and after to dye it. When the braids are ready we sew the braids into hats using an ordinary sewing machine. The type of this machine is Dbesdensia. We use cotton thread. During the sewing we use an aluminum form because the operator in this way controls the size and dimensions of the hats, crown and brim. To control the brim we use a circle corresponding to the width of the brim required. Por the crown the aluminum block has a crown of the [254]*254dimension required for the hat. At this point the sewing operation is finished. When we sew the hat sometimes the stitch breaks the straw and spills [sic] come out from the braid. These are cut with scissors by hand. After the sewing operation we press the hats with an hydraulic machine using pressure and heat — - no steam is used. This is done in order to iron the hat and adjust the size and dimensions. For pressure operations we use an aluminum form and for what concerns the variation of the size and measure we use some circular sections to adjust the size of the form. This completes the operations.
* * * * * * *
With the two operations of sewing and pressure we make the exact dimensions and sizes requested, but the pressure operation gives to the hats one hundred per cent exactness.
*******
Q. If a form or block of any kind was used in connection with any of the operations which are referred to in your answers to Interrogatories Nos. 9, 10 and 11, kindly describe the form or block which was used in connection with each operation. — A. For sewing we use an aluminum block which has a fixed crown and a brim that can be varied by using some circles according to the dimension of the brim that we have to sew.
We further use another form when we have to press the hats. This too is an aluminum form on which we can vary the crown for depth using some special thicknesses between the brim and the bottom part of the crown. For the part of the brim we use some circles in accordance with the dimension of the brim that we have to press.
*******
Q. Was any form or block, which is referred to in your answer to Interrogatory No. 13, marked with the height of the crown or the width of the brim of the straw hat bodies for whose manufacture it was used? — A. Yes.
Q. If so, please state which such forms or blocks were so marked and whether they were marked with the height of the crown or the width of the brim, or both, of the hat bodies. — A. The form of the crown for sewing is marked with the height and size of the crown; the brim of the form is not marked as the size is determined by the circles inserted. The circles are not marked but are stored according to size; only a few circles are marked.

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40 Cust. Ct. 251, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/pollak-industrial-corp-v-united-states-cusc-1958.