Printing Industries Equipment, Inc. v. United States

51 Cust. Ct. 401, 1963 Cust. Ct. LEXIS 1291
CourtUnited States Customs Court
DecidedOctober 7, 1963
DocketReap. Dec. 10594; Entry No. 908847
StatusPublished

This text of 51 Cust. Ct. 401 (Printing Industries Equipment, 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
Printing Industries Equipment, Inc. v. United States, 51 Cust. Ct. 401, 1963 Cust. Ct. LEXIS 1291 (cusc 1963).

Opinion

Ford, Judge.

This appeal is directed against the appraisement of a machine, described on the invoice as “1 Cloth Cutter, serial No. 104,” which was invoiced and entered at DM9774.35, equivalent to $1,980.50, less inland freight and f.o.b. charges. The merchandise was appraised at DM8880, plus the cost of packing, $48, as invoiced, on the basis of foreign value of similar merchandise, as defined in section 402(c) of the Tariff Act of 1930, as amended by the Customs Administrative Act of 1938.

The importer contends that cost of production, as defined under section 402(f) of the Tariff Act of 1930, is the proper basis for appraisement.

The record herein consists of an affidavit of one Hermann Pieper, general sales manager of the exporter, received in evidence as plaintiff’s collective exhibit 1; a Treasury Department report received in evidence as defendant’s collective exhibit A; and a stipulation entered [402]*402into by and between counsel for the respective parties, which is as follows:

(1) That the merchandise here involved was appraised on the basis of foreign Value, Section 402(c) of the Tariff Act of 1930 as amended by the Customs Administrative Act of 1938, of similar merchandise made by the same manufacturer.
(2) That if the Court should find and hold that the correct basis of ap-praisement herein is foreign value, the value returned by the appraiser is correct.
(3) That no export value and no United States value as those terms are respectively defined in Section 402(d) and 402(e) of said Tariff Act exists for such or similar merchandise.
(4) That similar merchandise was not produced by other manufacturers in the Federal Republic of Germany for home consumption or for exportation to the United States on or about the date of exportation of the merchandise involved herein.

Mr. Pieper, by way of plaintiff’s collective exhibit 1, the affidavit, testified that he has been employed by the .manufacturer, hereinafter referred to as “Kolbus,” since 1930, and, since 1945, has been general sales manager; that, in the period from 1955, Kolbus manufactured various bookbinding machines, including the type involved herein; that, on August 1, 1955, Kolbus put out a pricelist for the domestic market in Germany, a copy of which was attached as exhibit A of plaintiff’s collective exhibit 1, which list was valid until March 1, 1958; that Kolbus also issued a pricelist under similar date and effective until March 1, 1958, copy of which is marked exhibit B of plaintiff’s collective 1, which is the “Ausland” or export price.

The witness testified that, prior to February 1956, the machines described in exhibit A of plaintiff’s collective exhibit 1, were sold or offered for sale, as a rule, only directly to final consumers in Germany and were not sold to retailers or offered for resale; that, since February 24, 1956, so far as is pertinent herein, the involved machines were sold or offered for sale, as a rule, only to final consumers in Germany, with the exception of the territory of West Berlin where an exclusive arrangement was made with a large wholesaler for the purchase of these machines exclusively for resale in West Berlin; that, since 1952, sales to the United States have been limited to Printing Industries Equipment, Inc.; that, from 1955 to March 1, 1958, all export sales, with few exceptions, intended for the United States or other countries, were made at the prices indicated in exhibit B of plaintiff’s collective exhibit 1, less 20 per centum discount; that a breakdown of the total sales for domestic consumption and for export for the years 1955 through 1957 was as follows:

Germany Export

1955 30.30% 69.70%

1956 26.19% 73.81%

1957 31.06% 68.94%

[403]*403The witness Peiper further testified that the export price includes packing, which amounts to about 1 per centum of the net amount of the invoice; that these prices further include all costs from the factory to f.o.b. German seaport; that the net export prices include cost of labor and material as well as overhead expenses, which constitute more than 10 per centum of the cost of labor and material; that, from 1955 through 1957, the net profit of Kolbus from export sales was:

1955_4.25%
1956_5.35%
1957_6. 75%

The affiant further states that Kolbus is the sole manufacturer of bookbinding machines of its own design; that the handwritten notes on exhibit A of plaintiff’s collective exhibit 1 represent minor changes in price for supplementary apparatus or for special machines, but these changes in no way refer to the basic prices of the different machines included in the pricelist, except for consecutive numbers 31 and 32, the prices of which were changed on August 7, 1957, for the domestic market.

Defendant’s collective exhibit A, the Treasury Department report, indicates that merchandise sold for home consumption is identical to that exported to the United Sstates, with the exception that those machines sold in the home market are equipped with electric motors suited to the 50-cycle current used in Germany; that the manufacturer divides all purchasers into two classes: (a) Dealers in printing and allied machinery and (b) printers and bookbinders; that the merchandise is freely offered for sale to all, and there are no restrictions of any kind imposed by the manufacturer on the buyers of this merchandise; that discounts are granted from the pricelist not directly related to the quantity purchased but primarily depending on the status of the buyer; that dealers purchasing for resale usually receive a discount which is in the nature of a selling commission of 10 per centum; that this discount, however, is not fixed and may be as high as 15 per centum to some dealers and less than 10 per centum to others; that most sales to consumers are at list prices, net, but the status of the individual may entitle him to a discount of up to 10 per centum; that over 50 per centum of the manufacturer’s sales are made to or through dealers; that discounts are often determined by a bargaining process; that a 3 per centum cash discount is granted occasionally but is not freely offered to all purchasers. A copy of the pricelist for domestic consumption under date of August 1, 1955, was attached to said report.

From the foregoing, it is apparent that the involved machine was appraised at DM8880, plus packing, as invoiced, as representing the foreign value of similar merchandise under section 402(c) of the Tariff Act of 1930, as amended, supra. Supporting this price is the [404]*404pricelist for home consumption attached to both the affidavit and the Treasury Department report, wherein item No. 31 sets forth the then current domestic price of DM8880.

In reappraisement proceedings, there is a statutory presumption that the value found by the appraiser is correct. The burden upon a party attacking an appraised value is twofold, i.e., to prove the action of the appraiser erroneous and to establish some other dutiable value as the proper one. Brooks Paper Company v. Untied States, 40 CCPA 38, C.A.D. 495; Kenneth Kittleson v. United States, 40 CCPA 85, C.A.D. 502.

The importer herein contends that it has established a prima facie

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Bluebook (online)
51 Cust. Ct. 401, 1963 Cust. Ct. LEXIS 1291, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/printing-industries-equipment-inc-v-united-states-cusc-1963.