Quong Lee v. United States

10 Cust. Ct. 23, 1942 Cust. Ct. LEXIS 1483
CourtUnited States Customs Court
DecidedDecember 30, 1942
DocketC. D. 716
StatusPublished
Cited by14 cases

This text of 10 Cust. Ct. 23 (Quong Lee 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
Quong Lee v. United States, 10 Cust. Ct. 23, 1942 Cust. Ct. LEXIS 1483 (cusc 1942).

Opinion

Cline, Judge:

These two suits against the United States were consolidated for trial. The merchandise involved consists of two commodities. One is water chestnuts classified by the collector as vegetables in their natural state and assessed at 50 per centum ad valorem under paragraph 774 of the Tariff Act of 193Ó. The plaintiffs claim they are free of duty as chestnuts under paragraph 1646, or dutiable at 35 per centum ad valorem under paragraph 775 as vegetables “if cut, sliced, or otherwise reduced in size” or “prepared or preserved in any other way and not specially provided for.”

The other merchandise in dispute is described as “dried sweetmeat (kumquat)” on the invoice covered by protest 877826-G and as “honeyed fruits (kumquat)” on the invoice covered by protest 922735-G. The merchandise covered by both cases was classified as prepared or preserved fruits and assessed with duty at the rate of 35 per centum ad valorem under paragraph 752. The plaintiffs claim that the merchandise should be assessed at 1 cent per pound as oranges under paragraph 743.

The first witness called by the plaintiffs was Mr. Chin Buc Kee who is an importer in San Francisco handling both water chestnuts and kumquats. He testified that water chestnuts are grown around lakes and in the water; that to make them' ready for shipment they take off the hulls and dry them; that he calls them “water chestnuts”; that he has seen kumquats growing on trees in China. On cross-examination, he testified that water chestnuts grow under the earth, in the ground or in the water and they have to be planted.

The next witness called by the plaintiffs was Mr. Dea Yow who is sales manager for Song Kee Co. of San Francisco.' He testified that water chestnuts grow in the mud; that in the summer the stem is planted in the ground and they grow under the ground; that when they are harvested the stem and roots are cut off and they are washed and dried; that he buys them under the name of “water chestnuts.” On cross-examination, he testified that they are different from the American chestnuts; that they have no shell and are like small potatoes.

[25]*25The next witness called by the plaintiffs was Mr. Alfred Schrupp, a United States customs examiner at the port of San Francisco. He identified a sample of merchandise invoiced as “dried sweetmeat (kumquat)” and it was admitted in evidence and marked exhibit 1. On being asked to describe the difference between exhibit 1 and the merchandise invoiced as “honeyed fruit kumquat” he said “the honeyed fruit kumquats are similar to this merchandise in shape and color, but they are not sugared as those, but are prepared in a solution of sugar and possibly some honey.” On cross-examination the witness testified that the kumquats were preserved.

The next witness called by the plaintiffs was Mr. George Henry Godfrey who is a United States customs examiner at the port of San Francisco. He produced a sample of the merchandise invoiced as water chestnuts and it was received in evidence and marked exhibit 2.

The case was then transferred to Los Angeles and Mr. Fred H. Howard was called as a witness for the plaintiffs. He testified that he is a nurseryman and horticulturist and had been familiar with oranges and kumquats for 40 years or more; that Chinese kumquats are a species of citrus, which is commonly known as orange. On cross-examination he testified that kumquats are grown on a tree; that he had seen them sold as fresh fruit and had seen them used as .candied fruit, in Chinese preserves; that “they are citrus, citrus aurantica, specifically speaking.” When asked on cross-examination if that is about as far as he would like to go in his testimony, he said:

A. That is the common name of citrus; generally speaking, they refer to them as oranges. Lemons, for instance, is citrus limonum.
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X Q. You draw a distinction, do you, between the citrus fruit, between those lemons and the citrus fruit which we know as oranges and the citrus fruit which we know as limes? — A. The scientific classification, yes, the scientific classification of all citrus fruit; and kumquats are one of the components of the citrus family.
X Q. Tell us what are the different kinds of fruit that belong to the citrus family. — A. All of the various oranges, Valencias, navels; all of the lemons, kumquats, Mandarins, and all of the various types of oranges that are classified under Rutaceae botanically, as citrus. It is one great family.
X Q. Now, do you classify a kumquat as a kumquat orange? — A. It is referred to as a kumquat, but it is an orange.
X Q. In the same sense that a tangarine is an orange? — A. Yes, sir.
X Q. And are they known as oranges in this country? — -A. Yes, sir.
X Q. These kumquats? — -A. Yes, sir.
X Q. Are you speaking scientifically now? — A. Yes, sir.

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Bluebook (online)
10 Cust. Ct. 23, 1942 Cust. Ct. LEXIS 1483, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/quong-lee-v-united-states-cusc-1942.