Robert E. Landweer & Co. v. United States

52 Cust. Ct. 122, 1964 Cust. Ct. LEXIS 1338
CourtUnited States Customs Court
DecidedApril 27, 1964
DocketC.D. 2448
StatusPublished
Cited by4 cases

This text of 52 Cust. Ct. 122 (Robert E. Landweer & Co. 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
Robert E. Landweer & Co. v. United States, 52 Cust. Ct. 122, 1964 Cust. Ct. LEXIS 1338 (cusc 1964).

Opinion

FORD, Judge:

The question presented herein is a novel one, being the first time the court has been called upon to interpret paragraph 1313 of the Tariff Act of 1930 since its amendment by Public Law 85-645, 72 Stat. 602, T.D. 54676. Said paragraph, as amended, reads, so far as is pertinent herein, as follows:

As used in this title, the term “rayon or other synthetic textile”, means any fiber, filament, or fibrous structure, and any band or strip (suitable for the manufacture of textiles) not over one inch in width, all the foregoing whether formed by extrusion or by other processes from substances derived by man from cellulosic or noncellulosic materials by chemical processes, such as, but not limited to, polymerization and condensation, but the term does not include fibers, filaments, fibrous structures, or bands and strips of glass or other nonmetallic mineral, or of metal, paper, or natural rubber.
(b) Notwithstanding the provisions of subsection (a) of this section, nothing in this section shall change the existing customs classification of nylon monofilament fishing line, nylon surgical sutures, nylon tennis racket strings or nylon brush bristles.

The merchandise covered by this case consists of perlón monofilament gill netting which was classified under the provisions of paragraph 1312 of the Tariff Act of 1930, as modified by the General Agreement on Tariffs and Trade, 82 Treas. Dec. 305, T.D. 51802, and the Torquay Protocol to the General Agreement on Tariffs and Trade, 86 Treas. Dec. 121, T.D. 52739, and assessed with duty at the rate of 35 per centum ad valorem and 25 cents per pound.

Said paragraph 1312, as modified, supra, reads as follows:

Manufactures of filaments, fibers, yarns, or threads, of rayon or other synthetic textile, and textile products made of bands or strips (not exceeding one inch in width) of rayon or other synthetic textile, all the foregoing, wholly or in chief value of rayon or other synthetic textile, not specially provided for-27per lb.. and 35% ad val.
[124]*124Note : The specific part of the rate of duty applicable to any product provided for in paragraph 1312, Tariff Act of 1930, shall be_25$ per lb.

Plaintiffs herein contend the imported merchandise is not dutiable as classified, since the new definition contained in paragraph 1313, as amended, supra, includes the phrase, “suitable for the manufacture of textiles,” which is alleged to be a limiting clause. Plaintiffs reason in order to have a valid classification under schedule 13, in this instance, the synthetic monofilament from which the imported gill netting is made must be “suitable for the manufacture of textiles.”

Based upon this interpretation, it is contended that the imported merchandise is properly subject to classification under the provisions of paragraph 1558 of the Tariff Act of 1930, as modified by the Torquay Protocol to the General Agreement on Tariffs and Trade, supra,1 as made effective by T.D. 52827, as a nonenumerated manufactured article at the rate of 10 per centum ad valorem. Alternatively, it is contended said merchandise is properly subject to duty at the rate of 22% per centum ad valorem, under the provisions of paragraph 1006 of the Tariff Act of 1930, as modified by the Protocol of Terms of Accession by Japan to the General Agreement on Tariffs and Trade, T.D. 53865,2 as made effective by TJD. 53877, as gill netting, by virtue of the similitude clause contained in paragraph 1559 of the Tariff Act of 1930, as amended. All other claims contained in the protest have been abandoned and are, accordingly, dismissed.

One entry, 9718, was severed at the trial, since the merchandise covered by said entry included seine as well as gill netting.

The record, in the instant case, consists of the testimony of one witness called on behalf of the plaintiffs and two exhibits. A sample of netting in the 5%-inch mesh size was received in evidence as plaintiffs’ exhibit 1, as representative of the 4%- and 6%-inch mesh size netting, except as to mesh depth and length. An illustration was received as plaintiffs’ illustrative exhibit 2, in which a gill net is depicted.

The testimony of the witness, Williard H. Branch, related to the fact that gill netting is the material from which gill nets are made; that, in order to make a gill net, a float line, floats, and a lead line or twine must be attached; that gill nets are used to catch fish by entangling or gilling the fish; that problems have arisen in the manufacture of monofilament gill netting, because of the loose knots and the slippage of the knots; that the manufacturer has overcome these difficulties by heating and bonding; that the diameter of the [125]*125monofilament of which the netting is made runs from 0.10 millimeter to 0.80 millimeter in increments of 5; that multifilament and monofilament gill nets are used in the same manner; that before the advent of synthetics, gill nets were made of linen or ramie.

The witness further testified that monofilaments, such as those used-in plaintiffs’ exhibit 1, have been used as fishlines, tennis racket strings, and purifier wire mesh; that synthetic gill nets have the advantage over linen nets, since they are invisible to the fish in clear water.

It is a basic proposition in customs jurisprudence that classification by the collector is presumed to be correct and that he found all the necessary facts to exist which would bring the imported merchandise within the classification. F. H. Kaysing v. United States, 49 CCPA 69, C.A.D. 798.

Although plaintiffs endeavored to establish that the monofilament-used in the gill netting involved herein was not susceptible to textile manufacturing, Judge Donlon, the trial judge, properly held that the witness had not been qualified with respect to textile manufactures.

In any event and notwithstanding the lack of evidence with respect to textile manufacturing, the basic proposition presented was the interpretation of the new definition contained in paragraph 1313, as amended, supra. It is the parenthetical phrase, “suitable for the manufacture of textiles,” which is relied upon by plaintiffs herein. It is contended the phrase is a limiting one which requires all rayon or other synthetic textiles, as defined in paragraph 1313, as amended, supra, to be suitable for the manufacture of textiles. The grammatical construction of the paragraph does not bear out this theory. The use of a comma after “fibrous structure,” in conjunction with the word “and,” and the placing of the phrase in parentheses clearly evidence the intent of Congress to include within the scope of the provision any band or strip not over 1 inch in width, which is suitable for the manufacture of textiles. The parenthetical phrase does not modify “rayon or other synthetic textile” or “fiber, filament, or fibrous structure,” but covers only bands or strips not exceeding 1 inch in width, as indicated, supra.

A review of the historical background of paragraph 1313, as originally enacted, is deemed pertinent at this point. The language “rayon” and “other synthetic textile” was utilized for the first time in' the Tariff Act of 1930. The definition contained in the original paragraph 1313 provided as follows:

Par. 1813.

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Bluebook (online)
52 Cust. Ct. 122, 1964 Cust. Ct. LEXIS 1338, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/robert-e-landweer-co-v-united-states-cusc-1964.