Salentine & Co. v. United States

64 Cust. Ct. 213, 1970 Cust. Ct. LEXIS 3183
CourtUnited States Customs Court
DecidedMarch 26, 1970
DocketC.D. 3982
StatusPublished
Cited by1 cases

This text of 64 Cust. Ct. 213 (Salentine & 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
Salentine & Co. v. United States, 64 Cust. Ct. 213, 1970 Cust. Ct. LEXIS 3183 (cusc 1970).

Opinion

Maletz, Judge:

This case concerns “carry-over mechanisms” that were manufactured in Switzerland and imported from Canada in early 1966. The articles were classified by the government as clocks under item 715.31, Tariff Schedules of the United States, and assessed duty at the compound rate of $1.50 each plus 32.5 percent ad valorem. Subsequently the government abandoned this classification and now contends that the importations are classifiable under item 720.16 as “[o]ther clock movements * * * [v]alued over $5 but not over $10 each” at the same compound rate of $1.50 each plus 32.5 percent ad valorem.

Plaintiff’s protest originally claimed that the articles were properly classifiable under item 715.66 at the compound rate of $1.50 each plus 20 percent ad valorem as “[t]ime switches with watch or clock movements, or with synchronous or subsynchronous motors.” Plaintiff has now abandoned this claim and instead relies on alternative claims under various basket provisions, i.e., items 660.80, 678.50, 680.90 and 685.90.

To the extent relevant, the statutory provisions now involved are as follows:

Government’s claimed classification:
Schedule 7, Part 2, Subpart E headnotes:
1. This subpart covers watches and clocks, time switches and other timing apparatus with clock or watch movements, and parts of these articles. * * *
2. For the purposes of this subpart—
(c) the term “clock movement” means any movement or mechanism, other than “watch movements” as defined in headnote 2(b), above, intended or suitable for measuring time; [Emphasis in original.]
í¡; :[i :]c ‡ ‡ $
Clock movements, assembled, without dials or hands, or with dials or hands whether or not assembled thereon:
Other clock movements:
[215]*215720.16 Valued over $5 over but not over $10 each— 1.50 each +32.5% ad val. +12.50 for each jewel, if any.
Plaintiff’s alternative claims:
Non-electric engines and motors not specially provided for, and parts thereof:
* * * ❖ ❖ Hi Hi
660.80 Spring-operated and weight-operated motors_ 20% ad val.
678.50 Machines not specially provided for, and parts thereof_ 10% ad val.
680.90 Machinery parts not containing electrical features and not specially provided for_ 19% ad val.
685.90 Electrical switches * * * and other electrical apparatus for making or breaking electrical circuits * * * and parts thereof_ 17.5% ad val.

The imported articles are spring-wound mechanisms which are incorporated into time switches to keep the latter on schedule in the event the electric power is interrupted.1 A time switch, it is to be noted, makes or breaks an electrical circuit at predetermined times by the rotation of a disc within a ring of trippers spaced at predetermined points. The time switches here are powered by synchronous motors; they are of the 24-hour type and the discs or dials are divided into 12-hour periods to represent the A.M. and P.M. hours. The A.M. hours are marked in black numerals on a white background while the P.M. hours are marked in white numerals on a black background. The entire disc is calibrated numerically in 15-minute segments and a single hand indicates the time. In operation, it is possible, by looking at the disc, to approximate the time of day as well as determine the exact time that has passed since the last scheduled event or remains for the next scheduled event in the time switch’s programming cycle.

The carry-over mechanism continues the rotation of the disc in the event of a power failure and thus keeps the pre-set schedule of the time switch on time during such failure for a period of approximately [216]*21610 hours.2 This is sufficient to sustain the rotation of the disc through most power failures which generally are of short duration. When the power is restored, the time switch does not have to be reset since its programming has been sustained by the carry-over mechanism.

The issue — as the parties agree — is whether the carry-over mechanisms are “intended or suitable for measuring time” within the meaning of headnote 2(c) of Schedule 7, Part 2, Subpart E. As to this, plaintiff’s position is that the mechanisms are not clock movements intended or suitable for measuring time because they are not capable in normal use

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Related

Salentine & Co. v. United States
450 F.2d 908 (Customs and Patent Appeals, 1971)

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Bluebook (online)
64 Cust. Ct. 213, 1970 Cust. Ct. LEXIS 3183, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/salentine-co-v-united-states-cusc-1970.