Samuel Shapiro & Co. v. United States

51 C.C.P.A. 89, 1964 CCPA LEXIS 381
CourtCourt of Customs and Patent Appeals
DecidedJune 11, 1964
DocketNo. 5148
StatusPublished

This text of 51 C.C.P.A. 89 (Samuel Shapiro & Co. v. United States) is published on Counsel Stack Legal Research, covering Court of Customs and Patent Appeals primary law. Counsel Stack provides free access to over 12 million legal documents including statutes, case law, regulations, and constitutions.

Bluebook
Samuel Shapiro & Co. v. United States, 51 C.C.P.A. 89, 1964 CCPA LEXIS 381 (ccpa 1964).

Opinion

Worley, Chief Judge,

delivered the opinion of the court:

The importer, Samuel Shapiro & Company, Inc., appeals from the judgment of the United States Customs Court, First Division, Appellate Term (A.R.D. 155) reviewing the decision of the trial court in an appeal for reappraisement of certain imported rifle parts, designated M. 54 “actions” and constituting firing mechanisms for rifles.

Before the trial court the parties stipulated as follows:

At the time of exportation of said actions to the United States there was no “foreign value” and no “export value” as defined in section 402(c) and section 402 (d) Tariff Act of 1930, as amended.
At the said time of exportation other actions similar to the said actions No. 54 were not offered for sale for domestic consumption in the United States.
At the said time of exportation said actions were freely offered for sale at $90.00 each in Mattoon, Illinois, by the Ted Holmes Gun Shop to all purchasers for domestic consumption, said actions having previously been purchased from Sharpe & Hart, Emmitsburg (where they had been originally delivered from Denmark) and shipped from Emmitsburg to Mattoon.
[91]*91The appraised value of $67.057 each, net packed, was based upon a “United States value” for “purchased merchandise” as defined in section 402(e) Tariff
Act of 1930, computed as follows:
Sales price per piece in Mattoon- $90. 00
Less 2% discount for cash- 1. 80
$88.20
No profit to seller in Mattoon_ 0. 00
$88.20
Less General expenses to seller in Mattoon, which exceeded 8%- 7.056
$81.144
Less Cost of Transportation and insurance from Denmark to Mattoon— 2.155
$78.989
Less U.S. duty_ 11- 932
Appraised value per piece, not packed_$67. 057
In computing said “United States Value” the appraiser made no deduction for the following items:
(a) Clearance charges at Baltimore, Md. at- $0.28 each
(b) General expenses of Sharpe & Hart, Inc. at Emmitsburg (overheads, selling expenses, etc.) at- $0.32 each
$0.60
The “cost of production” as defined in section 402(f) Tariff Act of 1930, for said actions was $37.00 each, net packed.

Oral testimony of the president of The Sharpe and Hart Associates, Inc. of Emmitsburg, Md., an importer of firearms and parts therefor, was also introduced at the trial. The witness testified that, at the time the instant M. 54 action were imported, his firm was their sole importer and exclusive distributor in the United States, and sold all of them at wholesale to the Ted Holmes Gun Shop of Mattoon, Illinois.

The pertinent section of the Tariff Act of 1930, as amended, reads:

Sec. 402 VALUE
(a) Basis. — For the purposes of this Act the value of imported merchandise shall be—
(1) The foreign value or the export value, whichever is higher;
(2) If the appraiser determines that neither the foreign value nor the export value can be satisfactorily ascertained, then the United States value;
(3) If the appraiser determines that neither the foreign value, the export value, nor the United States value can be satisfactorily ascertained, then the cost of production;
* * # * * * *
(e) United States Value. — The United States value of imported merchandise shall be the price at which such or similar imported merchandise is freely offered for sale, for domestic consumption, packed ready for delivery, in the principal market of the United States to all purchasers, at the time of exportation of the [92]*92imported merchandise, in the usual wholesale quantities and in the ordinary course of trade, with allowance made for duty, cost of transportation and insurance, and other necessary expenses from the place of shipment to the place of delivery, a commission not exceeding 6 per centum, if any has been paid or contracted to be paid on goods secured otherwise than by purchase, or profits not to exceed 8 per centum and a reasonable allowance for general expenses, not to exceed 8 per centum on purchased goods.

The trial court ruled that the appraisement at $67,057 per piece as made by the appraiser was correct.

The Appellate Term found as facts:

1. That the merchandise involved herein consists of certain rifle parts, identified on the invoice as “100 actions cal. 222 Rem. M. 54,” exported from Otterup, Denmark, on July 21,1956, and entered at the port of Baltimore, Md., on August 6,1956.
2. That the present merchandise was appraised on the basis of the United States value of such merchandise.
3. That, at the time of exportation of the merchandise in question, such or similar merchandise was not freely offered for sale to all purchasers in the principal markets of the country from which exported, in the usual wholesale quantities, and in the ordinary course of trade,' either for home consumption in Denmark or for exportation to the United States.
4. That merchandise, such as that involved herein, was freely offered for sale for domestic consumption, in the usual wholesale quantities and in the ordinary course of trade, in the principal market of Mattoon, Ill., at the time of exportation of the present merchandise.
5. That clearance charges, incurred at the port of entry in the process of bringing the merchandise to the principal market, was a necessary expense from the place of shipment to the place of delivery.

As a matter of law, it concluded:

1. That there is no foreign or export value for merchandise, such as or similar to the actions involved herein.
2. That the proper basis for appraisement of the present merchandise is United States value.
3. That the United States value for the actions in question is the appraised value, less clearance charges of 28 cents each, or $66,777 each.

Thus the Appellate Term modified the appraisement made by the appraiser and approved by the trial court only by additionally allowing the clearance charges of $0.28 each to be deducted from the selling price. The Government filed no cross appeal and does not challenge the ruling as to those particular charges.

The primary issue here is whether the Customs Court erred in finding, as a matter of law, that Mattoon, Illinois, was the “principal market” under section 402(e) 1

[93]*93It is the importer’s position that the principal market for the goods is Emmitsburg, Maryland.

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Bluebook (online)
51 C.C.P.A. 89, 1964 CCPA LEXIS 381, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/samuel-shapiro-co-v-united-states-ccpa-1964.