Scharf Bros. Co. v. United States

4 Cust. Ct. 809, 1940 Cust. Ct. LEXIS 4090
CourtUnited States Customs Court
DecidedApril 22, 1940
DocketNo. 4885; Entry No. 766089, etc.
StatusPublished

This text of 4 Cust. Ct. 809 (Scharf Bros. 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
Scharf Bros. Co. v. United States, 4 Cust. Ct. 809, 1940 Cust. Ct. LEXIS 4090 (cusc 1940).

Opinion

Brown, Judge:

This case comes before us on application of the importer for review of the decision and judgment of Judge Evans, sitting as single judge in Reap. Dec. 4633 on remand affirming Ms original decision and judgment in Reap. Dec. 4420, wherein the appraiser was sustained in Ms valuation of the merchandise involved on the basis of foreign value of what he considered comparable merchandise.

The importer contended for valuation on the basis of UMted State's value on the ground that the imported merchandise was a special article made on contract for the importer and not sold in England, the country of export, and that, therefore, there was no comparable merchandise and hence no foreign or export value could be found.

The merchandise involved consists of two kinds of candy, viz:

Licorice cakes, designated Mayfair Licorice Cakes, and Mixed Candies, designated Mayfair All sorts.

The facts as established by the record in Reap. Dec. 4420 are as follows:

Lou Scharf testified for the plaintiff that he was an officer of the importing corporation and was sales manager and that included among his duties was the purchase of merchandise from foreign countries; that in 1934 he visited Dunhill’s Inc., manufacturers of candy, and entered into negotiations with the owner, Frank Godson, for the purchase of candy. He considered the prices of samples shown him as too Mgh for importation into the UMted States and suggested to Mr. Godson the price might be lowered by maMpMation of the candies such as [810]*810were sold in England. Mr. Godson told him that a lower priced product could be obtained by the use of inferior, less expensive material than used in the product sold in England. This was agreed to and an oral contract entered into to supply Scharf Bros. Co., Inc., the importers herein, candy made of cheaper materials at the lower price thus made possible. The two kinds of candy selected for the deterioration were what was sold in England as Tower Brand Liquorice Cakes or Spanish Buttons, and Tower Brand All Sorts. The result of this deterioration was the candies here imported under the name of Mayfair Licorice Cakes and Mayfair All Sorts. It was testified that as to the Mayfair All Sorts the deterioration from the Tower Brand All Sorts consisted for the most part in omitting from the mixture the most expensive varieties, viz, those containing cocoanut or glycerine, although as to the remainder it was testified that inferior cheaper ingredients were used.

We quote from the testimony of Lou Scharf, importer’s witness, as follows:

X Q. Will you tell us what the other materials in the Spanish Buttons are?— A. Contains more gelatine.
X Q. More gelatine? — A. That is right.
X Q. Any other differences? — A. That in itself is sufficient, that is the most expensive item.
Mr. Weeks. I move to strike that out.
X Q. Is there any other difference in the component parts so far as the other materials? — A. Yes, the licorices are different.
X Q. And how does the amount of licorice in the Spanish Buttons compare with the amount of licorice in the “Mayfair Cakes”, if you know? — A. The two products that are used for the manufacture, one made in Smyrna, and the other is a United States product, a product made in the United States, is a prepared product.
X Q. It is not a question of how much it contains. ■ It is a question in the difference of the licorice itself. — A. It is not a question of how much it contains. It is a question in the difference of the licorice itself, yes. (Rec. pp. 24, 25.)
Q. (By Mr. Richardson) What is the difference between these two types?— A. “Dunhill’s All Sorts” is a much higher quality mixture, contains more gelatine filled pieces.
Q. What does “All Sorts” mean in the candy trade? — A. A mixture of all kinds, creams and licorice filled, a mixture of various shapes and colors.
Q. Have you seen the type of merchandise manufactured by Dunhills m the brand called “Tower Brand”? — A. Yes.
Q. Is that an “All Sorts” candy too? — A. Yes, that is an “All Sorts” candy too.
Q. Do ydu know how many types of different pieces of candy are represented in the different kinds of candy, represented in the “Tower Brand All Sorts”?— A. About fifteen.
Q. And how many different types of candy are represented in the “Mayfair All Sorts”? — A. Seven.
Q. Can you state from your knowledge what the difference, how the ones that are not in the “Mayfair All Sorts” differ from the ones that are included in the [811]*811“Tower Brand All Sorts”? — -A. Cocoanut coated pieces that are in the “Tower Brand All Sorts”, and the soft gelatine pieces that are in the “Tower All Sorts” are left out of the “Mayfair All Sorts”, with the exception of one piece which is included. “Tower All Sorts” is a different sort of cocoanut piece, not in the Mayfair mixture.
Q. Can you state from your knowledge of the candy business whether these candies, including cocoanuts are more or less expensive? — A. The cocoanut is a more expensive ingredient than sugar or licorice. The amount of glycerine contained is very small in its cost per hundred pounds, but where these things are measured, cocoanut would be one of the predominantly expensive materials used. (Rec. pp. 19, 20.)

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Bluebook (online)
4 Cust. Ct. 809, 1940 Cust. Ct. LEXIS 4090, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/scharf-bros-co-v-united-states-cusc-1940.