Semca Co. v. United States

31 Cust. Ct. 184, 1953 Cust. Ct. LEXIS 930
CourtUnited States Customs Court
DecidedDecember 17, 1953
DocketC. D. 1567
StatusPublished

This text of 31 Cust. Ct. 184 (Semca 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
Semca Co. v. United States, 31 Cust. Ct. 184, 1953 Cust. Ct. LEXIS 930 (cusc 1953).

Opinion

Lawrence, Judge:

An importation described in the record variously as “One Day alarm movements,” “alarm clocks,” or “alarm clocks movements” was classified and assessed with duty by the collector of customs as follows:

That portion consisting of the movements together with the dial and hour hands (represented by exhibit 1-A) as watch movements less than one and seventy-seven one-hundredths inches wide and more than one and one-half inches wide, having one jewel, at 75 cents each, pursuant to the provisions of paragraph 367 (a) (1) (2) of the Tariff Act of 1930 (19 U. S. C. § 1001, par. 367 (a) (1) (2)); the portion of the importation (represented by exhibit 1-B), claimed by the Government to be parts of watchcases and which are not provided for eo nomine, was relegated to the provision for articles or wares, not specially provided for, whether partly or wholly manufactured, composed wholly or in chief value of metal, and assessed with duty at the rate of 22)( per centum ad valorem in accordance with the provisions of paragraph 397 of said act (19 U. S. C. § 1001, par. 397), as modified by the General Agreement on Tariffs and Trade, 82 Treas. Dec. 305, T. D. 51802.

[185]*185It is the contention of plaintiff that the imported articles are, in fact, alarm time-keeping movements which should be treated as entireties and dutiable at the rate applicable to the movements.

The following statutory provisions will be adverted to infra:

Paragraph 367 (a) (1) (2) and (f), Tariff Act of 1930:

Pab. 367. (a) Watch, movements, and time-keeping, time-measuring, or time-indicating mechanisms, devices, and instruments, whether or not designed to be worn or carried on or about the person, all the foregoing, if less than one and seventy-seven one-hundredths inches wide, whether or not in cases, containers, or housings:
(1) If more than one and one-half inches wide, $1.25 each; * * *
(2) in the case of any of the foregoing having no jewels or only one jewel, the above rates shall be reduced by 40 per centum;
**:{::?{*%*
(f) All cases, containers, or housings, designed or suitable for the enclosure of any of the foregoing movements, mechanisms, devices, or instruments, whether or not containing such movements, mechanisms, devices, or instruments, and whether finished or unfinished, complete or incomplete, except such containers as are used for shipping purposes only:

Paragraph 397 of said act, as modified by the General Agreement on Tariffs and Trade, supra:

Articles or wares not specially provided for, whether partly or wholly manufactured:
* * * * * *
Composed wholly or in chief value of * * * other metal (not including platinum, gold, or silver), but not plated with platinum, gold, or silver, or colored with gold lacquer:
‡ * * % * *
Other (except slide fasteners and parts thereof)_22%% ad val.

At the trial of this case, the following exhibits were introduced in evidence:

Exhibit 1, representing the imported merchandise, was segregated and received in evidence as exhibit 1-A, consisting of the movement with an alarm feature together with the dial face and time-indicating hands, and exhibit 1-B, which for present purposes may be identified as a circular, metal, cap-shaped cover to enclose the back of the movement, and it is this portion of the importation which is the subject of this controversy.

Exhibit 2, the same as exhibit 1 before it was segregated into exhibits 1-A and 1-B.

Illustrative exhibit 3, a time-keeping device attached to a lyre-shaped metal back with a musical alarm feature fastened to it, separate and apart from the .movement, the alarm feature being operated by an arm which reaches out from the movement.

Illustrative exhibit 4, a double-faced timepiece about 4% inches square with a single movement between the two faces but without any alarm feature.

[186]*186Illustrative exhibit 5, a movement similar to that in exhibit 1, a timepiece with a dial about 4 inches square being enclosed in an outer case of metal excepting for the face which is of glass.

Exhibit A, a cardboard cigarette box, approximately 5% by 4}{ by 1% inches in dimensions, decorated with metal trimmings and with a time-keeping device, marked exhibit A-l, approximately 2% inches square, inserted in the cover of the box.

Exhibit B, a watch in all respects like exhibit 1, fitted in a folding leather case similar to the familiar traveling or boudoir clock.

Two witnesses, Samuel Jack Kaufman and Harry Arthur Sampson, testified on behalf of the plaintiff, and Aaron Balmages testified for the defendant.

Kaufman stated that he had been president of the plaintiff company since it started in business in this country in 1939 and was engaged in the importation and manufacture of clocks and watches; that he holds a degree in mechanical engineering and is a designer and in charge of production for the company. He testified to his familiarity with the imported merchandise, having collaborated in designing the movement, and that exhibit 1 is a complete clock movement which is composed of time and alarm elements.

The witness further testified that exhibits 1-A and 1-B constitute an entirety; that exhibit 1-A contains the part of the movement which is made up of the time and alarm elements; and that exhibit 1-B constitutes that part of the movement described as the bell for the alarm portion of the movement and without which the alarm cannot operate. In other words, this witness regarded exhibit 1-B as a part of the movement, the primary function of which was to receive the stroke of the hammer. It will be recalled that exhibit 1-B represents that portion of the importation which the collector regarded as a part of the case and, since there is no eo nomine provision for parts of cases, classified it as an article of metal, not specially provided for, in paragraph 397, supra.

Kaufman also testified that the movement could function as a time movement without the bell but that if the movement were to function solely for timekeeping, the alarm feature would be eliminated “plus the bell.” As illustrative, the witness produced samples which were received in evidence as exhibit 3, containing a musical feature fastened to it, separate and apart from the movement, the alarm feature being operated by an arm which reaches out from the movement, and exhibit 4 which comprises a single movement between two faces but without any alarm feature.

Testifying further, the witness stated that exhibits 1-A and 1-B as an entirety in the form of exhibit 2 are, upon importation, cased as illustrated by plaintiff’s exhibit 5.

[187]

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Cite This Page — Counsel Stack

Bluebook (online)
31 Cust. Ct. 184, 1953 Cust. Ct. LEXIS 930, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/semca-co-v-united-states-cusc-1953.