Standard Components Division, Stancomp, Inc. v. United States

12 Ct. Int'l Trade 466, 685 F. Supp. 1264, 12 C.I.T. 466, 1988 Ct. Intl. Trade LEXIS 110
CourtUnited States Court of International Trade
DecidedMay 26, 1988
DocketCourt No. 86-02-00235
StatusPublished

This text of 12 Ct. Int'l Trade 466 (Standard Components Division, Stancomp, Inc. v. United States) is published on Counsel Stack Legal Research, covering United States Court of International Trade primary law. Counsel Stack provides free access to over 12 million legal documents including statutes, case law, regulations, and constitutions.

Bluebook
Standard Components Division, Stancomp, Inc. v. United States, 12 Ct. Int'l Trade 466, 685 F. Supp. 1264, 12 C.I.T. 466, 1988 Ct. Intl. Trade LEXIS 110 (cit 1988).

Opinion

DiCarlo, Judge:

Plaintiff challenges profit calculations for converter assemblies imported from Mexico as appraised by the United States Customs Service (Customs) on the basis of cost of production, section 402(f) of the Tariff Act of 1930, as amended, 19 U.S.C. § 1402(f) (repealed effective July 1, 1980). Plaintiff and defendant each move for summary judgment pursuant to Rule 56 of the Rules of this Court.

The Court has jurisdiction for this action under 28 U.S.C. § 1581(a) (1982). Defendant’s cross motion for summary judgment is granted and plaintiffs motion is denied. The action is dismissed.

Discussion

The converter assemblies were assembled in Mexico from components manufactured in the United States and shipped under consignment to plaintiffs Mexican subsidiary. When entered into the United States from Mexico, Customs appraised the converter assemblies on the basis of cost of production pursuant to 19 U.S.C. § 1402(f), which provided:

(f) Cost of production
For the purpose of this subtitle the cost of production of imported merchandise shall be the sum of—
(1) the cost of materials of, and of fabrication, manipulation, or other process employed in manufacturing or producing such or similar merchandise, at a time preceding the date of exportation of the particular merchandise under consideration which would ordinarily permit the [467]*467manufacture or production of the particular merchandise under consideration in the usual course of business;
(2) The usual general expenses (not less than 10 per cen-tum of such cost) in the case of such or similar merchandise;
(3) The cost of all containers and coverings of whatever nature, and all other costs, charges, and expenses incident to placing the particular merchandise under consideration in condition, packed ready for shipment to the United States; and
(4) An addition for profit (not less than 8 per centum of the sum of the amounts founder under paragraphs (1) and (2) of this subdivision) equal to the profit which ordinarily is added, in the case of merchandise of the same general character as the particular merchandise under consideration, by manufacturers or producers in the country of manufacture or production who are engaged in the production or manufacture of merchandise of the same class or kind.

Customs determined the amounts for paragraphs (1) and (2) of 19 U.S.C. § 1402(f) from plaintiffs quarterly import declarations or cost sheets, including in the amount for paragraph (1) the costs of United States fabricated components plaintiff supplied to its Mexican subsidiary. Customs calculated the amount for profit under paragraph (4) by multiplying the amounts found under paragraphs (1) and (2) by 8%, because plaintiffs data showed no profit or a profit of less than 8% of the sum of the amounts found for paragraphs (1) and (2).

After appraisement, Customs classified the converter assemblies under item 807.00 of the Tariff Schedules of the United States (TSUS), assessing duty under item 685.20, TSUS, as "television apparatus and parts thereof’, on the full value of the converter assemblies less the value of the components manufactured in the United States. Item 807.00, TSUS, provides for a duty on the full value of certain imported articles, less the cost or value of products of the United States:

Articles assembled abroad in whole or in part of fabricated components, the product of the United States, which (a) were exported in condition ready for assembly without further fabrication, (b) have not lost their physical identity in such articles by change in form, shape, or otherwise, and (c) have not been advanced in value or improved in condition abroad except by being assembled and except by operations incidental to the assembly process such as cleaning, lubricating, and painting.

Plaintiff does not contest the classification of the converter assemblies nor the amounts for cost of production found under paragraphs (1) and (2) of 19 U.S.C. § 1402®. The issue plaintiff presents is whether Customs correctly applied the statutory language of paragraph (4) of 19 U.S.C. § 1402(f) in calculating the 8% [468]*468minimum profit, by multiplying the amounts found under paragraphs (1) and (2) by 8%, when the amount under paragraph (1) included the value of United States fabricated components.

Plaintiff contends that the 8% minimum profit should be calculated by subtracting the value of United States fabricated components from the amount in paragraph (1), adding the amount in paragraph (2), and multiplying the sum by 8%. Plaintiff argues that in passing item 807.00, TSUS, Congress intended to provide qualified components manufactured in the United States duty-free treatment upon re-entry.

The court disagrees with plaintiffs position regarding profit calculation for cost of production appraisement. The plain language of paragraph (4) of 19 U.S.C. § 1402(f) provides a fixed formula for profit calculation which expressly directs that the addition for profit not be "less than 8 per centum of the sum of the amounts found under paragraphs (1) and (2).” Plaintiff does not challenge the amounts found under paragraphs (1) and (2), even though paragraph (1) includes the value of components manufactured by plaintiff in the United States and shipped under consignment to its Mexican subsidiary for assembly. This statutory language is not ambiguous, but rather clearly sets forth a formula for profit computation.

Plaintiff in effect is asking the Court to amend the language of 19 U.S.C. § 1402(f)(4) as written by Congress in 1930 in order to somehow accommodate item 807.00, TSUS, created in 1962 with passage of the Tariff Classification Act of 1962, Pub. L. No. 87-456, 76 Stat. 72. See 10 Tariff Classification Study 12-16 (1960). This the Court declines to do. If Congress wished to change the method of calculating profit expressly provided for in 19 U.S.C. § 1402(f)(4) to account for item 807.00, TSUS, it could have done so, the Court will not now order such a change.

Customs does not ignore the intent of item 807.00, TSUS. After appraisement and before computing the final amount of duty owing, Customs deducted the full value or cost of those components manufactured in the United States pursuant to item 807.00, TSUS, and Headnote 3, Schedule 8, Part 1, Subpart B, TSUS.

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12 Ct. Int'l Trade 466, 685 F. Supp. 1264, 12 C.I.T. 466, 1988 Ct. Intl. Trade LEXIS 110, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/standard-components-division-stancomp-inc-v-united-states-cit-1988.