Swiss Manufactures Ass'n v. United States

39 Cust. Ct. 227
CourtUnited States Customs Court
DecidedNovember 7, 1957
DocketC. D. 1933
StatusPublished
Cited by21 cases

This text of 39 Cust. Ct. 227 (Swiss Manufactures Ass'n 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
Swiss Manufactures Ass'n v. United States, 39 Cust. Ct. 227 (cusc 1957).

Opinions

MollisoN, Judge:

The merchandise the subject of these protests, which were consolidated for purposes of trial, consists of so-called diamond grinding wheels or diamond tools. They were assessed with duty at the rate of 25 cents per pound and 20 per centum ad valorem under the provision in paragraph 1539 (b) of the Tariff Act of 1930, as modified by the Presidential proclamation relating to the Torquay Protocol to the General Agreement on Tariffs and Trade, T. D. 52739, for—

Manufactures wholly or in chief value of any product of which any synthetic resin or resin-like substance is the chief binding agent * * *.

They are claimed to be properly dutiable at the rate of 10 per centum ad valorem under the provision in paragraph 1558 of the same act, as modified by the said proclamation and supplemented by the Presidential notification reported in T. D. 52827, for—

Articles manufactured, in whole or in part, not specially provided for * * *,

or, alternatively, at the rate of 15 per centum ad valorem under the provision in paragraph 214 of the said act, as modified by the Presidential proclamation relating to the General Agreement on Tariffs and Trade, T. D. 51802, for—

* * * articles * * * composed wholly or in chief value of earthy or mineral substances, not specially provided for * * * not decorated in any manner * * *.

At the trial, it was stipulated by counsel for the parties that the merchandise, described either on the consular or commercial invoices as diamond wheels, diamond grinding wheels, or diamond tools, is similar in all material respects to the diamond grinding wheels involved in protest 217908-K, Rohner, Gehrig & Co., Inc., and Swiss Manufactures Association, Inc. v. United States, the decision in which case is reported in 37 Cust. Ct. 391, Abstract 60279. The record in that [229]*229case was incorporated as part of the record in this case, and the present protests were submitted for decision, time being requested and allowed for the filing of briefs.

The record on which the issue is to be decided consists of an oral stipulation entered into between counsel—

1. That the merchandise consists of diamond powder, bound together by Bakelite to form a ring and mounted on a disk body, the synthetic resin in the Bakelite being the chief binding agent.

2. That these wheels are manufactured by mixing Bakelite powder, purchased from the manufacturer thereof, together with diamond powder in the desired proportions, the ratio depending upon the concentration ordered. This mixture is then pressed hot in a mold, producing a grinding ring.

3. That the ring is fastened to a suitable disk body, being of aluminum, or, in the case of smaller wheels, of Bakelite, thus producing the diamond grinding wheels.

4. That the price of the diamond grinding wheels is determined practically exclusively by the amount of diamond powder which is used in each wheel. The ratio of the cost of the diamond powder to the other materials, to wit, the Bakelite, the aluminum disk, and manufacturing expenses, is 4 to 1. Therefore, the component material in chief value in these grinding wheels is the diamond powder.

5. That the synthetic resin is the chief and only binding agent.

In the brief filed on behalf of the Government in the incorporated case, it was conceded that the protest there involved should be sustained.

In the course of our decision in the incorporated case, we observed that—

* * * both parties adopt the view that the 'product referred to in the statute is that single product or component material used in the manufacture which contains as its chief binding agent the synthetic resin or resin-like substance. In such view, the diamond grinding wheels at bar are manufactures of the following products: (1) Diamond powder, (2) Bakelite powder, and (3) aluminum, and, in such view, of course, the single product which has a synthetic resin or resin-like substance as its chief binding agent is the Bakelite powder. Inasmuch as it is stipulated that the diamond powder is the component material of chief value, it follows that the Bakelite powder is not. [Italics quoted.]

After the promulgation of the decision in the incorporated case, which was based upon reasoning in which the Government had concurred, it obviously had a change of view of the matter, and, in T. D. 54279, reported in the advance sheets of Treasury Decisions of January 10, 1957, volume 92, No. 2, the Commissioner of Customs limited the application of that decision, so far as the actions of collectors and other customs personnel were concerned, to the importation covered thereby. The reasons for such action on the part of the Commissioner are, in part, similar to the theory of the case now [230]*230advanced by counsel for the Government in the brief filed in its behalf, as follows:

* * * that the imported articles consist of the combination of two articles, one being the grinding ring, the other being the disc body, as set forth in the stipulation therein. It is, therefore, the grinding ring, composed of diamond dust and Bakelite, which is a product of which synthetic resin is the chief binding agent. Since, obviously, this product is the component material in chief value of the imported grinding wheels, the classification was correct. [Italics quoted,]

In his critique of the decision in the incorporated case, the Commissioner of Customs said the court “did not discuss two considerations of direct interest to the classification of the grinding wheels,” one being that the wheels consist of two “components,” and the other that, in any event, the provision in paragraph 214, as modified, for articles composed in chief value of earthy or mineral substances would be more specifically applicable to the diamond grinding wheels than the nonenumerated manufactured articles provision in paragraph 1558, as modified, under which the merchandise was held to be classifiable by the court in its decision.

In view of the foregoing, we think it pertinent to note that neither party, either at the trial or in the briefs filed in the earlier case, made any effort to offer the “two considerations of direct interest to the classification” to the court for discussion, and its decision was limited to a disposition of the issue as framed by the parties.

However, these two considerations are now before us, and we will proceed to discuss them. The tariff term with which we are concerned is “product” — we are to determine whether or not the grinding wheels áre .“manufactures * * * in chief value of any product of which any synthetic resin or resin-like substance is the chief binding agent” [italics added].

The case of United States v. J. E. Bernard & Co., Inc., 42 C. C. P. A. (Customs) 69, C. A. D. 573, is the latest case in which our appellate court considered the provision for “Manufactures wholly or in chief value of any product of which any synthetic resin or resin-like substance is the chief binding agent.” In that case, the imported merchandise consisted of washing machine agitators, composed wholly of Bakelite.

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Bluebook (online)
39 Cust. Ct. 227, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/swiss-manufactures-assn-v-united-states-cusc-1957.