Tower v. United States

24 Cust. Ct. 39, 1950 Cust. Ct. LEXIS 1439
United States Customs Court·Decided January 24, 1950·No. C. D. 1204·Published·Cited by 1 cases

Opinion

Cline, Judge:

This is a protest, arising at the port of Buffalo, against the collector’s assessment of duty on wet and burned grain imported from Canada. In two of the entries the merchandise consisted of commingled wheat, oats, and barley, and in the third entry it consisted of oats and barley. The merchandise was not segregated, and duty was assessed pursuant to section 508 of the Tariff Act of 1930. at the highest rate applicable to any part thereof, namely, 15 cents per bushel of 48 pounds under paragraph 722, as modified by the trade' agreement with Canada, T. D. 49752, as barley. Plaintiff claims that the merchandise is properly dutiable under paragraph 731, as modified by said trade agreement, as scalpings or by similitude to scalpings, or under paragraph 1558 as a nonenumerated unmanufactured article, or free of duty under paragraph 1722 as a crude vegetable substance.

The pertinent provisions of the tariff act are as follows:

Par. 722 [as modified by the trade agreement with Canada, T. D. 49752], Barley, hulled or unhulled, 150 per bushel of 48 pounds.
Par. 726 [as modified by the trade agreement with Canada, T. D. 49752], Oats, hulled, or unhulled, 80 per bushel of 32 pounds.
Par. 729 [as modified by the trade agreement with Canada, T. D. 49752], Wheat, unfit for human consumption, 5% ad val.
Par. 731 [as modified by the trade agreement with Canada, T. D. 49752]» Screenings, scalpings, chaff, or seourings of wheat, flaxseed, or other grains or seeds: Unground or ground, 5% ad val.
[40]*40Par. 1558. That there shall be levied, collected, and paid on the importation of all raw or unmanufactured articles not enumerated or provided for, a duty of 10 per centum ad valorem, * * *.
Par. 1559. That each and every imported article, not enumerated in this Act, which is similar, either in material, quality, texture, or the use to which it may be applied to any article enumerated in this Act as chargeable with duty, shall be subject to the same rate of duty which is levied on the enumerated article which it most resembles in any of the particulars before mentioned; * * *.
Par. 1722 [Free]. Moss, seaweeds, and vegetable substances, crude or unman-ufactured, not specially provided for.
SEC. 508. COMMINGLING OF GOODS.
Whenever dutiable merchandise and merchandise which is free of duty or merchandise subject to different rates of duty are so packed together or mingled that the quantity or value of each class of such merchandise can not be readily ascertained by the customs officers, the whole of such merchandise shall be subject to the highest rate of duty applicable to any part thereof, unless the importer or consignee shall segregate such merchandise at his own risk and expense under customs supervision within ten days after entry thereof, in order that the quantity and value of each part or class thereof may be ascertained.

It appears from the official papers that the examiners returned the merchandise as dutiable under paragraph 731 as scalpings by virtue of the similitude clause in paragraph 1559. Their reports describe the merchandise as follows:

Entry No. 932 — The importation consisted of a mixture of fireburnt & water-soaked wheat, oats & barley.
Entry No. 619 — The importation consisted of a mixture of fireburnt & water-soaked oats & Barley.
Entry No. 1829 — Animal feed consisting of wet and discolored, wheat, oats and barley.

However, the collector assessed duty under paragraph 722 as stated above. .

A sample of the merchandise taken from entry No. 619 was received into evidence as plaintiff’s exhibit 1 and there was testimony that it was similar in appearance to the other two shipments. It appears to consist of oats (many of which are discolored) barley, and foreign matter.

At the trial, Edward Douglas Sullivan, senior partner of Sullivan & Kennedy, the exporter herein, testified that the merchandise had been stored at the Dewart Milling Co., Peterboro, Ontario; that there were three storage tardes at said mill, consisting of circular concrete tanks about 35 feet'high and 10 feet in circumference; that just one kind of grain was stored in each tank; that in July 1946, wheat was stored in one tank, oats in another, and barley in the third; that a fire occurred in the top of one tank; that an enormous amount of water was used in trying to put out the fire; that the water spread into the grain; that water was poured over the other tanks to keep them cool; that holes were cut in the bottoms of all the taffies to get the grain out and all the grain became damaged by water, smoke, [41]*41and fire; that all the grain was mixed together on a pile; and that later whatever could be salvaged from the pile was loaded into railroad cars for shipment.

Mr. Sullivan stated that the grain was offered to him by a representative of Dewart Milling Co. on sample; that the sample contained wheat, oats, and barley; that it was badly damaged by water, had a smoky smell, contained pieces of charred grain, and was on the verge of becoming heated and musty; that it was not fit for human consumption, nor was it fit for animal feed in that condition, but would have to be mixed with something else; that he sold the merchandise to a class of buyers called “mixers,” who buy any kind of wheat, oats, barley, or corn for animal consumption, grind them together, and resell the mixture. He also stated that he inspected the carloads of grain when they arrived; that the merchandise was not nearly as good in quality as the original sample which had been submitted; that the grains were not in the same proportions in each carload; that the samples from the cars were damp, on the verge of being musty, and contained large lumps of moldy grain.

The witness testified that he would sell such merchandise only on sample because the grain was.in an unsound condition; but that if after the sample was produced, the purchaser was willing to accept the merchandise as wheat, oats, or barley, he would sell it as such.

Mr. Sullivan then testified that he was familiar with screenings and scalpings; that screenings consisted of the material remaining after cleaning grain that is adulterated with seeds and other foreign matter; that scalpings are wild oats cleaned from wheat and barley; that none of the grain in the entries herein had been processed in the manner required to produce screenings and scalpings; that the merchandise herein could not be put in the same category as screenings, and scalpings because screenings and scalpings are different from wheat, oats, and barley; that because it had been damaged, it was in the same category as to use; that screenings and scalpings are used as. a base in a feed mixture .in place of high-priced grains to reduce the-cost; that the merchandise herein would be used for the same purpose; that this merchandise had a higher food value than refuse screenings; that it was necessary to mix sound sweet grains with these heated and musty grains in order to make the feed palatable.

Hubert F. Schmitz, customs examiner, testified that he saw samples, of the merchandise involved in entry No.

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Tower v. United States, 24 Cust. Ct. 39, 1950 Cust. Ct. LEXIS 1439 (cusc 1950).

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