Tuscany Fabrics, Inc. v. United States

454 F.2d 1188, 59 C.C.P.A. 77, 1972 CCPA LEXIS 389
Court of Customs and Patent Appeals·Decided February 17, 1972·No. No. 5436, C.A.D. 1043·Published·Cited by 1 cases

Opinion

Rich, Judge.

This appeal is from a judgment of the United States Customs Court, Second Division, 65 Cust. Ct. 182, 317 F. Supp. 741, C.D. 4076 (1970), overruling the importer’s protest against the classification of the imported merchandise. We affirm.

The merchandise at bar is woven fabric concededly in chief weight, of wool1 and allegedly in chief value of asbestos. It was classified as “Woven fabrics, of wool,” TSUS 336.50, by virtue of headnote 7 to. schedule 3, which provides that “With respect to fabrics provided for [79] in part 3 * * * of this schedule, provision for fabrics in chief value of wool [2] shall also apply to fabrics in chief weight of wool,” and it is claimed as “cloth * * * of asbestos, or of asbestos and any other spin-nable fiber,” TSUS 518.21.

The Customs Court initially conceded that:

If read without reference to other provisions of the tariff schedules, * * * [item 518.21] would cover the instant merchandise, if in chief value of asbestos, under the provision for cloth of asbestos; otherwise, under the provision for cloth of asbestos and other spinnable fibers.

Parenthetically, we note that item 336.50 covers the instant merchandise just as aptly, “If read without reference to other provisions of the tariff schedules * * *.” The question, then, is how to harmonize two seemingly discordant provisions. This the Customs Court did by reading item 518.21 in conjunction with headnote 1 (ii) of schedule 3, which excepts therefrom “asbestos fibers, or yarns, fabrics, or other articles containing asbestos in significant amounts, i.e., articles in which asbestos is used in sufficient amount to impart its peculiar characteristics of properties to the article (see part IF of schedule 5) * * *.” It conceded that there is no corresponding provision in part IF of schedule 5 itself, but reasoned that:

* * * the cross reference in schedule 3 is an indication that Congress intended that yarns, fabrics or other articles containing asbestos in significant amounts, as defined in the headnote, should be classified in schedule 5, part IF, but that yarns, fabrics or textile articles containing insignificant amounts of asbestos should be classified in schedule 3.

In additional support of its holding that “The criterion [for inclusion under item 518.21] is not chief value, but the characteristics or properties of asbestos imparted to the article,” the Customs Court quoted from relevant portions of the Tariff Classification Study and from the legislative history of headnote 7 to schedule 3.

The court then disposed of appellant’s two constitutional arguments, which were and are that the enactment of headnote 7 to schedule 3 violated the due process clause of the Fifth Amendment because it was contained in a rider which “had absolutely no relation to the title of the act under which it was enacted into law” and that headnote 1 (ii) to schedule 3 is “void for vagueness.” Noting that “mixed legislation is often enacted,” the court held that “There is no restriction in the Constitution limiting Congress to one subject of legislation in each bill * * As for the “void for vagueness” argument, the Customs Court questioned the applicability of the doctrine to tariff stat[80] utes but concluded that, in any event, headnote 1 (ii) sets a standard which can be understood reasonably well by those to whom it is directed and that it therefore would not be constitutionally infirm even if the doctrine were held applicable to tariff statutes.

Finally, the Customs Court indicated that among the “peculiar characteristics” of asbestos to which the statute might have reference are incombustibility, nonconductivity, high specific gravity, and resistance to chemicals and moths. Turning to the evidence on these subjects, which had been adduced by both parties, the court held that the above characteristics had not 'been imparted to the importations and/or increased therein relative to otherwise similar fabrics not containing asbestos.

OPINION

We will discuss the issues presented 'by this appeal in slightly different order than they were discussed below.

I. Constitutionality of the Enactment of Headnote 7

Appellant seems to be making two separate arguments on this score: First, that the text of a piece of legislation must be logically related to its title, and, second, that unrelated provisions may not be included in one piece of legislation. Appellant concedes that there are no such restrictions specifically set forth in the Constitution, but urges us to read one or both of them into the general provision of the due process clause.

Since it never has been the law that the enactment by Congress of mixed legislation or of legislation the substance of which is unrelated to its title is unconstitutional, see, e.g., Hadden v. The Collector, 72 U.S. 107 (1886), and since appellant’s principal argument seems to be that these restrictions have been generally adopted by the several states in their respective state constitutions, this seems to be one of those cases in which it is argued that a practice, once considered constitutional, has become unconstitutional because of our society’s increasingly demanding conception of “fundamental fairness.” Cf. Wolf v. Colorado, 338 U.S. 25, 27 (1949). It may be that the time has indeed come for the Supreme Court to re-examine such old cases as Hadden v. The Collector, supra. However, we ourselves see nothing pernicious in the practices appellant has 'asked us to condemn, nor has the Supreme Court’s explanation3 for Congress’s inclusion in the Or[81] ganic Act of the Philippines of express provisions sndh as appellant would have us read into the due process clause persuaded us that such limitations on the power of the legislature are a necessary element of the fundamental law of every civilized country. Furthermore, we, too, are aware that Congress often passes mixed legislation and legislation which bears no relationship- to its title, and we would be reluctant indeed to cast all such legislation (or, at least, all such recent legislation) into doubt without a far stronger showing of consensus among scholars of the law and political science than appellant has made here. Compare Wolf v. Colorado, supra, at 29-30. Accordingly, we hold that the enactment of headnote 7 of schedule 3 did not violate the due process clause of the Fifth Amendment.

II. Constitutionality of Headnote 1 {ii)

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Tuscany Fabrics, Inc. v. United States, 454 F.2d 1188, 59 C.C.P.A. 77, 1972 CCPA LEXIS 389 (ccpa 1972).

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