Uddo & Taormina Co. v. United States

25 Cust. Ct. 353, 1950 Cust. Ct. LEXIS 624
CourtUnited States Customs Court
DecidedJune 22, 1950
DocketNo. 7848; Entry No. 765338
StatusPublished

This text of 25 Cust. Ct. 353 (Uddo & Taormina 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
Uddo & Taormina Co. v. United States, 25 Cust. Ct. 353, 1950 Cust. Ct. LEXIS 624 (cusc 1950).

Opinion

Cline, Judge:

This is an appeal for reappraisement of merchandise described in the invoice as “Roman Pecorino Genuine Cheese (Standard Quality)” imported from Rome, Italy, on March 18, 1948. The following appears on a sheet attached to the invoice:

Gross weight Kg. 1872. 9
Tare_261. 3
Net weight_1611. 6 at $2.00 $3223.20
Discount of 2% for sight cash payment.
[354]*354The net weight stated in this invoice at which the goods have been sold at $2.00 includes the 2.50% weight represented by coating.

Entry was made on the basis of 1,571.3 kilos at $2 per kilo, less 2 per centum discount, less nondutiable charges. It was appraised as follows:

Appraised at $2- plus proportionate part of cost of covering, per kilo of cheese, United States funds. Cost of inedible covering is $2- per kilo of inedible covering, both less 2% discount less NDC marked ®.

. There is no dispute as to the 2 per centum discount or the nondutiable charges. Entry was made at the export value and it was stipulated at the trial that the foreign value at or about the date of exportation was no higher than the entered unit value.

The only point at issue is the correctness of the addition to the unit value made by the appraiser of the proportionate part of the cost of ■the inedible covering.

At the trial Frank R. Taormina, one of the partners of Uddo .& Taormina Co., the importer of the merchandise, testified that he purchased the cheese involved herein from Henry Scaramelli, agent for the shipper, Societe Romano; that the purchase price was $2 per kilo less a 2 per centum cash discount; that he did not pay anything or any other amount for the inedible covering with which the cheese was coated; that he received offers from others at about the date of exportation at the same price; that the price included inland freight and loading charges in Italy; that when he received 100 kilos of cheese, he paid for that 100 kilos at $2 per kilo; that the 100 kilos included all the covering; that the price of $2 per kilo also included the wooden cases in which the cheese was packed; that he never paid on the weight of the wooden cases; that when the cheese is bought in Italy or sold in this country the price is not broken down into the amount paid for cheese and the amount paid for inedible covering.

Henry Scaramelli testified that, as agent for Societe Romano, he sold the merchandise involved herein to Uddo & Taormina Co.; that the sale was made pursuant to a contract (plaintiff’s exhibit 1) for $2 per kilo or $200 per 100 kilos f. o. b. point of shipment, less 2 per centum deduction for cash payment; that he offered the same type of cheese to other customers at the same price; that the price included all packing and charges to the port of exportation in Italy; that the weight of the outside case is never included in the weight of cheese for which the price is $2 per kilo; that the weight is determined before the cheese is packed; that the weight includes everything except the packing; that the inedible covering is on the cheese at the time it is weighed.

Robert P. Goldert, president of Bel Paese Sales Co., Inc., testified that his firm freely offered pecorino romano cheese on behalf of Galbani Melzo in February 1948 at $2 per kilo f. o. b. Genoa; that [355]*355tibe price included the inedible covering, packing, and transportation to the port of embarkation; that when the cheese was bought or sold by weight, the weight included the covering; that the price was never broken down into so much for cheese and so much for covering.

Peter C. Sozzi, an employee of Fontana-Hollywood, testified that his firm offered genuine pecorino romano cheese on behalf of Romano Castelli in February 1948 at $200 per quintal (100 kilos) f. o. b. Italy, less 2 per centum cash discount; that no extra charge was made for the inedible covering, wooden cases, or anything else; that the cheese was bought and paid for on the net weight of the cheese established at the time of packing before shipment; that the weight was the weight of the cheese and the inedible covering before it was placed in the wooden boxes.

In order to understand the nature of the controversy herein, it is necessary to consider previous litigation involving this type of cheese in classification cases. In Mattia Locatelli New York Branch v. United States, 69 Treas. Dec. 750, T. D. 48284, duty was assessed by the collector at the rate of 35 per centum ad valorem under paragraph 710 of the Tariff Act of 1930, reading as follows:

Pab. 710. Cheese and substitutes therefor, 7 cents per pound, but- not less than 35 per centum ad valorem.

Duty was assessed on a value determined by multiplying the landed weight of the cheese including the packing by the appraised unit of value. It was held that the duty at 35 per centum ad valorem should have been assessed upon the dutiable value obtained by multiplying the appraised unit of value by the net weight of the cheese, less 2}í per centum for the covering, and that when dutiable at 7 cents per pound, the duty should be based upon the net landed weight, less 2){ per centum for the covering. The question was reconsidered and the same decision reached in Mattia Locatelli v. United States, 72 Treas. Dec. 756, T. D. 49302. Subsequently, in Bel Paese Sales Co., Inc. v. United States, 15 Oust. Ct. 7, C. D. 932, it appeared that the court had ordered a reliquidation on the basis of the above decisions, but the collector reliquidated the entry “no change.” The court held that the reliquidation failed to follow the previous decision and judgment of the court; that duty should have been taken only upon a sum derived from a multiplication of the net weight of the merchandise, less 2/ per centum for tare of nonedible coverings by the entered and appraised unit of value; that the collector may not legally add the included cost of inedible covering to the total value of cheese to obtain the dutiable value without first deducting the same. In that case, the merchandise was appraised as entered, but the examiner placed the following red-ink: notation upon the invoice:

The appraised unit of value $63 per hundred kilos less 2 percent f. o. b. applies to both cheese and inedible covering (packing).

[356]*356In the instant case the merchandise was advanced in value and it appears that a value of $2 per kilo was placed on the cheese per se and the cost of the inedible covering was found to be $2 per kilo, both less 2 per centum discount and nondutiable charges.

It appears from the record that this merchandise was bought and sold at $2 per kilo upon the basis of the total weight of the cheese and the inedible covering, not on the basis of the net weight of the cheese alone without regard to the weight of the covering. In other words, for $2, the purchaser received 97% per centum of cheese and 2% per centum of covering. Therefore, the price of 1 kilo of cheese (with the necessary covering included) would be $2.05128.

Duty must be assessed on both the cheese and the covering, but may not be taken on any part of either twice, and the weight of the goods actually imported must be taken as a basis of computing the duty. Kraft-Phenix Cheese Corp. v. United States,

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25 Cust. Ct. 353, 1950 Cust. Ct. LEXIS 624, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/uddo-taormina-co-v-united-states-cusc-1950.