Union Carbide Corp. v. United States

55 Cust. Ct. 542, 1965 Cust. Ct. LEXIS 2379
CourtUnited States Customs Court
DecidedJuly 7, 1965
DocketReap. Dec. 11039; Entry Nos. NF 10417, NF 11012, NF 11116, NF 11200, NF 11374, NF 11483, NF 11528, NF 11731
StatusPublished
Cited by6 cases

This text of 55 Cust. Ct. 542 (Union Carbide Corp. 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
Union Carbide Corp. v. United States, 55 Cust. Ct. 542, 1965 Cust. Ct. LEXIS 2379 (cusc 1965).

Opinion

Richardson, Judge:

The merchandise of this appeal consists of certain wash-and-wax sponges which were imported at Niagara Falls, N.Y., from Canada, and appraised at Canadian $0,634 each, on the basis of constructed value, as defined in 19 U.S.C.A., section 1401a (d) (section 402(d), Tariff Act of 1930, as amended by the Customs Simplification Act of 1956). Plaintiff principally contends the proper basis of appraisement to be export value, as defined in 19 U.S.C.A., section 1401a(b) (section 402(b), Tariff Act of 1930, as amended by the Customs Simplification Act of 1956), and that such export value is the invoiced and entered value of Canadian $0,275 for merchandise exported between April 20, 1961, and May 10, 1961, and Canadian $0,271 for merchandise exported subsequent to May 10, 1961. Alternatively, plaintiff contends for the same unit values based upon constructed value, as defined in section 1401a(d). Defendant contends that the evidence does not support the claimed unit values under either basis of valuation relied upon by the plaintiff. It is conceded that the involved merchandise does not appear on the Secretary’s final list, and that appraisement is governed by the provisions of section 1401a.

It appears from the record that the subject merchandise was manufactured in Canada by Union Carbide, Canada, Ltd., of Toronto, Canada, and thereafter sold to Union Carbide Consumer Products Co. of Philadelphia, Pa. These two firms are affiliated with Union Carbide Corporation, the plaintiff-importer herein. The business of these firms is to manufacture consumer products and sell them to wholesalers and to others who sell at retail.

At the trial, Henry Lionel Tipple, manager of new products development of the consumer products division of Union Carbide, Canada, Ltd., and John Kobert MacArthur, manager of accounting in the same firm, testified on behalf of the plaintiff. There were also offered in evidence on plaintiff’s behalf a specimen wash-and-wax sponge, representative of the merchandise at bar (plaintiff’s exhibit 1), and a sample of the “blister” package in which the sponge was sold in the home market in Canada (plaintiff’s illustrative exhibit 2). Defendant did not call any witnesses, and confined itself to the cross-examination of plaintiff’s witnesses.

From the evidence, the following pertinent facts appear: The merchandise consists of a plastic sponge whose interior is impregnated with detergents and waxes, and one surface of which is treated with an abrasive material. Some of the raw materials, namely, the un-[544]*544impregnated sponge and certain chemicals with which the sponge is impregnated, are imported from the United States, although not from Union Carbide Corporation. The sponge, as imported, is a new product which was developed in the United States. As of the time of the involved importations, Union Carbide, Canada, Ltd., was the sole manufacturer of these sponges in Canada. The sponge was developed for the primary purpose of facilitating the cleaning and waxing of automobile bodies, with the abrasive surface being used for the removal of more stubborn dirt and mud which cling to the wheels and hub caps of an automobile.

The Union Carbide Consumer Products Co. was the sole purchaser of these sponges for exportation to the United States. As previously indicated, the price to Union Carbide Consumer Products Co, for exportation to the United States was Canadian $0,275 per sponge for sponges exported prior to and including May 10, 1961, and Canadian $0,271 per sponge for sponges exported after May 10,1961. The reduction in price is attributed to the fact that there was a reduction in cost of one of the component materials, and the savings were passed on to the purchaser. These sponges, comprising some 500,000 all told although only a little over 400,000 are involved in the instant importations, were packed and shipped in bulk in cartons containing approximately 50 to 150 sponges. The transactions involved no advertising costs to the exporter.

Other circumstances of the instant export transactions are that the merchandise was acquired on an outright purchase and sale basis; that the purchase prices were arrived at “by cost plus a profit margin”; that, during the period of exportation of the involved merchandise, the manufacturer did not offer such merchandise in bulk to anyone but the purchaser herein for exportation; that no restrictions were imposed on the purchaser as to disposition or use of the merchandise ; and that the selling prices were not dictated or controlled in any way by Union Carbide Corporation, and did not vary according to quantity purchased. All of the sales for exportation to the United States were made f.o.b, Toronto, the exporter’s principal place of business. The elements comprising the involved export prices are as follows (K,. 36-37, 40) :

May 10,1961, andprior After May 10, 1961
Materials $163. 98 per thousand $159. 98 per thousand
Fabrication 10. 03 “ “ 10. 03 “
General Expenses 53. 71 53. 71
Containers and expenses to U.S. 6. 11 6. 11
Profit 41. 17 41. 17
Total $275. 00 $271. 00

[545]*545The involved, merchandise was also sold and offered for sale in Canada by the manufacturer for home consumption during the period of the involved exportations. Sales in the home market were made mainly to wholesalers, department stores, and others who sold at retail, and at a price of Canadian $0.79 per sponge. The sponge, as sold in the home market, was contained in what is described as a “blister package,” the cost of which was not recollected by plaintiff’s witness, and was sold, 24 to a carton, to customers numbering from 100 to 200 who purchased in smaller quantities spread over about 2,000 orders. The home price represented “plant costs” (materials and fabrication) of just over 30 cents. Other costs which influenced the price in the home market were the aforementioned blister packaging which was said to be quite expensive, advertising costs, labor costs in handling numerous orders involving smaller quantities, freight to all points in Canada, a Canadian Federal sales tax of 11 per centum, and a 2 per centum cash discount.

The applicable provisions of section 1401a read as follows:

Export value
(b) For the purposes of this section, the export value of imported merchandise shall be the price, at the time of exportation to the United States of the merchandise undergoing appraisement, at which such or similar merchandise is freely sold or, in the absence of sales, offered for sale in the principal markets of the country of exportation, in the usual wholesale quantities and in the ordinary course of trade, for exportation to the United States, plus, when not included in such price, the cost of all containers and coverings of whatever nature and all other expenses incidental to placing the merchandise in condition, packed ready for shipment to the United States.

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Bluebook (online)
55 Cust. Ct. 542, 1965 Cust. Ct. LEXIS 2379, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/union-carbide-corp-v-united-states-cusc-1965.