United States v. Acme Steel Co.

50 Cust. Ct. 529, 216 F. Supp. 448, 1963 Cust. Ct. LEXIS 1451
CourtUnited States Customs Court
DecidedMarch 26, 1963
DocketA.R.D. 152; Entry No. 18419
StatusPublished
Cited by20 cases

This text of 50 Cust. Ct. 529 (United States v. Acme Steel Co.) 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
United States v. Acme Steel Co., 50 Cust. Ct. 529, 216 F. Supp. 448, 1963 Cust. Ct. LEXIS 1451 (cusc 1963).

Opinions

Rao, Judge:

This is an application for review of a decision and judgment of a single judge sitting in reappraisement (Reap. Dec. 10135) sustaining the entered values of an importation of steel strapping from Canada.

The merchandise in issue was exported on or about March 14,1960, by the Acme Steel Company of Canada, Ltd., Toronto, Ontario, and imported by the Acme Steel Company of Chicago, Ill., through the port of Buffalo, 1ST.Y. It consisted of three sizes of steel strapping entered, as invoiced, in Canadian funds, f.o.b., Toronto, at, respectively, $13.46, $12.82, $12.72 per 100 pounds. It was appraised at the entered unit values, plus 27.40 per centum Canadian dollars, packed, concededly upon the basis of constructed value, as that value is defined in section 402(d) of the Tariff Act of 1930, as amended by the Customs Simplification Act of 1956.

It was the position of appellee before the trial court, as it is here, that the proper basis of value for the importation in issue is export value, as defined in section 402(b) of the Tariff Act of 1930, as so amended, and that such values were the entered values. Alternatively, appellee agreed that constructed value was a proper basis for determining the values of the subject importation, but contended that such value was likewise represented by the entered values. The trial court sustained appellee’s primary claim.

The statutory definitions of the values in contention read as follows:

[SEC. 402] (b) Expoet Value. — For tbe 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.
[SEC. 402] (d) Constructed Value. — For the purposes of this section, the constructed value of imported merchandise shall be the sum of—
[531]*531(1) the cost of materials (exclusive of any internal tax applicable in tbe country of exportation directly to sucb materials or tbeir disposition, but remitted or refunded upon tbe exportation of tbe article in tbe production of which sucb materials are used) and of fabrication or other processing of any kind employed in producing sucb or similar merchandise, at a time preceding tbe date of exportation of tbe merchandise undergoing appraisement which would ordinarily permit tbe production of that particular merchandise in tbe ordinary course of business;
(2) an amount for general expenses and profit equal to that usually reflected in sales of merchandise of tbe same general class or kind as tbe merchandise undergoing appraisement which are made by producers in tbe country of exportation, in tbe usual wholesale quantities and in tbe ordinary course of trade, for shipment to tbe United States; and
(3) the cost of all containers and coverings of whatever nature, and all other expenses incidental to placing the merchandise undergoing ap-praisement in condition, packed ready for shipment to the United States.

At the trial, the parties stipulated that the merchandise here involved does not appear on the final list, published by the Secretary of the Treasury pursuant to section 6 (a) of said Customs Simplification Act of 1956; that the basis of the appraised value was, in fact, constructed value; that the only item of such value in dispute was that of general expenses, as defined in said section 402(d) (2); that the appraised value at the entered unit values, plus 27.40 per centum, represents part of the difference between the home market price and the export price to the United States; and that there was no other Canadian exporter of merchandise of the same general class or kind during the period covered by the instant importation. However, it does appear that similar merchandise was produced by one other Canadian firm which sold only to customers in Canada.

The record further established that the Canadian exporter was the wholly owned subsidiary of the American importer and that all its sales for exportation to the United States during the period between the first week of May 1959 through the middle of 1960 were made to the parent corporation. Such sales were characterized by appellee’s office-manager accountant as outright sales which were made at a price calculated by deducting 30 per centum from the Canadian domestic prices to allow for certain expenses not incurred in connection with shipments to the United States.

According to this witness, sales in Canada for domestic consumption were made directly to users, and the expenses involved in consummating them included selling, distribution, advertising, travel and entertainment, warehousing, freight, and the repair and maintenance of tools supplied to these customers, without charge, in connection with the use of the steel strapping. By contrast, sales for exportation to the United States did not require any of said expenses. Sales were f.o.b., Toronto, the purchaser was a distributor whose merchandise was not warehoused by the exporter, and tool service [532]*532charges and sales promotion expenses were not incurred in selling to the parent corporation.

As office manager and accountant, the witness’ duties required that he be responsible for, and have complete knowledge of, all costs entering into the production of the merchandise at bar. He considered the deduction of 30 per centum from the Canadian carload lot prices as representing the saving in cost effected by the elimination of the stated selling expenses. Other costs per 100 pounds for producing such merchandise were given as follows:

Sizes in inches
¡ by .015 % by .020 % by .020
Material_:_ 7.58 7.16 7.19
Labor_ .31 .17 .19
General Expenses
Administrative cost of accounting, traffic, and engineering_ .30 .30 .30
Paint, lead, and wax_ .21 .21 .21
Fixed factory overhead_ .70 .70 .70
Coverings, containers, packing_ .29 .29 .29
Profit_ 4.07 3.99 3.84
(Canadian) 13.46 12.82 12.72

These were the figures at which the respective sizes were invoiced and entered. The witness further stated that such figures coincided with its export pricelist, dated May 5, 1959, which was received in evidence as plaintiff’s exhibit 1; that they fairly reflected the market value for shipment to the United States and represented the prices his company would have been willing to charge any other distributor in the United States.

A list of all the company’s sales for exportation to the United States during the first 3 months of 1960 was also received in evidence (plaintiff’s exhibit 4).

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Bluebook (online)
50 Cust. Ct. 529, 216 F. Supp. 448, 1963 Cust. Ct. LEXIS 1451, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/united-states-v-acme-steel-co-cusc-1963.