United States v. Bache

1 Cust. Ct. 781, 1938 Cust. Ct. LEXIS 1554
CourtUnited States Customs Court
DecidedDecember 14, 1938
DocketNo. 4475; Entry Nos. 745291, 809091
StatusPublished

This text of 1 Cust. Ct. 781 (United States v. Bache) 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. Bache, 1 Cust. Ct. 781, 1938 Cust. Ct. LEXIS 1554 (cusc 1938).

Opinions

Kincheloe, Judge:

These appeals to reappraisement were decided by Judge Sullivan as sitting judge on October 5, 1936 (Reap. Dec. 3951). Judge Sullivan rendered a judgment holding that the entered values were the correct foreign values and the proper dutiable values. An appeal was then taken from this decision to this division by the attorney for the Government and later this division rendered a decision and judgment sustaining the judgment of Judge Sullivan (Reap. Dec. 4039). Thereafter the Government took an appeal to the Court of Customs and Patent Appeals and later the said court reversed the judgment of this division and remanded same for reconsideration of the issues on the record as made and in accordance with the views therein expressed (25 C. C. P. A. 387, T. D. 49466).

These reappraisements involve the dutiable value of certain gauge .glasses known as the Eureka and Hercules qualities, purchased by the ■importers from Joseph Tomey & Sons, Ltd., of Birmingham, England, ■and imported into this country in April and October 1935, in two rshipments. In red ink on the invoice in reappraisement 111688-A appears the following notation by the appraiser:

App. at Foreign Market unit value per doz. pieces less 50% discount less 2%% •cash discount (less 1 pence per dozen cost of fusing ends on Eureka only) F. O. B. ■Liverpool Incl. case and packing.

In reappraisement 112228-A, on the invoice in red ink, is the following notation:

Appraised at Home Market list prices less 50% discount less cash discount of :2yi% f°r cash less 1 pence per doz. for fuseing ends of Eureka glasses only F. O. B. 2?Kd. -

[782]*782The attorneys for both parties conceded that the foreign-market values were the correct dutiable values and the per se prices were not in question. So the sole issue we had to decide was the amount of discounts applicable, and what constituted a wholesale quantity of each quality. Judge Sullivan held in his opinion the weight of evidence established that the usual wholesale quantity of the Eureka quality of gauge glasses is 1,000 feet or more, and of the Hercules quality, 500 feet or more; that the discount applicable to the sales of wholesale quantities of the' Eureka quality gauge glass were 80 per centum from the list price, with the further discount of 2J4 per centum for monthly payments; that the discounts applicable to the sales of wholesale quantities of Hercules gauge glass were 75 per centum and 10 per centum from the list price, with the further discount of 2% per centum for monthly payments; that the per se prices are those stated on the invoices; that the foreign-market value of these gauge glasses is the dutiable value thereof; that the export value is the same as the foreign value and is not higher; and that the entered value is the foreign-market value of the Eureka- and Hercules: gauge glasses in question.

During the trial of this case the attorney for the appellees introduced as a witness Isidore Sobel, who testified in substance that he was vice president of the appellee concern, being connected with it for thirty-eight years, and vice president since 1912; that his duties included purchase and.sale of merchandise for over thirty years; that personally he had to do with the purchase of the instant merchandise, which consists of two varieties known as Eureka low-pressure glasses and Hercules high-pressure glasses; that appellees import them in different diameters and lengths, and that the basic pricelist varies with the diameter of the glass and not with the length of the glass; that the range of diameters of both qualities runs all the way from % to % up to 1% inches in diameter, and in lengths from 3 inches to 84 inches; that the invoice, prices of both are the prices he paid for them, and that said prices still obtain. He éxplained how he arrived at the price of Eureka quality as follows:

—A. Our invoices, the unit price is based on so much per dozen feet less the three 10 discounts. Abroad they have a printed list price on which they allow certain specific discounts. It is quite annoying to be obliged to figure the list price less the discounts. The method that we have adopted for invoicing or, rather, the factory has adopted, is much simpler. They figure out the price per dozen feet, less the three 10’s instead of using the list price; but the net result, 80 per cent off the foreign list price, is equivalent exactly to the prices indicated on our invoices.

He stated that 80 per centum discount is allowed in the home market when purchases were made in wholesale quantities; that he is familiar with the manufacture of Eureka and Hercules glasses [783]*783and has seen them manufactured; that the characters of glasses of the instant importation and the characters sold in England a.re of the same value and character; that he is familiar with the market values of both Eureka and Hercules qualities in England and has been for about thirty-eight years; that he has placed thousands of orders for gauge glasses during that time; that he obtains, quotations from abroad, not only from the manufacturer of the instant merchandise, but other shippers; that he obtains a knowledge of market value by seeing records in England, having conversations with heads of concerns over there; that he receives certified extracts of records right along; that he has records of invoices of gauge glasses for the home market consumption; that the prices for the Eureka and Hercules qualities of gauge glasses in the home market are not higher than the prices paid for the instant importations; and that the prices paid for the instant merchandise have been in effect for a period of six years.

At this point in the trial the attorney for the appellees offered one affidavit from the shipper of the Eureka glasses, which was filed as Collective Exhibit 1. This affidavit was executed by Joseph L. Tomey, managing director of Joseph Tomey & Sons, Ltd., of Birmingham, England, together with a transcript of records, sales, etc., of the Eureka quality.

On cross-examination by the attorney for appellant the witness, Sobel, testified in substance that the instant merchandise is first standard grade and not second; that he gets 80 per centum discount on Eureka quality because that is the wholesale market price of the manufacturer both at home and abroad to all wholesale buyers who purchase in quantities of 1,000 feet or more; that he was allowed 75 per centum discount and 10 per centum from the list price, with a further discount of 2/ per centum for monthly payments on purchases of Hercules glass in quantities of 500 feet or more; and that this is the wholesale market price of the manufacturer both at home and abroad to all wholesale buyers of the Hercules glass. The witness was then questioned as to the record of sales attached to said Collective Exhibit 1, which were under the heading of classes A, B, C, and D. He testified that A means small user, B refers to retailer, C to wholesaler, and D means large consumer, which might be a railroad company, a wholesaler, or a jobber; that the purchaser would have to be a wholesaler to come under class D; that in order to get the discounts allowed him in each of the qualities of the instant importation, purchaser would have to be a C or D buyer, but if an A or B buyer bought the quantities that the C or D buyer purchased, he would get the same discount;

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Bluebook (online)
1 Cust. Ct. 781, 1938 Cust. Ct. LEXIS 1554, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/united-states-v-bache-cusc-1938.