United States v. Bata Shoe Co.

3 Cust. Ct. 607, 1939 Cust. Ct. LEXIS 2977
CourtUnited States Customs Court
DecidedOctober 24, 1939
DocketNo. 4667; Entry Nos. 738183, 738182, 741984
StatusPublished
Cited by1 cases

This text of 3 Cust. Ct. 607 (United States v. Bata Shoe 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. Bata Shoe Co., 3 Cust. Ct. 607, 1939 Cust. Ct. LEXIS 2977 (cusc 1939).

Opinion

Kincheloe, Judge:

This is an application for review brought by the United States from a judgment rendered by a single judge involving the proper dutiable value of certain merchandise described on the invoices as “unfinished velvet boots,” imported from Czechoslovakia.

The case was originally tried before Presiding Judge McClelland who found that the proper basis for determining dutiable value was cost of production, as that value is defined in section 402 (f) of the Tariff Act of 1930, but in his opinion all of the elements necessary to establish such value were not shown in the record before him, and he therefore directed “that the appeals be restored to the calendar in order that opportunity may be afforded counsel for the plaintiff and the defendant to offer additional evidence upon the basis of which I may find the statutory cost of production of the unfinished boots involved.” (Reap. Dec. 4330.) Later, the case was heard and finally submitted for decision before Judge Sullivan, after both sides had offered additional documentary evidence relating to cost of production of the imported merchandise. In his decision based upon the record before him, which included the supplementary evidence offered at later hearings, Judge Sullivan concurred in all of the views [608]*608expressed by Presiding Judge McClelland in the earlier decision, Reap. Dec. 4330, and found that the cost of production for the instant merchandise was represented by the invoiced and entered value. From that decision of Judge Sullivan, Reap. Dec. 4512, the United States has appealed.

Appraisement of the imported merchandise was made by reason of a Presidential proclamation published in T. D. 46158, on the basis of the American selling price of a domestic article which the appraiser accepted as like or similar within the definition of “American selling price” as set forth in section 402 (g) of the Tariff Act of 1930. The said proclamation, based upon a report of the United States Tariff Commission., was issued under authority contained in section 336 of said tariff act, and proclaimed a finding that the rate of duty necessary to equalize the differences in the cost of production of—

* * * boots, shoes, or other footwear (including athletic or sporting boots and shoes), the uppers of which are composed wholly or in chief value of wool, cotton, ramie, animal hair, fiber, rayon or other synthetic textile, silk, or substitutes for any of the foregoing, with soles composed wholly or in chief value of india rubber or substitutes for rubber.
produced in the United States, and like or similar articles produced in •Czechoslovakia and Japan, was 35 per centum ad valorem based upon the American selling price of such articles.
It appears from the testimony, as well as from an examination of the sample of the imported merchandise as represented by Collective Exhibit 1, that the articles as imported were incomplete or unfinished, consisting merely of calendered rubber soles, rubber foxing, and uppers of velveteen; and that they required the addition of a tongue, eyelets, laces, and fur trimming to bring them to the condition of Illustrative Exhibit A, which was admitted in evidence as representative of the completed or finished article, that was offered and sold in the trade and commerce of this country. It is further disclosed by the record that the finished articles are known variously as carriage boots, gay-tees, motor boots, and dress galoshes. Since there seems to be no dispute concerning the particular name by which the articles in question are known in the trade, we shall, for the purposes of convenience, refer to them as boots.
Based upon the premise that the instant merchandise was imported in an unfinished condition, it is urged by the importer corporation (appellee here), and its contention was upheld by the court below, that the said Presidential proclamation is limited in scope to finished articles only, and that therefore the imported unfinished boots are not within the purview of said proclamation. The Government (appellant here) contended before the court below, as it does here, that the language employed in said proclamation is clear and unambiguous, and that the terms “boots, shoes, and other footwear” as used [609]*609therein are generic terms, sufficiently broad and comprehensive to include such merchandise in any form or condition.

It will be noted that the said proclamation refers to the above mentioned merchandise as that “provided for in paragraph 1530 of title I of the tariff act,” the pertinent provision of which paragraph reads as follows:

* * * boots, shoes, or other footwear (including athletic or sporting boots and shoes), the uppers of which are composed wholly or in chief value of wool, cotton, ramie, animal hair, fiber, rayon or other synthetic textile, silk, or substitutes for any of the foregoing, whether or not the soles are composed of leather, wood, or other materials * * *.

Hence, the articles contemplated within said proclamation, in our judgment, are only such as are embraced within the above quoted provision of paragraph 1530 (e) of the tariff act. That conclusion is in harmony with the view on the same point, expressed in the opinion of Presiding Judge McClelland, Reap. Dec. 4330, in the following language:

* * * insofar as the character of merchandise covered is concerned the scope of the proclamation is no greater than the scope of the tariff provision which it was designed to affect.

One of the issues thus presented is whether the provision in paragraph 1530 (e), supra, includes boots, shoes, and other footwear of the particular kind or class therein specified, in an incomplete or unfinished condition, as well as the finished articles, themselves.

The lower court found that the boots in question were not substantially completed, and that they were incapable of performing the use for which intended in their condition as imported, and therefore held that such articles were not within the purview of the Presidential proclamation, supra. In reaching its conclusion, the court followed the rule laid down in the case of United States v. Carr (11 Ct. Cust. Appls. 345; T. D. 39147) which held in substance that an eo nomine provision which contains no qualifying words or phrases to indicate whether or not only completely finished articles are intended to be covered thereby includes only such articles provided for as are “substantially completed when imported and as are then reasonably adapted to and suitable for use and service as such.”

It is our opinion that the record before us warrants such a conclusion. It is fairly established herein that the merchandise in question was imported in an unfinished condition, and that, as imported, it was neither serviceable nor salable. The testimony of all of the witnesses, as well as an examination of the samples, clearly demonstrates that the articles in question, in their imported condition, required the addition of a tongue, eyelets, and laces, for which they are particularly designed to be fitted; and that such essential parts, [610]*610together with a decorative fur trimming, were actually fitted to render the imported unfinished boots capable of performing the use for which they are intended, to wit: to prevent the ingress of cold air, rain, and snow when worn on the feet.

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Bluebook (online)
3 Cust. Ct. 607, 1939 Cust. Ct. LEXIS 2977, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/united-states-v-bata-shoe-co-cusc-1939.