United States v. Brandenstein

17 C.C.P.A. 480, 1930 CCPA LEXIS 30
CourtCourt of Customs and Patent Appeals
DecidedMarch 19, 1930
DocketNo. 3276; No. 3277
StatusPublished
Cited by2 cases

This text of 17 C.C.P.A. 480 (United States v. Brandenstein) is published on Counsel Stack Legal Research, covering Court of Customs and Patent Appeals primary law. Counsel Stack provides free access to over 12 million legal documents including statutes, case law, regulations, and constitutions.

Bluebook
United States v. Brandenstein, 17 C.C.P.A. 480, 1930 CCPA LEXIS 30 (ccpa 1930).

Opinions

Hatfield, Judge,

delivered the opinion of the court:

These are cross-appeals from a judgment of the United States Customs Court.

Milled rice, consisting of both whole and broken grains, was assessed for duty by the collector at the port of San Francisco at 2 cents per pound under paragraph 727 of the Tariff Act of 1922, which reads as follows:

Par. 727. Paddy or rough rice, 1 cent per pound; brown rice (hulls removed), IK cents per pound; milled rice (bran removed), 2 cents per pound; broken rice, and rice meal, flour, polish, and bran, one-half of 1 cent per pound. [Italics ours.]

The importer objected to the collector’s assessment, claiming that, while the whole grains of rice in the importation were properly assessed as milled rice at 2 cents per pound, the broken rice contained therein was properly dutiable as such at only one-half of 1 cent per pound under paragraph 727, supra.

On the trial below the importer introduced the testimony of two witnesses, James J. Sullivan and William Felix.

The witness, Sullivan, testified that he was a “licensed inspector” and the chief inspector of rice, wheat, corn, oats, and rye, for the Chamber of Commerce (of San Francisco, according to the brief of counsel for the importer); that he had held this position for a period of 6 years; that he had inspected rice for 20 years; that there are two different grades of rice, the Hong Kong, China, and the Canton grades for foreign rice and then the U. S. Government grades of rice”; that milled rice is bought and sold according to grade; that, in order to determine the grade of a specific shipment of milled rice, [482]*482it is necessary to ascertain the quantity of broken rice, “moisture, seed, paddy, and foreign material” contained therein; that the percentage by weight of broken rice can easily and readily be ascertained by putting a quantity of rice “through a mixer or divider” for the purpose of securing a representative small sample — 30 grams— and then segregating the broken grains from the whole grains by hand, or, as stated by the witness, by “hand picking it”; that this method of ascertaining the quantity of broken rice in a shipment of milled rice is prescribed by the Government; and that he applied the described test to the official sample marked “31416 K, 1000 mats rice” on the morning of the day he testified and found that the sample contained 88.4 per centum whole, 2.6 per centum “large broken,” and 9 per centum “small broken” grains of rice.

The witness, Felix, said that by using the method employed by the witness, Sullivan, he found that the official sample marked “M” contained'89.9 per centum whole, 8.6 per centum “small broken,” and 1.6 per centum “large broken” grains of rice; that the official sample marked “M-l” contained 89.4 per centum whole, 9.1 per centum “small broken,” and 1.6 per centum “large broken” grains of rice; that the method employed by the witnesses for the importer to ascertain the relative quantities of broken and whole rice is the usual and standard method of grading rice; and that it is simple and accurate, and is prescribed by the Government for that purpose.

The witnesses, C. S. Morse, Abel P. Santos, and Daniel J. O'Leary, testified for the Government.

The witness, Morse, said that he had been employed in the rice business for about 33 years; that he bought and sold milled rice in wholesale quantities prior to and since the enactment of the Tariff Act of 1922, “On the coast, all over the United States”; that there are various grades of milled rice; that “all different grades are based principally upon the amount of broken rice contained in them, the trade designation being in domestic rice, fancy, extra fancy, choice, etc., based on the amount of broken rice it contained. In oriental rices they use the designation for grades of No. 1 and No. 2 ”; that the various grades of milled rice- may contain broken rice in the following quantities: Extra fancy, 5 per centum; fancy, 10 per centum; choice, 20 per centum; No. 1 “Siam Garden,” 5 per centum; No. 2 “Siam Garden,” 10 per centum; and No. 1 “Pakling” rice from 5 to 10 per centum; and that the involved rice is “No. 1 Pakling.” Thereupon the witness testified:

Q. These percentages that you give cover both — and large broken grains?— A. No, sir. The percentages I gave referred to the broken under certain sizes.
. Justice Brown. You mean that three-fourths of the rice has to be physically broken in order to be called broken rice? . _ ,.
[483]*483' The Witness. No, sir; a grain three-fourths size is not considered broken. Under three-fourths size — I think my testimony is conflicting there. Under three-fourths is a broken grain and three-fourths and over is considered a whole grain.
Q. How would you grade a Pakling rice containing in the whole grains 89.9 per cent, large .broken 1.5 per centum, and small broken 8.6 per centum?— A: Number 1 Pakling milled rice.
Q. Number 1 Pakling milled rice? — A. Of course, the trade does not use the word “milled” commonly. They leave that off. It is superfluous. It is understood when they are dealing in rices that they are milled rice.
Q. That is known as milled rice, though, isn’t it?' — A. Yes, sir.

He further said that the term “milled rice” did not have a trade meaning different from the common or dictionary meaning; that the term was used to indicate that rice had been through a milling process; and that the terms “milled” and “cleaned” have the same meaning and are used interchangeably in the trade. With reference to broken rice, the witness said:

Q. Is there any such commodity — do you know of any such commodity— as broken rice sold in the trade? — A. Yes, sir.
Q. What is that used for? — A. It is sold to the regular grocery trade.
Q. What is it? — A. It has the grains that are broken into small sizes, half sizes, or up to three-fourths sizes, and even the fine broken, which is in the trade termed “brewer’s rice”; goes to brewers largely.
* ***** Ms
Q. And the milled rice implies in the trade — it is known as whole grain, as well as broken grain, together? — A. Yes, sir; the grades are spoken of as having certain percentages of broken grains.
Q. That forms the different classes of broken rice? — A. Yes, sir.
Q. And upon that depends the price charged for the rice in the trade? — A. Yes, sir.
Q. Where there is less broken rice, why the price for that rice is higher; is that right? — A. That is correct.

The witness, Santos, testified that he had been buying and selling milled rice at wholesale since 1917, “On the Pacific coast, in the State of California and different sections of the country, in the United States”; that the term “milled rice” was understood in the trade to refer to rice that had been through “the milling process”; and that there are several grades of milled rice. In this connection he said: “In the domestic market we have fancy, extra fancy, choice, extra choice rices and in the oriental rices, which are generally consumed, Siam Garden, Nos. 1 and 2, Saigon Long No. 1 and No.

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Bluebook (online)
17 C.C.P.A. 480, 1930 CCPA LEXIS 30, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/united-states-v-brandenstein-ccpa-1930.