United States v. F. W. Myers & Co.

63 Cust. Ct. 706, 306 F. Supp. 1396, 1969 Cust. Ct. LEXIS 3722
CourtUnited States Customs Court
DecidedDecember 11, 1969
DocketA.R.D. 264; Entry No. 42009, etc.
StatusPublished
Cited by12 cases

This text of 63 Cust. Ct. 706 (United States v. F. W. Myers & 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. F. W. Myers & Co., 63 Cust. Ct. 706, 306 F. Supp. 1396, 1969 Cust. Ct. LEXIS 3722 (cusc 1969).

Opinion

Maletz, Judge:

This application for review involves 14 shipments of 18-gauge steel tubing, 1%" and 2" in diameter, exported from Canada, via Detroit, between April 30, 1964 and February 11, 1965. The manufacturer-exporter of the tubing was International Formed Tubes, Ltd. of Scarboro, Ontario (International Tubes), and the consignee — a selected purchaser — was International Stamping Co., Inc. of Hartford, Wisconsin (International Stamping). Both companies are wholly owned subsidiaries of Midas International Corporation of Chicago (Midas).

The invoiced selling price of the 1%" tubing was $8.06 per 100 feet (U.S. funds), and the invoiced selling price of the 2" size was $8.49 per 100 feet (U.S. funds). There is no dispute that the proper statutory basis of appraisement is export value, as defined in section 402(b) of the Tariff Act of 1930, as amended by the Customs Simplification Act of 1956 (19 U.'S.C. § 1401a (b)). The government'appraiser at Detroit appraised the 1%" tubing at $11.22 per 100 feet (Canadian funds) and the 2" tubing at $13.38 per 100 feet (Canadian funds). These appraisals were based on the general price list of another Canadian manufacturer of steel tubing — Standard Tube and T.I., Ltd. of Woodstock, Ontario (Standard Tube). Standard Tube’s general price list covered sales of steel tubing in the Canadian market for home consumption and for export to the United States. However, during the [708]*708period in issue, Standard Tube made no sales for export to the United States under its general price list. Further, during the period involved, Standard Tube made only one actual sale of 1%" or 2" tubing for export to the United States. That sale was at $13.46 per 100 feet (Canadian funds) for the 1 f&" size and $17.54 per 100 feet (Canadian funds) for the 2" size, all less 5 percent. The government appraiser did not use this single isolated sale as a basis of appraisement but rather used the prices set out in Standard’s general price list.

Against this background, appellee (plaintiff below) — the customs broker who made the entries at Detroit — contended before the trial judge that the actual sale price of the steel tubing — i.e., $8.06 and $8.49 (U.S. funds) for the smaller and larger sizes, respectively— represented statutory export value on the asserted ground that it was a price which fairly reflected market value. Appellant (defendant below) argued to the contrary that export value could be found for the imported merchandise only on the basis of identical or similar merchandise manufactured by another company in the country of exportation, viz. Standard Tube. The trial judge sustained appellee’s contention holding that the “actual export sales prices xn Canada are more probative of an export value, at a price that fairly reflects market value, than the offered prices for export in Canada at which there were no sales * * *." F. W. Myers & Co., Inc. v. United States, 60 Cust. Ct. 716, 722, R.D. 11454 (1968).

Appellant insists that the decision below is erroneous. It argues that appellee failed to sustain its burden of proof in not having accounted for the difference between International Tubes’ invoice prices to International Stamping and the prices at which identical or similar merchandise was sold or offered for sale in Canada by other manufacturers. It contends, also, that the court below erred in refusing to strike certain evidence, admitted over appellant’s objections, concerning purchases of steel tubing in the United States market. Finally, appellant maintains that International Tubes’ selling prices to its corporate affiliates in the United States do not form a proper basis for dutiable value under section 402 since, it says, dutiable value under that section is the price to all wholesalers buying for industrial use or for resale otherwise than at retail.

At the outset, we quote the pertinent provisions of section 402 of the Tariff Act of 1930, as amended by the Customs Simplification Act of 1956:

(b) Export Value. — 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 [709]*709of 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.
*******
(f) Definitions. — For the purposes of this section — •
(1) The term “freely sold or, in the absence of sales, offered for sale” means sold or, in the absence of sales, offered—
fA) to all purchasers at wholesale, or
(B) in the ordinary course of trade to one or more selected purchasers at wholesale at a price which fairly reflects the market value of the merchandise,
without restrictions as to the disposition or use of the merchandise by the purchaser, except restrictions as to such disposition or use which (i) are imposed or required by law, (ii) limit the price at which or the territory in which the merchandise may be resold, or (iii) do not substantially affect the value of the merchandise to usual purchasers at wholesale.
(2) The term “ordinary course of trade” means the conditions and practices which, for a reasonable time prior to the exportation of the merchandise undergoing appraisement, have been normal in the trade under consideration with respect to merchandise of the same class or kind as the merchandise undergoing appraisement.
(3) The term “purchasers at wholesale” means purchasers who buy in the usual wholesale quantities for industrial use or for resale otherwise than at retail; or, if there are no such purchasers, then all other purchasers for resale who buy in the usual wholesale quantities; or, if there are no purchasers in either of the foregoing categories, then all other purchasers who buy in the usual wholesale quantities.
(4) The term “such or similar merchandise” means merchandise in the first of the following categories in respect of which export value, United States value, or constructed value, as the case .may be, can be satisfactorily determined:
(A) The merchandise undergoing appraisement and other merchandise which is identical in physical characteristics with, and was produced in the same country by the same person as, the merchandise undergoing appraisement.
(B) Merchandise which is identical in physical characteristics with, and was produced by another person in the same country as, the merchandise undergoing appraisement.
% % ‡ if: ❖

There is no real dispute as to the facts. The Canadian exporter, International Tubes, the wholly owned subsidiary of Midas, is in the business of manufacturing steel tubing and automotive exhaust system [710]*710parts. It does not sell or offer to sell steel tubing for borne consumption in Canada.

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Cite This Page — Counsel Stack

Bluebook (online)
63 Cust. Ct. 706, 306 F. Supp. 1396, 1969 Cust. Ct. LEXIS 3722, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/united-states-v-f-w-myers-co-cusc-1969.