United States v. Fallani & Cohn, Inc.

30 C.C.P.A. 141, 1943 CCPA LEXIS 2
CourtCourt of Customs and Patent Appeals
DecidedFebruary 1, 1943
DocketNo. 4406
StatusPublished

This text of 30 C.C.P.A. 141 (United States v. Fallani & Cohn, Inc.) 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. Fallani & Cohn, Inc., 30 C.C.P.A. 141, 1943 CCPA LEXIS 2 (ccpa 1943).

Opinion

Lenroot, Judge,

delivered the opinion of the court:

This appeal brings before us for review a judgment of the United States Customs Court (Second Division) holding that certain napkins, in chief value of flax, imported at the port of New York in 1939 are dutiable at 30 per centum ad valorem under paragraph 1014 of the Tariff Act of 1930 as modified by the trade agreement with the United Kingdom, T. D. 49753.

The merchandise was classified by the collector under paragraph 1529 (a) of said tariff act as flax articles embroidered by hand, and duty was assessed thereon at the rate of 90 per centum ad valorem.

Appellee claimed the merchandise to be properly dutiable at 30 per centum under paragraph 1014, supra, by virtue of said trade agreement with the United Kingdom.

Paragraph 1529 (a), supra, insofar as it is here pertinent reads as follows:

* * * fabrics and articles embroidered (whether or not the embroidery is on a scalloped edge), tamboured, appliquéd, ornamented with beads, bugles, or spangles, or from which threads have been omitted, drawn, punched, or cut, and with threads introduced after weaving tt> finish or ornament the openwork, not including one row of straight hemstitching adjoining the hem; * * * 90 per centum ad valorem. [Italics ours.]

Paragraph 1014, supra, as modified by the trade agreement with the United Kingdom (T. D. 49753) reads as follows:

Napkins, finished or unfinished, wholly or in chief value of flax:
Not exceeding one hundred and twenty threads to the square inch, counting the warp and filling, * * * * —30 per centum ad valorum.

A single question is presented by this appeal, viz, whether the involved napkins have more than one row of “straight hemstitching.”

Upon the trial evidence was introduced by both parties, including a sample of the involved napkins, Exhibit 1, from which the trial court found that the openwork therein consists of only one row of straight hemstitching and therefore they were dutiable at 30 per centum ad valorem' as claimed by appellee.

Judgment was entered accordingly, from which this appeal was taken.

The trial court in its decision discussed at some length the question of the presumption of correctness of the collector’s classification, it being conceded that the napkins were not embroidered as classified by him.

[143]*143However, this question is not important here, for although the collector’s classification as flax articles embroidered by hand was wrong, the burden still rested upon appellee to establish that the classification claimed by it is correct.

It was stipulated that the napkins are composed wholly of flax and that they contain less than 120 threads to the square inch.

It is conceded by appellant that the involved napkins are hemstitched, and that the evidence establishes that the design or pattern made by such hemstitching is known as “Gigliuccio,” this name being derived from the Italian word “giglio” which means lily.

It further appears from the evidence that this particular design of hemstitching has been produced for many years, and napkins having this hemstitching are known as “Gigliuccio napkins.”

Up to a certain point there is no dispute between the parties as to the process of producing such napkins.

It is conceded that the hemstitching known as “Gigliuccio” is produced by hand, the worker withdrawing a certain number of threads from the material. In Exhibit 1 two threads were withdrawn, then four threads were skipped and five threads were withdrawn, then four more threads were skipped and two threads were withdrawn. Thereafter the worker grouped the remaining threads by means of a needle and added threads, forming one row of the design known as “Gigliuccio.”

Apparently in the minds of many of the witnesses there was no distinction between one row of “Gigliuccio” and one row of “straight hemstitching.”

Walter T. Cohn, a witness for appellee, testified that he was a “general partner” of appellee. After describing the involved merchandise he testified, in part, as follows:

Q. Please explain to the court what, in your opinion, an article is which contains more than one row of “Gigliuccio” hemstitching, — A. What it is?
Q. Explain the nature of the article. — A. I can explain it this way: If I wanted an article having two rows of “Gigliuccio” hemstitching, I would have to send them the design to show them where I wanted the second row on the article.
Q. And the article which you received in accordance with that design would contain what on it? — A. Would contain one row on the end, plus an identical second row.
Q. Within all of your experience in the linen trade, would you say that the openwork adjoining the hem on Exhibit I consists of one row of plain or straight hemstitching of the kind known as “Gigliuccio”? — A. Yes, sir. * * *.

Upon cross-examination the witness testified as follows:

X Q. You say that is known as “Gigliuccio”? — A. Yes, sir.
X Q. And there are other kinds of hemstitching, are there not? — A. Yes, sir,
X Q. Name some of the others. — A. “Shire.”
X Q. Do you know any others? — A. “Spoke.”
X Q. Do you know any others? — A. Those are the only ones I am familiar with.
[144]*144X Q. If you take a piece of paper and cover up those last two rows on the napkin, and leave that (indicating), would you say that that portion between your thumb and finger was hemstitching? — A. No.
X Q. Would you say that that was not hemstitching between my thumb and finger? — A. It might be.
X Q. How do you make hemstitching? — -A. I have never made it so far; I have watched them make it.
X Q. How have you seen them make it? — A. They take a piece of linen and take a thread and draw a thread out, and after they have drawn the thread they will catch the thread to hem it down. After they have caught the thread they have drawn, it forms a hemstitch. If they want to work in a shire stitch, or if they want to make a spoke stitch, they will catch spoke stitches on both sides. -
X Q. Is that exactly what appeared when you covered that up with a blotter?— A. No.
X Q. What did appear? — A. The first-thing that did appear was a hem.
X Q. You mean to say you didn’t see any openwork there? Do you mean to tell me no threads had been removed? — A. No; I will call that a shire.
X Q. That would be a shire hemstitch, would it not? — A. Yes, sir.
X Q. That would be a shire hemstitch, would it not? — A. It would.
X Q. So there are two rows of shire hemstitching there, are there not? — -A. Yes, sir; there are two rows.

Upon redirect examination he testified as follows:

R. D. Q.

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30 C.C.P.A. 141, 1943 CCPA LEXIS 2, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/united-states-v-fallani-cohn-inc-ccpa-1943.