United States v. Getz Bros.

55 C.C.P.A. 11
CourtCourt of Customs and Patent Appeals
DecidedNovember 9, 1967
DocketNo. 5279
StatusPublished
Cited by3 cases

This text of 55 C.C.P.A. 11 (United States v. Getz Bros.) 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. Getz Bros., 55 C.C.P.A. 11 (ccpa 1967).

Opinion

Smith, Judge,

delivered tbe opinion of tbe court:

. Tbe issue to be determined in this appeal is whether, as a matter of law, there is substantial evidence in the record to support the lower court’s finding of export value under either section 402(b) or section 402a (d) of the Tariff Act of 1930, as amended.1

This issue arises in the present appeal by (the Government from the decision and judgment of the United States Customs Court, Third Division, Appellate Term,2 affirming the decision and judgment of the trial judge in reappraisement.3 A number of appeals for reappraise[13]*13ment were consolidated, ¡but the consolidated cases were limited to (plywood of the lauan or the sen species, in a blend of 50 percent first quality and 50 percent second quality, and in a variety of sizes, i.e., in door-skin sizes, % inch, in 4 by 7 or 4 by 8 feet sizes, and % inch, in 4 by 7 or 4 by 8 feet sizes. The plywood in issue was exported from Japan between 1957 and 1961. One appeal, E58/8800, relating to lauan door-skins manufactured by Noda Plywood Co., Ltd., covers plywood exported from Japan on or about March 26,1957. This merchandise was appraised on the basis of export value as defined in section 402a (d) of the Tariff Act of 1930, as amended. The Government conceded that, as to this merchandise, export value is the proper basis of appraisement. The remaining appeals relate to merchandise exported from Japan after February 28, 1958. This plywood was appraised on the basis of export value as defined in section 402(b) of the Tariff Act of 1930, as amended. It was stiplulated between the parties that, since lauan and sen plywood are not on the final list promulgated under the Customs Simplification Act of 1956,4 the merchandise was subject to appraisement under this section of the 1930 Act.

A summary of the particular circumstances which existed in Japan at the time of exportation of the plywood in question provides a background for understanding the basis of the present dispute.5 In late 1955 the decline of the price of plywood, due primarily to an over-expansion of production capacity, caused Japan to establish a quota and licensing system. Under the quota system, the Japanese Government limited the amount of plywood which could be exported to various parts of the world, including the United States. When the export quota allocation system was first established, it applied to sen, lauan and birch plywood exported to North America, South America, Hawaii, England and Ireland. During 1956, England was removed from the quota allocation arrangement. Later, however, during 1959, quotas were established for the United States, for Hong Kong, and for other areas. After 1960, one quota was established for North and South America, including Hawaii.

The quota allocations were assigned to Japanese mills or manufacturers, Japanese trading houses, American firms with branch offices in Japan, and to others, in proportion to the amounts of plywood each had exported during a specified base period. A quota was assigned to the mills only when they had likewise acted in the capacity of an exporter during the base period. While about 80 percent of the available quota was reserved to members of the Japanese Plywood Exporters Association, the remainder of the authorized export quota [14]*14was allocated to “outsiders,” or non-members of the Association. Quotas were obtained by United States firms wlren their historical positions so warranted. Getz Bros. & Co., one of the appellees here, had the largest quota of any United States firm and the second largest quota overall.

To provide for the effective enforcement of the quota allocation arrangement, it was necessary to obtain export licenses in order to export plywood. During the period in question, such export licenses were granted by the Japanese Ministry of International Trade and Industry (MITI). An export license could not be obtained from MITI unless the exporter had a quota for the shipment.

As stated by the Appellate Term, 57 Oust. Ct. at 751, the quota system resulted in the following methods of doing business:

1. Purchasers which had branch offices in Japan and which had quotas of their own, such as Getz Bros. & Co., and Pacific Wood Products Co., purchased directly from the manufacturers at their established price levels and obtained export-licenses with their own quotas.
2. Purchasers having no quota -could at times purchase from a manufacturer which -had a quota and an export license would be obtained -using the manufacturer’s quota. Manufacturers having large quotas usually added to the price for the use of their quotas, the price depending on market conditions. Manufacturers with small or token quotas did not.
8. Purchasers having no quota could purchase from trading houses which did. Such purchasers often specified the -manufacturer from which the merchandise was to be obtained. The price charged by the trading houses was higher than that charged by the -manufacturers and included an amount not separately stated for the use of the quota.
4. Sometimes merchandise was brought from the manufacturer and a quota borrowed or rented from a third party — at a price.
5. There were -combination deals in which the purchaser’s quota was used to cover part of a shipment and the manufacturer’s quota for -the -balance. The price for the latter portion was higher.

Issues involving the same general type of merchandise from Japan have previously been decided in Pacific Wood Products Co. v. United States, 49 Cust. Ct. 460, Reap. Dec. 10377 (1962) ; Ziel and Co. v. United States, 49 Cust. Ct. 454, Reap. Dec. 10374 (1962); and United States v. National Carloading Corp., 46 Cust. Ct. 745, A.R.D. 125 (1961). In each of these cases, it was determined by the court that the particular facts established, prima facie, that the plywood in -issue was freely offered and sold to all who cared to buy in the principal markets of Japan in the ordinary -course of trade without restriction, -other than that the plywood -be exported and not resold for consumption in Japan. On the facts, a finding of export value was not barred by the restriction that the -merchandise must -be exported since export value was concerned only with the price for exportation to the United States. B. J. Saunders & Co. (Perry E. Chipurnoi, Inc.) v. United States, [15]*1542 CCPA 55, C.A.D. 570 (1954). Thus, in each instance the mill prices were used in the determination of export values. Furthermore, in each of the cited cases only one manufacturer was involved, whereas in this appeal, counsel for both parties, in order to present a broader view of the export plywood industry of Japan, selected representative appeals arising from shipments of plywood manufactured by 25 Japanese mills.

The provisions of the tariff laws pertinent to this appeal are:

Section 402(b) :

Expoet Value.

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Bluebook (online)
55 C.C.P.A. 11, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/united-states-v-getz-bros-ccpa-1967.