United States v. H. P. Lambert Co.

6 Cust. Ct. 856, 1941 Cust. Ct. LEXIS 1197
CourtUnited States Customs Court
DecidedMarch 24, 1941
DocketNo. 5182; Entry Nos. 290, etc.
StatusPublished

This text of 6 Cust. Ct. 856 (United States v. H. P. Lambert 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. H. P. Lambert Co., 6 Cust. Ct. 856, 1941 Cust. Ct. LEXIS 1197 (cusc 1941).

Opinion

Cline, Judge:

This is an application for review of the decision of the trial court in H. P. Lambert Co. et al. v. United States, Reap. Dec. 4871. At the trial ten appeals for reappraisement were consolidated for hearing and the testimony of two customs officers at Boston was introduced regarding the designation of the cases of merchandise for examination and the examination of the goods. Also the testimony of Mr. J. T. Hashimoto, introduced in reappraisement 120340-A, etc., at Providence was incorporated by consent, subject to the objections and rulings in that case.

The trial court overruled the importers’ claim that the appraisement was void because of improper designation of cases for examination and the importers filed no application for review of that ruling before this division. The trial court appraised the merchandise, however, and held that the invoice values, less ocean freight, marine insurance, cartage and lighterage, and consular fee were the dutiable export values of the merchandise. The Government, the defendant below, filed this application for review of the trial court’s decision.

The merchandise under appraisement consists of canned tuna fish imported from Japan on various dates from April, 1937, to June, 1938. [857]*857In all of the cases -the importers made advances in value on entry to meet advances made in other cases by a United States appraiser and the goods were appraised at the entered values. The cans of tuna fish are of different sizes, qualities, and values. For instance, the shipment in April, 1937, covered by reappraisement 123583-A, contains four different sized tins and three different qualities. The claimed values, invoice values, and entered values are as follows:

Claimed Invoice Entered
values values values
per case per case per case
Gladiola Brand 48/6)4 oz. tins_ $5. 50 $3. 60 83. 80
“ “ 48/12 “ “_ 10.40 6.40 6.80
Azalia “ 48/13 “ “_ 13.70 .8.75 9.30
Clover Farm “ 48/7 “ “_ 7.60 4.95 5.25

From the above unit values in the column headed by the words “ Claimed values,” there is a deduction of 1 per centum and a deduction for profit and expense, transportation charges, and 45 per centum duty, making a United States value, and, from the unit values in the column headed by the words “Entered values” there is a deduction of % per centum and a deduction for ocean freight, marine insurance, cartage and lighterage, and consular fee.

In some of the other cases the claimed values do not appear to be the United States values. For instance, in No. 123051-A, 7-ounce tins were invoiced at $4.95 per case and 30 cents per case was added on entry, making a c. i. f. value of $5.25 per case from which there was deducted the ocean freight, marine insurance, cartage and lighterage, consular fee and per centum. The claimed value is on the same basis except that the unit value is $4.95, the same deductions being made therefrom. We note that the slip attached to the invoice explaining the addition specified $4.95 c. i. f. as the “Foreign Market value.” In No. 129184-A, the slip of yellow paper attached to the invoice and explaining the additions on entry specifies that the entered value is the “Home market value.” We find no notations in the papers indicating that any of the prices in any of the cases are export values.

The evidence upon which the trial court appraised the merchandise is meager. The witness, J. T. Hashimoto, testified that he was the vice president of Toa Kigyo Corporation, the importer in the Providence case, and that he was in charge of sales and buying. He was shown the papers in the case and testified as follows:

Q. Did you have anything to do with the purchase and sale of this merchan* dise? — A. Yes, sir. We received the order from a customer and we placed the order in Japan.-
Q. Was that done through you personally? — A. Yes, sir.
Q. How did you place that order? — A. By cable.
[858]*858Q. Do the prices on these invoices here represent the prices you paid for this merchandise? — A. Yes, sir.
}j< ‡ 5{C ‡ jji %
Q. Have you been in Japan? — A. Many times.
Q. When was the last time you were there? — A. In 1935.
Q. Some of this merchandise was shipped in 1937? — A. Yes, sir.
^ ^ «t*
Q. You testified that the price paid for this merchandise was the price shown on the invoices? — A. Yes, sir.
Q. You paid exactly what appears on these invoices? — A. Yes, sir.
Q. Could any one in the United States get that quality represented on these invoices by paying that price? — A. Yes, sir.
Mr. FitzGibbon. I move to strike that out. That would be a matter for the office on the other side.
Mr. Kavanagh. He is in charge of the selling here and transmitting the orders and should be a in a position to know.
Q. You send all the orders? — A. Yes, sir.
Mr. Kavanagh. On reappraisement No. 123046-A, take for example, and we want 150 cases of canned white meat tuna fish in salad oil, c. i. f. could anyone get that by paying the price shown on this invoice? — A. Yes, sir.
Mr. FitzGibbon. I object to that as wholly immaterial, asking this man what • he would sell it to some one else for.
Judge Tilson. Objection sustained. That has nothing to do with it.
Mr. Kavanagh. Exception, please.

An examination of the above excerpt from the testimony will demonstrate that all of the competent evidence relating to value which was admitted by the trial court is to the effect that the prices on the invoice were the prices which the importer paid for the merchandise. The statement of the witness that anyone in the United States could buy the goods at the same prices which the importer paid was stricken out on motion of the Government attorney. That ruling is not assigned as error before this division and therefore will not be reviewed.

We find no evidence in the record with respect to the prices at which such or similar merchandise was freely offered for sale to all purchasers in the principal markets of Japan, in the usual wholesale quantities and in the ordinary course of trade either for home consumption or for export to' the United States. The burden is on the plaintiff in a reappraisement case to establish the foreign value, or the absence thereof, and the export value, or the absence thereof, in order that the court may determine which is higher if they both exist, and he must show the principal market in the country of exportation and the usual wholesale quantities in which the merchandise is freely offered for sale in that principal market in the ordinary course of trade. The plaintiff must establish every essential element necessary to enable the court to make an appraisement, citing Meadows Wye & Co. (Inc.) et al. v. United States, 17 C. C. P. A. 36, T. D.

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Bluebook (online)
6 Cust. Ct. 856, 1941 Cust. Ct. LEXIS 1197, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/united-states-v-h-p-lambert-co-cusc-1941.