United States v. M. V. Jenkins

13 Cust. Ct. 345, 1944 Cust. Ct. LEXIS 925
CourtUnited States Customs Court
DecidedJuly 10, 1944
DocketNo. 6040; Entry Nos. 683-K, 680-E, etc.
StatusPublished
Cited by5 cases

This text of 13 Cust. Ct. 345 (United States v. M. V. Jenkins) 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. M. V. Jenkins, 13 Cust. Ct. 345, 1944 Cust. Ct. LEXIS 925 (cusc 1944).

Opinion

Cline, Judge:

In these cases, consisting of 12 appeals for reap-praisement filed by the collector of customs at the port of Seattle, it is claimed that the firebrick involved should be reappraised at higher values than those found by the appraiser. The cases were consolidated for trial.

The appeals relate to the value of firebrick, and, therefore, the following items on the invoices are not involved: “250 Building brick [346]*346#201” and “1,000 Building brick #202,” covered by reappraisemenfc 138929-A and “40 sacks fireclay” covered by reappraisement 138927-A. Another item not involved is “52 Firebrick shapes” at 28 cents each, covered by reappraisement 138927-A, counsel for the plaintiff having stated that no contention was made as to that item.

At the outset of the trial, counsel stipulated that the value of the item “11,845 Firebrick Special Vacuum Checkers, 9 x 4% x 3 inches” on the invoice covered by appeal No. 135556-A should be $56 (United States currency), net, per 1,000. The same item appears on the invoices covered by reappraisements 138690-A and 139317-A, entered at $56 (United States currency), net, pe,r 1,000, and, on the basis of that stipulation, I reappraise such merchandise at the value stated.

Other merchandise involved, together with the appraised value, which is the same as the entered value, and the claimed dutiable value of the various kinds of firebrick involved, are set forth in plaintiff’s brief as follows:

Item Entered and appraised value Value claimed by collector .
Squares (9 x 4)4 x 2)4 inches)_$57.50 Can. Cur. $66.00 Can. Cur.
Soaps_ 58.50 Can. Cur. 66.00 Can. Cur.
End wedge (#1 and #2)_:_ 58.50 Can. Cur. 66.00 Can. Cur.
Splits (1, iyi, 1)4, and 2 inches)_ 58.50 Can. Cur. 66.00 Can. Cur.
Side arch (#1 and #2)_ 58.50 Can. Cur. 66.00 Can. Cur.
Neck (#3)_ 64.00 Can. Cur. 66.00 Can. Cur.
End skews_ 64.00 Can. Cur. 72.50 Can. Cur.
Tongue and groove_ 60.00 Can. Cur. 71.00 Can. Cur.
Small X-blocks (9 x 6 x 2)4 inches)_ 80.00 Can. Cur. 115.00 Can. Cur.

All of the values mentioned above are in Canadian currency per 1,000. The entered and appraised values were subject to a deduction of 10 per centum for “commission,” but the value which plaintiff claims is net. There does not appear to be any “X-blocks” on the invoices but there is an item of “Firebrick 9 x 6 x 2% inches” on the invoice covered by reappraisement No. 138927-A which was entered and appraised at $80 (Canadian currency) per 1,000, less commission of 10 per centum, and it is assumed that such item consists of the X-blocks described by plaintiff. '

On some of the appeals, namely 138688-A, 138689-A, 138690-A, 138755-A, 138928-A, and 139317-A, the merchandise was entered and appraised in United States currency, net, at the following values:

Firebrick squares__ _ - - _- - . _- $50. 00 per 1, 000
Firebrick side arch #1._. . - _ _ ___ 50. 00 per 1, 000
Firebrick splits 1%"__ 50. 00 per 1, 000
Firebrick soaps_____ __- 50. 00 per 1, 000'
Firebrick squares, 9" x 454“ x 2J4".- . 46. 50 per 1, 000
Firebrick splits 1", 1)4", IK" & 2"__ 46. 50 per 1, 000

[347]*347The period covered by the shipments herein involved is from December 29, 1939, to and including April 21,1941. The private invoices with the papers contain both the.value in Canadian currency and in United States currency and all of the merchandise was shipped by the manufacturer — Clayburn Co., Ltd. — f. o. b. Abbotsford, B. C., which is about 5 miles from Kilgard, the place of manufacture, • but the invoices were certified at Vancouver, B. C., which is about 50 miles from Kilgard. The record shows that there is no American consul at either Kilgard or Abbotsford.

It was stipulated between counsel that the merchandise should bo reappraised on the basis of.foreign value.

The plaintiff offered a report of customs agent Horace E. Wager, but objection thereto by counsel for the defendants was sustained-and the document was marked exhibit 1, for identification. Thereupon Horace E. Wager was called as a witness for the plaintiff. He testified that, at the request of the collector of customs at the port of Seattle, he made an investigation of the market value of the merchandise covered by the instant appeals and found that the Vancouver dealers kept stocks of merchandise on hand.

It was stipulated between counsel that the various dealers in Vancouver kept stock on hand varying from 5,000 to 70,000 standard firebrick and standard firebrick shapes.

The witness testified further that Clayburn Co., Ltd., supplied him with its standard catalog which contained no prices; that no price lists were published either by Clayburn Co., Ltd., or by the Vancouver dealers, but he obtained lists of prices from Evans, Coleman & Evans, Ltd., McClecry & Weston, Ltd., Champion & White, Ltd., and Thomas G. McBride & Co., all of Vancouver, and from •Gilley Bros., Ltd., of Now Westminster, B. C., which is about 11 miles from Vancouver; that the prices in the lists were the schedules maintained at the counters of the various dealers and sales were made therefrom; that the sales in the dealers’ invoices and books' were in keeping with the respective lists, although they were not in each instance identical. The witness produced the following exhibits which were admitted in evidence:

Exhibits 2 to 6, which consist of the lists of prices and extracts made by the witness from salgs by Evans, Coleman & Evans, Ltd., McCleery & Weston, Ltd., Champion & White, Ltd., Thomas G. McBride & Co., and Gilley Bros., Ltd. ,
Exhibit 7, consisting of extracts from sales by the Victoria Tile & Brick Supply Co., of Vancouver.
Exhibits 8-A, 8-B, 8-C, 8-D, 8-E, and 8-F, consisting of extracts from sales by Clayburn Co., Ltd.
' Exhibit 9, a pjrotostatic copy of a document, showing the discounts allowed to .the various customers of Clayburn Co., Ltd., with the total monthly sales to each concern during the years 1940 and 1941.
[348]*348Exhibits 10-A and 10-B, consisting of copies of contracts entered into by Clayburn Co., Ltd.
Exhibits 11-A and 11-B, consisting of copies of letters to the Treasury Department, written by Clayburn Co., Ltd., relating to agent’s commissions.
Exhibit 12, consisting of extracts of sales by Evans, Coleman & Evans, Ltd., to Allen’s Plastic Brick Works and a photostatic copy of a credit bill of Evans, Coleman & Evans, Ltd., against Clayburn Co., Ltd.
Exhibit 13, consisting' of a letter written by Clayburn Co., Ltd., to the supervising customs agent at Seattle, dated February 2, 1942.
Exhibit 14, consisting of the catalog of Clayburn Co., Ltd.

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Related

United States v. M. V. Jenkins
24 Cust. Ct. 517 (U.S. Customs Court, 1950)
United States v. Jenkins
23 Cust. Ct. 266 (U.S. Customs Court, 1949)
Jenkins v. United States
14 Cust. Ct. 393 (U.S. Customs Court, 1945)

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Bluebook (online)
13 Cust. Ct. 345, 1944 Cust. Ct. LEXIS 925, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/united-states-v-m-v-jenkins-cusc-1944.