United States v. Malhame

26 Cust. Ct. 558, 1951 Cust. Ct. LEXIS 702
CourtUnited States Customs Court
DecidedMarch 5, 1951
DocketNo. 7965; Entry No. 954286, etc.
StatusPublished

This text of 26 Cust. Ct. 558 (United States v. Malhame) 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. Malhame, 26 Cust. Ct. 558, 1951 Cust. Ct. LEXIS 702 (cusc 1951).

Opinion

Eicwall, Judge:

The appeals for reappraisement listed in schedule-“A,” hereto attached and made a part hereof, are the subject of this application for review of the decision of a single judge, reported in Malhame & Co. et al. v. United States, 23 Cust. Ct. 290, Reap. Dec. 7750, and involve the proper basis for valuation, under section 402 of' the Tariff Act of 1930, of certain prayer books of bona fide foreign authorship imported from Belgium. As imported, the importations consisted of both leather-bound and cloth-bound books. As to the cloth-bound books, the appeals were abandoned by the importers before the single judge and were properly dismissed insofar as they covered that merchandise. The only question before us, therefore, is the proper value for the leather-bound books under the statute. The appraiser found the proper basis of value to be United States value (section 402 (e) of said tariff act) for the text and leather binding as an entirety, insofar as it covered the goods involved in reappraisement 98115-A to and including reappraisement 105009-A. As to the remaining appeals, the appraiser also found separate values for the-text and the leather binding, apparently in conformity with the [559]*559decision handed down by our appellate court in the case of United States v. John Wanamaker, 20 C. C. P. A. (Customs) 381, T. D. 46185. That case held that the texts and leather bindings of leathex--bound books were separable for duty purposes. The provisions of the sta.tute there involved (paragraph 1310 of the Tariff Act of 1922) are identical with those of paragraph 1410 of the Tariff Act of 1930 as originally enacted.

At the trial below it was stipulated that there was no foreign or export value for the leather-bound prayer books before us. Counsel further agreed as follows:

Mb. Carter: I also offer to stipulate that the leather bindings are never sold or offered for sale separately from the text in the United States, or the text ever sold or offered for sale separately from the bindings in the United States.
Mr. Auster: We agree to that, with the understanding however, that in the United States during the entire time of the importations involved, these identical books were being freely offered for sale in accordance with the definition of United States value as entireties at the appraised values thereof in each instance.
Mr. Carter: I agree to that.

Counsel for the importers below offered and there was received in evidence as exhibit 1, an affidavit of one Adrianus Cornelius Josephus Proost. The Government offered and there were received in evidence three reports of a Treasury attaché.

Upon the record as thus made, the judge below found that leather-bound prayer books are not subject to appraisement as entireties but that separate values must be found for the bindings and for the texts, and further, that the proper basis for valuation of these books is the statutory cost of production. He held that said cost of production of the texts and bindings for the various items involved was as set forth in the schedule attached to the affidavit, exhibit 1 (which items he enumerated in schedule “B” of his decision).

In arriving at his conclusion, the judge below held that under the ruling handed down in the Wanamaker case, supra, the appraisements insofar as they found a value for the books as entireties were seemingly invalid and void and that no presumption of correctness can attach to such findings of value. The Wanamaker case, supra, arose on the classification side of the court, and for that reason counsel for the Government contends that it has no controlling effect in this case which arose on the reappraisement or value side of the court. As pointed out in the decision below, the Wanamaker case was considered controlling in a value case by our appellate court in deciding the same issue as here involved as to identical merchandise. See United States v. Malhame & Co. and Malhame & Co. v. United States, 24 C. C. P. A. (Customs) 448, T. D. 48911.

It was also held in the decision below that there was no United States value for the instant merchandise, whether considered as en-tireties or as separate entities. With that conclusion we also agree.

[560]*560Insofar as the appraiser found United States value for the separate •entities, counsel have agreed that neither of the components was •sold or offered for sale separately in the United States. Therefore, there can be no United States value for such separate entities.

We must, therefore, resort to the cost-of-production method under "the statute, and examine the proof presented by appellees herein in support of their contention that the separate statutory elements of cost of production of the texts and bindings are set forth in their proof. In the Malhame case, supra, which involved the same issue ■■and identical merchandise as here presented, the court held as follows:

We will first consider the question of whether there is any substantial evidence in the record of the cost of production of the leather-bound books. The only ■evidence upon this point consists of the affidavit introduced in evidence as Exhibit '22, which, omitting certain schedules therein contained, reads as follows:
* * * * * * *
The only matter contained in the omitted schedules which bears upon the cost •of production is the percentage cost of text and percentage cost of binding, without any further itemization of the same.

The court then set out section 402 (f) of the Tariff Act of 1930, which defines the cost of production as the sum of (1) the cost of materials, fabrication, etc., (2) the usual general expenses, (3) the ■cost of containers and other costs therein enumerated, and (4) an ■addition for profit. The court then continued:

It will be observed that there is nothing in said affidavit separately showing •items (1), (2), (3), and (4) of said section 402 (f).
In the case of Snow v. United States, 24 C. C. P. A. (Customs) 319, T. D. 48767, we affirmed a judgment of the Customs Court based upon its decision that, in order to comply with said section, each of the items (1), (2), (3), and (4) must 'be separately shown, and that, unless so shown, the importer’s appeal to reap-praisement may properly be dismissed.
Therefore, without repeating here our discussion in that case, we will say only that our decision therein is controlling here, and the appellate division in the ■case at bar erred in holding that the cost of production of the leather-bound books liad been established by the importer, because there is no substantial evidence in the record tending to establish, in the manner provided by law, such cost of •production.

In order to supply the elements of proof which the court held were lacking in the Malhame case, supra, appellees herein introduced into evidence the affidavit, exhibit 1, supra, together with schedules thereto attached. Said affidavit is as follows:

* H* * * * * *
I am a co-director of Henri Proost & Co. of Turnhout, Belgium, and I am personally familiar with all of the prayer books sold by my company to Malhame & Co.

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Related

Malhame & Co. v. United States
23 Cust. Ct. 290 (U.S. Customs Court, 1949)

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Bluebook (online)
26 Cust. Ct. 558, 1951 Cust. Ct. LEXIS 702, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/united-states-v-malhame-cusc-1951.