United States v. Mannesmann-Meer, Inc.

54 C.C.P.A. 24
CourtCourt of Customs and Patent Appeals
DecidedDecember 15, 1966
DocketNo. 5213
StatusPublished

This text of 54 C.C.P.A. 24 (United States v. Mannesmann-Meer, 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. Mannesmann-Meer, Inc., 54 C.C.P.A. 24 (ccpa 1966).

Opinion

Almond, Judge,

delivered the opinion of the court:

The United States appeals from the decision and judgment of the United States Customs Court, Second Division, in Mannesmann-Meer, [25]*25Inc. v. The United States, 54 Cust. Ct. 383, Abs. 69224, holding a complete tube manufacturing plant to be properly classifiable as electrical welding apparatus, instruments or devices, under paragraph 353 of the Tariff Act of 1930, as modified by T.D. 54108, at the rate of IO14 per centum ad valorem.

Appellant contends that the importation was properly classified by the Collector of Customs under the provision of paragraph 353 of the Tariff Act of 1930, as modified by T.D. 52739, for articles having as an essential feature an electrical element or device, at the rate of 13% per centum ad valorem. Appellant alternatively contends that, if the merchandise is not dutiable as classified, it is dutiable under the provision of paragraph 372 of the same Act, as modified by T.D. 51802, at the rate of 15 per centum ad valorem.

The statutes involved are, in pertinent part, as follows:

Paragraph 353 of the Tariff Act of 1930, as modified by T.D. 52739:

Articles having as an essential feature an electrical element or device, * * * :
*******
Other (* * *)- 13%% ad val.

Paragraph 353 of the Tariff Act of 1930, as modified by T.D. 54108:

Electrical signaling, welding, and ignition apparatus, instruments (other than laboratory), and devices, finished or unfinished, wholly or in chief value of metal, and not specially provided for- 10%% ad val.

Paragraph 372 of the Tariff Act of 1930, as modified by T.D. 51802:

* * * machine tools * * *: Provided further, That machine tools as used in this paragraph shall be held to mean any machine operating other than by hand power which employs a tool for work on metal.
Machine tools (except jig-boring machine tools)_ 15% ad vaL

The record consists of the testimony of one witness and a schematic drawing (exhibit 1) of the imported merchandise, introduced on be-malf of plaintiff below. The testimony of the witness Gaus, who enviced thorough knowledge of the importation in issue, stands without challenge. The facts as found by the court below are amply supported by the record and in our judgment, fairly stated by that tribunal. It is established that the importation was designed as a single machine or apparatus for the sole and specific purpose of producing welded tubes up to 4 inches in outside diameter and cut to a desired length. The machine, 12 feet wide and 50 feet long, in operation is fed a flat strip from a coil under tension at the rate of 300 to 500 feet per minute. The process of manufacturing the end product, as testified to by the witness and found by the court below, consists of feeding the strip

* * * through the forming mill, which forms the flat strip into an almost circular form and holds the material under tension for welding; that this form[26]*26ing is done by tbe pressure of tbe rollers; that tbe merchandise continues along and tbe rollers of tbe welding table finish putting tbe product together at a point where tbe welding contacts contact each side of the now formed end strip and are welded; that tbe material then continues to tbe cooling mill, which is designed to ease tbe stress and prevent the fracturing near tbe welded seam. Tbe material then proceeds to the sizing mill, which removes tbe excessive weld and that makes it both round and exactly on size, in accordance with tbe ATT (American Pipe Institute) specifications; from tbe sizing mill, the tube proceeds to tbe cutoff device, consisting of a saw that travels with the product as it is moving and does its cutting, after which it is dropped off into a bin storage. * * *

The record clearly supports the conclusion that the imported equipment, with its components functioning in combination, was necessary to produce a complete finished welded pipe and that the imported machine is, in fact, a complete mill or combination of machinery designed to manufacture a finished welded product.

Taking cognizance of the argument advanced by plaintiff below, and relied on by appellee here, that the embodiment in paragraph 353 of the terms “apparatus,” “instruments,” and “devices” is indicative of legislative intent to include every kind and type of electrical welding equipment, whether it be a welding tool, a machine, or a collection of machinery designed to be used together for a specific purpose, the court below cited United States v. Wyman and Co., 2 Ct. Cust. Appls. 440, T.D. 32200, wherein that court had occasion to interpret the term “apparatus,” quoting the Century Dictionary where the term is defined as follows:

An equipment of things provided and adapted as a means to some end; especially, a collection, combination, or set of machinery, tools, instruments, utensils, appliances, or materials intended, adapted, and necessary for tbe accomplishment of some purpose, such as mechanical work, experimenting, etc.; as, chemical, philosophical, or surgical apparatus.

Also cited is the definition of “apparatus” in Webster’s New International Dictionary:

2. Things provided as means to some end.
3. Hence: A collection or set of implements, or utensils, for a given work, experimental or operative; any complex instrument or appliance, mechanical or chemical, for a specific action or operation; machinery; mechanism.

On the basis of the above cited lexicographic predicate, the court below reasoned as follows:

The foregoing definitions bring within tbe common meaning of the term “apparatus,” the term “machinery,” particularly a set of machinery adapted and necessary for the accomplishment of some purpose, whether mechanical, experimental, chemical, or philosophical. It would, therefore, appear that Congress, in employing the term “apparatus,” intended a broad interpretation as applicable to merchandise described in the paragraph claimed hereunder. While the imported machine performs various other necessary functions, in addition to welding, it falls within the common meaning of the term “apparatus,” since the entire [27]*27machine is dedicated to the making of a welded tube which, of necessity, requires welding. There appears to be no question that the provision for welding apparatus is more specific than the provision for articles having as an essential feature an electrical element or device, Davies, Turner & Co. v. United States, 9 Cust. Ct. 242, C.D. 701.

We think it clear, in common understanding and acceptation of the term “apparatus” with lexicographic support, that “apparatus” embraces the term “machinery” and that the latter imports a broader and more comprehensive concept than the term “machine.” John V. Carr & Son, Inc., A.W. Fenton Co., Inc. v. United States, 40 Cust. Ct. 292, C.D. 3996.

The record clearly discloses that the apparatus under consideration was designed and used as a composite unit with the single purpose of taking raw material and producing therefrom a finished product, viz. a welded tube. To this end, the composite elements or parts functioned in combination.

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Related

United States v. Wyman & Co.
2 Ct. Cust. 440 (Customs and Patent Appeals, 1912)
Davies v. United States
9 Cust. Ct. 242 (U.S. Customs Court, 1942)
Anderson v. United States
30 Cust. Ct. 420 (U.S. Customs Court, 1953)
Donalds Ltd. v. United States
32 Cust. Ct. 310 (U.S. Customs Court, 1954)
John V. Carr & Son, Inc. v. United States
40 Cust. Ct. 292 (U.S. Customs Court, 1958)
Mannesmann-Meer, Inc. v. United States
54 Cust. Ct. 383 (U.S. Customs Court, 1965)

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Bluebook (online)
54 C.C.P.A. 24, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/united-states-v-mannesmann-meer-inc-ccpa-1966.