United States v. Samuel Dunkel & Co.

33 C.C.P.A. 60, 1945 CCPA LEXIS 504
CourtCourt of Customs and Patent Appeals
DecidedJuly 3, 1945
DocketNo. 4505; No. 4506
StatusPublished

This text of 33 C.C.P.A. 60 (United States v. Samuel Dunkel & Co.) 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. Samuel Dunkel & Co., 33 C.C.P.A. 60, 1945 CCPA LEXIS 504 (ccpa 1945).

Opinions

Jackson, Judge,

delivered the opinion of the court:

These are appeals, consolidated by stipulation, from two separate judgments of the United States Customs Court, First Division, on the same questions of law and fact. A decision was rendered in the first case, involving protest 101043 — K/192, and the decision in the second case, protest 107820-K/5163, adopted the reasoning of the first. The cases were here argued as one appeal, and will be considered in a single opinion.

The question for determination is one of law, that is, whether the trial court erred in holding that a refund of 99 per centum of the duties paid on butter imported from Argentina in 56-pound boxes, packed by appellee in one-pound tins in the United States, and exported under customs supervision, should be made to appellee. Appellee claims that the butter so packed was “manufactured or produced” in the United States with the use of imported merchandise, in accordance with the provisions of section 313 (a) of the Tariff Act of 1930, reading as follows:

SBC. 313. DRAWBACK AND REFUNDS.

(a) Articles Made from Imported Merchandise. — Upon tlie exportation of articles manufactured or produced in the United States with the use of imported merchandise, the full amount of the duties pi id upon the merchandise so used shall be refunded as drawback, less 1 per centum of such duties, except that such duties shall not be so refunded upon the exportation of flour or by-products produced from wheat imported after ninety days after the date of the enactment of this Act. Where two or more products result from the manipulation of imported merchandise, the drawback shall be distributed to the several products in accordance with their relative values at the time of separation.

Appellee complied with all customs regulations and requirements of law with respect to the identity and proof of exportation of the merchandise.

The imported merchandise is known in the trade as “bulk butter.” It arrived in blocks of 56 pounds each, encased in boxes. After importation it was forced through a die and emerged therefrom in the form of rolls weighing four pounds each, which were then cut into four equal parts, and placed, with parchment paper on the ends, in cylindrical tins. The tins were then sealed and ready for shipment. [62]*62It appears that butter in small quantities, such as quarter- or half-pound, or pound, units, is known in the trade as “print butter,” and the exported butter is so called. A certain amount of moisture is lost in forcing the butter through the die, but such loss is inconsequential. The record discloses that the butter was packed in tins particularly for export, because of the substantial nature of the container, which obviously would afford greater protection for the butter while in transit. The record shows a price differential of 10 cents per pound between bulk butter and butter in tins.

It appears that drawback had been allowed on the exportation of print butter made from imported bulk butter from March 30, 1933 (T. D. 46571 (a), 64 Treas. Dec. 149), until September 30, 1942, when the merchandise at bar was denied drawback pursuant to a decision of the Bureau of Customs; Effective May 5, 1943, the Commissioner of Customs revoked all authorizations under which drawback had been allowed on imported bulk butter when cut to smaller sizes, packed in tins, and exported. T. D. 50582, 78 Treas. Dec. 259. The trial court noted those regulations, together with T. D. 47069 (c), T. D. 47175 (b) and (c), and T. D. 47446 (a) and (b), which were cited by appellee, who likewise called the court's attention to other Treasury decisions relating to drawback on products such as Roquefort cheese-imported in bulk and cut into individual portions, and soap imported in bars and exported in cakes, granulated, or powdered form. The latter decisions were cited by appellee for the purpose of establishing a long-continued administrative practice and thus indicating that the Treasury Department regarded such transformation in form as took place in the case of the involved merchandise as coming within the scope of the drawback statute.

The trial court pointed out that there was no published announcement with respect to print butter prior to 1933, but reasoned that there was a similarity in principle between the processes applied to the involved merchandise and the cheese, soap, and other products covered by the said Treasury decisions, some of which were dated as early as 1924, and held that it evidently was the settled practice of the Treasury Department to consider the transformation of imported bulk products into consumer packages as entitling them to drawback, and because of that reasoning, since the drawback statute of 1922 was reenacted in 1930 without change with respect to “manufacture” or “production,” held that the doctrine of legislative approval of long-administrative practice is applicable here as it was in the case of Joshua Hoyle & Sons, Ltd., Inc. v. United States, 25 C. C. P. A. (Customs) 128, T. D. 49244.

The trial court quoted from the case of Anheuser-Busch Brewing Association v. The United States, 207 U. S. 556, holding that, under section 25 of the Tariff Act of 1890, in order to be a manufacture [63]*63“There must be a transformation; a new and different article must emerge, ‘having a distinctive name, character, or use.7 * * *,” and assumed that that case promulgated the law in the interpretation of the term “manufactured,” but stated that it was “still confronted with the word ‘produced'.”

In interpreting the word “production” the trial court called to its aid an opinion of Attorney General Bonaparte dated September 19, 1908, 27 Op. A. G. 668. The Attorney General stated the obvious in pointing out that there could be but little difference in the meaning of the words “manufactured” and “produced,” but since Congress had used the latter expression it was reasonable to suppose that it appeared in the statute to cover cases not falling within the strict and limited construction applied by the courts to the word “manufactured.” The court then held that a substantial manufacturing effort was employed on the involved merchandise making it suitable for use in a particular manner and materially increasing its value, and that therefore the butter in tins was “produced” in conformity with the involved section.

The court mentioned the case of Rolland Freres, Inc. v. United States, 23 C. C. P. A. (Customs) 81, T. D. 47763, seemingly for the reason that there this court used certain language with respect to the word “produced.”

In its brief here appellee stresses principally the doctrine of legislative approval of long-continued administrative practice as applicable for the reasons given by the trial court.

The question of manufacture under the authority of the Anheuser-Busch case, supra, is not before us for the reason that in the packing of the involved butter, no new or different article having a distinctive name, character, or use emerged. The article imported was butter, and the article exported was the same butter. It had merely been altered in form. Unquestionably it was dedicated to the usual butter uses. The fact that the print butter here involved sells for substantially more per pound than''the bulk butter is immaterial. The difference in price is apparently due to the cost of labor expended upon the die-work and cans, and to a profit.

Free access — add to your briefcase to read the full text and ask questions with AI

Related

Anheuser-Busch Brewing Assn. v. United States
207 U.S. 556 (Supreme Court, 1908)

Cite This Page — Counsel Stack

Bluebook (online)
33 C.C.P.A. 60, 1945 CCPA LEXIS 504, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/united-states-v-samuel-dunkel-co-ccpa-1945.