United States v. Siegfried Lowenthal Co.

31 C.C.P.A. 19, 1943 CCPA LEXIS 116
CourtCourt of Customs and Patent Appeals
DecidedJune 1, 1943
DocketNo. 4410
StatusPublished

This text of 31 C.C.P.A. 19 (United States v. Siegfried Lowenthal 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. Siegfried Lowenthal Co., 31 C.C.P.A. 19, 1943 CCPA LEXIS 116 (ccpa 1943).

Opinions

Jackson, Judge,

delivered tbe opinion of tlie court:

On July 19, 1934, appellee entered at the port of Cleveland for warehouse under bond 50 kegs of Scotch whisky and 2 casks of American-type whisky imported from Prance, according to the invoice and entry papers. The entry was liquidated at the rate of $5 per gallon on 964.23 gallons in accordance with a quantity gauge seemingly made July 19, 1934. On November 10, 1936, the entry was again gauged for internal revenue purposes, the report of that gauge showing a. gallonage of 537.6 gallons, from which 9 gallons were withdrawn for sampling. On April 6, 1938, the entry was reliquidated at the rate [21]*21oí $2.50 per gallon on the quantity of merchandise shown by the original gauge except one keg #4, pursuant to the rate provided by the trade agreement with Canada, T. D. 48033. The entry with respect to that keg, which contained 17.84 gallons, was not reliqui-dated. Prior to the reliquidation, under a provision of section 562' of the Tariff Act of 1930, application was made by appellee to the-Collector of Customs to repack the whisky in 49 containers for safety and preservation. The application was duly approved and the merchandise was transferred from the said original containers into glass containers and withdrawn for consumption. Two of the original containers were abandoned, the contents thereof being, according to the original gauge, 89.78 gallons. Duty was assessed in accordance with the original customs gauge on the entire entry, but the amount actually withdrawn for consumption was 528.6 gallons. The importer protested the action of the collector, claiming that duty should have been taken on the gallonage actually withdrawn rather than on the amount imported as shown by the original gauge.

The case was tried in the city of Cleveland,. Ohio, and in its first decision the United States Customs Court, Third Division, entered judgment for the United States on the ground that it was not clear from the record that any withdrawal had been made of the repacked whisky and therefore it did not appear that duty was assessed on an excessive number of gallons as claimed by the importer. A rehearing was granted and the amount of whisky actually withdrawn was established. The said court then rendered judgment for the importer,' citing as authority its decision in the case of La Montagne Bros., Inc. v. United States, 68 Treas. Dec. 372, T. D. 47918. From that judgment this appeal was taken.

Appellant contends that paragraph 813 and section 563 of said tariff act, taken either separately or together, prohibit any allowance to appellee for loss of liquor sustained by breaking, leaking, or damage unless appellee has brought itself within the exceptions recited in either said paragraph or said section, which appellant urges are negative and that therefore the said exceptions should be strictly construed. Appellant further contends that section 562 of said act should not be so construed that an allowance by reason of loss, leakage, or damage to liquor should be granted in view of paragraph 813 and section 563.

Appellee contends in its brief that under the provisions of section 562 duty should be assessed only on the quantity of liquor at the time of withdrawal from warehouse. No oral argument was presented to-us on its behalf.

The involved paragraph and sections, so far as they are here relevant, read as follows:

Par. 813. There shall be no constructive or other allowance for breakage, leakage, or damage on wines, liquors, cordials, or distilled spirits, except that-[22]*22when it shall appear to the collector of customs from the gauger’s return, verified by an affidavit by the importer to be filed within five days after the delivery of the merchandise, that a cask or package has been broken or otherwise injured in transit from a foreign port and as a result thereof a part of its contents, amounting to 10 per pentum or more of the total value of the contents of the said cask or package in its condition as exported, has been lost, allowance therefor may be made in the liquidation of the duties.
Sec. 562. MANIPULATION IN WAREHOUSE.
Unless by special authority of the Secretary of the Treasury, no merchandise shall be withdrawn from bonded warehouse in less quantity than an entire bale, cask, box, or other package; or, if in bulk, in the entire quantity imported or in a quantity not less than one ton weight. All merchandise so withdrawn- shall be withdrawn in the original packages in which imported unless, upon the application of the importer, it appears to the collector that it is necessary to the safety or preservation of the merchandise to-repack or transfer the same: Provided, That «pon permission therefor being granted by the Secretary of the Treasury, and mnder customs supervision, at the expense of the proprietor, merchandise may be ■cleaned, sorted, repacked, or otherwise changed in condition, but not manufactured, in bonded warehouses established for that purpose and be withdrawn therefrom * * * for consumption, upon payment of the duties accruing thereon, in its condition and quantity, and at its weight, at the time of withdrawal from warehouse, * * *.
Sec. 563. ALLOWANCE FOR LOSS — ABANDONMENT OF WAREHOUSE GOODS.
' (a) Allowance. — In no case shall there be any abatement or allowance made in the duties for any injury, deterioration, loss, or damage sustained by any merchandise while remaining in customs custody, except that the Secretary of the Treasury is authorized, upon production of proof satisfactory to him of th< loss or theft of any merchandise while in the appraiser’s stores, or of the actual injury or destruction, in whole or in part, of any merchandise by accidental fire or other casualty, while in bonded warehouse, or in the appraiser’s stores, or while in transportation under bond, or while in the custody of the officers of the customs, although not in bond, or while within the limits of any port of entry and before having been landed under the supervision of the officers of the customs, to abate or refund, as the case may be, the duties upon such merchandise, in whole or in part, and to pay any such refund out of any moneys in the Treasury not otherwise appropriated, and to cancel any warehouse bond or bonds, or enter satisfaction thereon in whole or in part, as the case may be, but no abatement or refund shall be made in respect of injury or destruction of any merchandise in bonded warehouse occurring after the expiration of three years * * * from the date of importation. The decision of the Secretary of the Treasury as to the abatement or refund of the duties on any such merchandise shall be final and conclusive upon all persons.
* * * # * * *
(b) Abandonment. — Under such regulations as the Secretary of the Treasury may prescribe and subject to any conditions imposed thereby the consignee may at any time within three years (or ten months in the case of grain) from the date of original importation, abandon to the Government any merchandise in bonded warehouse, whereupon any duties on such merchandise may be remitted or refunded as the case may be, but any merchandise so abandoned shall not be less than an entire package and shall be abandoned in the original package without having been repacked while in a bonded warehouse (other than a bonded manipulating warehouse).

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Bluebook (online)
31 C.C.P.A. 19, 1943 CCPA LEXIS 116, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/united-states-v-siegfried-lowenthal-co-ccpa-1943.