United States v. Tower & Sons

14 Ct. Cust. 421, 1927 CCPA LEXIS 158
CourtCourt of Customs and Patent Appeals
DecidedMarch 9, 1927
DocketNo. 2767
StatusPublished
Cited by12 cases

This text of 14 Ct. Cust. 421 (United States v. Tower & Sons) 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. Tower & Sons, 14 Ct. Cust. 421, 1927 CCPA LEXIS 158 (ccpa 1927).

Opinion

Bland, Judge,

delivered the opinion of the court:

This appeal is from a judgment of the Board of United States General Appraisers (now United States Customs Court), sustaining a protest of the appellees claiming the re-reappraisement of the merchandise, carpets and rugs, imported from Canada, to be illegal and void.

[422]*422The goods involved in this case are only a part of a very large purchase made from Canada, different portions of which were shipped to a great number of dealers throughout the United States and entered at several different ports. The shipment involved here was entered at the subport of Black Rock, N. Y., subsequent to the passage of the emergency tariff act of May 27, 1921, and prior to the passage of the tariff act of September 21, 1922. The chief question raised is the application of the antidumping act provisions of the emergency tariff act, as amending the tariff act of October 3, 1913.

The carpet and rug mills in America were closed as a result of a strike in January, 1921. American dealers were informed by American manufacturers that they were unable to deliver any merchandise of the character involved in this appeal. A Mr. Fedderly contracted with the Toronto Rug & Carpet Co. for the sale' and export of rugs to the United States direct to various dealers at 23.3 per centum below the Canadian market value, but which price gave the Canadian manufacturer a profit, due to the large quantity sold — about $350,000 worth. The evidence discloses that the sale for exportation at a less price than the Canadian market value was on account of the large quantity contracted for, and that the goods arrived in this country at a time when there was no comparable merchandise, of consequence, being manufactured in the United States.

Upon the arrival of the shipment in question the appraising officer withheld his report to the collector and gave notice to the Secretary of the Treasury in accordance with section 201 (b) of the antidumping act, supra, which reads as follows:

Sec. 201. * * * (b) Whenever, in the case of any imported merchandise of a class or kind as to which the Secretary has not so made public a finding, the appraiser or person acting as appraiser has reason to believe or suspect, from the invoice or other papers or from information presented to him, that the purchase price is less, or that the exporter’s sales price is less or likely to be less, than the foreign market value (or, in the absence of such value, than the cost of production) he shall forthwith, under regulations prescribed by the Secretary, notify the Secretary of such fact and withhold his appraisement report to the collector as to such merchandise until the further order of the Secretary, ■ or until the Secretary has made public a finding as provided in subdivision (a) in regard to such merchandise.

On March 6, 1922, in T. D. 39032, 41 Treas. Dec. 121, the Secretary of the Treasury published a finding of dumping under the provisions of section 201 (a) of said antidumping act, which reads as follows:

Sec. 201. (a) That whenever the Secretary of the Treasury (hereinafter in this act called the “Secretary”), after such investigation as he deems necessary, finds that an industry in the United States is being or is likely to be injured, or is prevented from being established, by reason of the importation into the United States of a class or kind of foreign merchandise, and that merchandise of such class or kind is being sold or is likely to be sold in the United States or [423]*423elsewhere at less than its fair value, then he shall make such finding public to the extent he deems necessary, together with a description of the class or hind of merchandise to which it applies in such detail as may be necessary for the guidance of the appraising officers. (Italics ours.) ,

Tbe published finding of the Treasury Department as published in 41 Treas. Dec. 121 is as follows:

TeeastjRy Department, March 6, 1922.

To Collectors of Customs and Others Concerned:
Section 201 (a) of the antidumping act of 1921 provides as follows:
That whenever the Secretary of the Treasury (hereinafter in this act called the “Secretary”), after such investigation as he deems necessary, finds that an industry in the United States is being or is likely to be injured, or is prevented from being established, by reason of the importation into the United States of a class or kind of foreign merchandise, and that merchandise of such, class or kind is being sold or is likely to be sold in the United States or elsewhere at less than its fair value, then he shall make such finding public to the extent he deems necessary, together with a description of the class or kind of merchandise to which it applies in such detail as may be necessary for the guidance of the appraising officers.
After due investigation I find that the rug-making industry in the United States is being or is likely to be injured by reason of the importation into the United States of rugs from Canada, and that such merchandise is sold or is likely to be sold in the United States at less than its fair value.
For any further description of this particular merchandise, appraising officers will communicate with the special agent in charge at New York.
(106085.) Elmer Dover, Assistant Secretary.

Since the right of Elmer Dover, Assistant Secretary, to issue the finding is questioned in this case, it is proper to add that, in this court, without objection, a certified copy of the original finding was presented to this court, which is in all respects identical to the one published in the Treasury decisions cited above with the exception that above the name of “Elmer Dover” are the words “By direction of the Secretary.”

After the publication of T. D. 39032, supra, the appraising officer took action upon the invoices under the provisions of section 209 of said antidumping act, which reads as follows:

Sec. 209. That in the case of all imported merchandise, whether dutiable or free of duty, of a class or kind as to which the Secretary has made public a finding as provided in section 201, and as to which the appraiser or person acting as appraiser has made no appraisement report to the collector before such finding has been so made public, it shall be the duty of each appraiser or person acting as appraiser, by all reasonable ways and means to ascertain, estimate, and appraise (any invoice or affidavit thereto or statement of cost of production to the contrary notwithstanding) and report to the collector the foreign market value or the cost of production, as the case may be, the purchase price, and the exporter’s sales price, and any other facts which the Secretary may deem necessary for the purposes of this title.

In the trials below the legality of the appraisement, which involved the kind of values to be taken, and the legality of the action of the appraising officers, in several respects, was warmly contested, which [424]*424acts, in view of the conclusions reached herein, are not material. The appraising officers reported the foreign market value on the date of exportation to be the entered value described in the invoices under the heading: “The fair market value for home consumption * * *

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14 Ct. Cust. 421, 1927 CCPA LEXIS 158, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/united-states-v-tower-sons-ccpa-1927.