United States v. W. X. Huber Co.

30 C.C.P.A. 183, 1943 CCPA LEXIS 7
CourtCourt of Customs and Patent Appeals
DecidedMarch 1, 1943
DocketNo. 4414
StatusPublished

This text of 30 C.C.P.A. 183 (United States v. W. X. Huber 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. W. X. Huber Co., 30 C.C.P.A. 183, 1943 CCPA LEXIS 7 (ccpa 1943).

Opinion

LeNroot, Judge,

delivered the opinion of the court:

The Government has taken this appeal from a judgment of the United States Customs Court (Second Division) sustaining a protest of appellee against the assessment, by the collector at' the port of Los Angeles, of duty upon certain merchandise invoiced as “coffee filter papers,” under the provisions of paragraphs 1413 and 1404 of the Tariff Act of 1930.

The collector held that the involved merchandise consisted of tissue paper cut to shapes.

The protest claimed dutiability of the merchandise under the provisions of paragraph 1409 as filtering paper.

Said paragraphs of the tariff act here involved read, insofar as they are here pertinent, as follows:

Par. 1413. Papers and, paper board and pulpboard, including cardboard and leatherboard or compress leather, embossed, cut, die-cut, or stamped into designs or shapes, such as initials, monograms, lace, borders, bands, strips, or other forms, or cut or shaped for boxes or other articles, plain or printed, but not lithographed, and not specially provided for; * * * 30 per centum ad valorem; * * *.
Par. 1404. Papers commonly or commercially known as tissue paper, stereotype p'aper, and copying paper, india and bible paper, condenser paper, carbon paper, coated or uncoated, bibulous paper, pottery paper, tissue paper for waxing, and all paper similar to any of the foregoing, not specially provided for, colored or uncolored, white or printed, weighing not over six pounds to the ream, and whether in sheets or any other form, 6 cents per pound and 20 per centum ad valorem; [185]*185* * *: Provided, That no article composed wholly or in chief valúe of one or more of the papers specified in this paragraph shall be subject to a less rate of duty than that imposed upon the component paper of chief value of which such article is made: * * *.
Pae. 1409. * * * filtering paper, 5 cents per pound and 15 per centum ad valorem; * * *. •

"While the collector classified the merchandise under paragraph 1413, haying found that the material consisted of tissue paper cut to shapes, he applied the rate of duty prescribed for tissue paper in paragraph 1404.

Both parties introduced testimony.

During the course of the trial, appellant sought to lay the foundation for the introduction in evidence of the record in another case, viz, Suit 4219, United States v. H. V. Albrecht, Albrecht Import Co., Inc., and Stanley Jordan & Co., 27 C. C. P. A. (Customs) 112, C. A. D. 71.

The court sustained certain objections by appellee to a question directed to the Government’s witness and offer of proof, by appellant with respect to the similarity of the merchandise involved in the case last cited to the merchandise here involved, and appellant has assigned error in sustaining such objections.

The merchandise in question consists of paper disks, ranging in diameter from 2% up to 17 inches.

The trial court held that the evidence of appellee showed “at least prima facie, that the paper from which the imported disks have been cut is not commonly or commercially known as tissue paper.” The court further found that disks of the kind under consideration and the paper from which they were cut were, at and before the enactment of the Tariff Act of 1930, chiefly used for filtering purposes, and that the merchandise is duitiable under paragraph 1409, the court stating that it considered said paragraph more specific than paragraph 1413.

Judgment was entered accordingly and the Government appealed.

Before discussing the merits of the controversy, we think it proper to call attention to a misconstruction by the trial court of our holding in the case of United States v. H. V. Albrecht, et al., supra.

After citing said case and stating the issues there involved the trial court in its decision stated:

In the above case this court sustained the plaintiffs’ claim in the belief they had shown chief use of the paper disks, at and prior to the passage of the Tariff Act of 1930, for filtering purposes, and we are still of that opinion.
The appellate court, however, in reversing our decision, stated among other things, as follows:
In this court appellees in their brief state:
The cutting or stamping of the imported paper into the form of disks does not create a new or different article nor does it remove the paper from the category of filtering paper. * * *.
No issue has been tendered on this question and we will proceed to decide the issue upon appellees’ theory what no new article has emanated by a manufactur[186]*186ing process from the paper from which the disks were cut. Obviously, if no new article has resulted, the paper from which the disks were cut must necessarily have been filtering paper if the articles of the present importation are filtering paper. Therefore, in considering whether the importation should be regarded as filtering paper, it is necessary that proof as to chief use must cover not only the ■article imported but also the paper from which it was cut.
It is obvious from the record that the importers never attempted to prove that merchandise of the class to which the imported merchandise belongs was chiefly used for filtering purposes prior to and on the date of the passage of the tariff act, although appellees very earnestly contend in argument in this court that “All the evidence shows that this merchandise is and always has been used exclusively for filtering purposes.”
As a matter of fact, however, the evidence of two of plaintiffs’ witnesses in the., above case showed the sole use of the merchandise therein at and prior to the enactment of said act to be for filtering purposes, one testifying as to the use of the paper disks 12 years before trial (1937 or 1938), and the other for 20 years before that time.

It will be observed from tbe above quotation, that the trial court was of the opinion that our decision in the cited case was erroneous, but a reading of the portion of the opinion quoted by it shows that we did not hold that the importers had not established chief use of paper disks like those there involved at and prior to the passage of the Tariff Act of 1930, but assuming without deciding that the disks were filtering paper we held that there was no evidence respecting the chief use of filtering paper at and prior to the enactment of said tariff act. It is plain, therefore, that the trial court misinterpreted our decision in said case.

Coming now to the merits of the controversy, we are in agreement with the trial court that appellee established prima Jade that disks similar to those here involved, and the paper from which they were cut, were, at and prior to the enactment of the Tariff Act of 1930, chiefly used for filtering purposes.

Therefore, the presumption of the correctness of the finding by the collector that the involved disks were cut from tissue paper was prima Jade rebutted by appellee and appellant introduced no evidence upon this point.

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Bluebook (online)
30 C.C.P.A. 183, 1943 CCPA LEXIS 7, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/united-states-v-w-x-huber-co-ccpa-1943.