United States v. Weber

6 Ct. Cust. 234, 1915 WL 20688, 1915 CCPA LEXIS 83
CourtCourt of Customs and Patent Appeals
DecidedMay 18, 1915
DocketNo. 1540
StatusPublished
Cited by8 cases

This text of 6 Ct. Cust. 234 (United States v. Weber) 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. Weber, 6 Ct. Cust. 234, 1915 WL 20688, 1915 CCPA LEXIS 83 (ccpa 1915).

Opinion

Martin, Judge,

delivered the opinion of the court:

- The merchandise now upon appeal consists of so-called paté de foie gras, purée de foie gras, and sausage of goose liver, severally packed in tin cans.

The collector assessed duty upon the articles at the rate of 2 cents per pound under the provision for “poultry, prepared in any manner” contained in paragraph 229, tariff act of 1913.

The importer protested against the assessment, claiming the merchandise to be free of duty under the free-list provision for “meats of all kinds, prepared or preserved, not specially provided for” contained in paragraph 545, same act.

The protest was submitted upon evidence to the Board of General Appraisers and was sustained, from which decision the Government appeals.

The evidence in the case discloses that the article called páté de foie gras is composed of pieces of goose liver, seasoned with salt, pepper, and truffles. This material is packed in a can which is lined with finely ground meat composed of trimmings from goose livers mixed with fat pork. The pork constitutes in bulk about one-fourth of the combination, the goose liver the remaining three-fourths thereof; [235]*235the relative value of these component materials is not disclosed by the testimony, but it is obvious that the goose liver is the more valuable. The material is cooked or processed in some manner before it is sealed in the can. The present cans are labeled “Páté de Foie Gras Strasbourg Style — with Perigord Truffles.” The purée de foie gras is similar to the foregoing in material and preparation, except that it is cheaper and contains a larger proportion of pork. It is labeled “Goose Liver Paste — with Truffles.” The sausage is also packed in cans, which are labeled “Genuine Sausage of Goose Liver.” It contains less liver and more pork, and is a cheaper article than either of the others. The three articles just described are substantiality alike so far as this case is concerned, and all will be included in this decision under the name of páté de foie gras.

The following is a copy of the cited paragraphs of the tariff act of 1913, and also of the corresponding paragraphs of the tariff acts of 1894, 1897, and 1909:

ACT OF 1894.
225f. Meats of all kinds, prepared or preserved, not specially provided for in this act, twenty per centum ad valorem.
226. Poultry, two cents per pound; dressed, three cents per pound.
ACT OF 1897.
275. Meats of all kinds, prepared or preserved, not specially provided for in this act, twenty-five per centum ad valorem.
278. Poultry, live, three cents per pound; dressed, five cents per pound.
ACT OF 1909.
286. Meats of all kinds, prepared or preserved, not specially provided for in this section, twenty-five per centum ad valorem.
289. Poultry, live, three cents per pound; dead, five cents per pound.
ACT OF 1913.
229. Poultry, live, 1 cent per pound; dead, or prepared in any manner, including the weight of the immediate coverings or containers, 2 cents per pound.
545. (Free list.) Meats: Fresh beef, veal, mutton, lamb, and pork; bacon and hams; meats of all kinds, prepared or preserved, not specially provided for in this section: * * *.

It may be repeated that the present merchandise was assessed with duty as “poultry, prepared in any manner” under paragraph 229, and is claimed to be free of duty under the provision for “meats of all kinds, prepared or preserved, not specially provided for” under paragraph 545, tariff act of 1913.

The importer contends that the name “poultry” applies only to fowls which are alive, or if dead are yet whole or nearly whole; and that the terms “poultry, prepared in any manner” can not properly apply to páté de foie gras since that article is made of only part of [236]*236the fowl. The importer also contends that under the tariff acts of 1894,1897, and 1909 páté de foie gras was held in repeated decisions of the board and the courts to be dutiable as prepared or preserved meat, and that this fact should be given great, if not controlling, effect in the present case, since the provision for prepared or preserved meat is reenacted in the tariff act of 1913.

The Government, on the other hand, contends that páté de foie gras answers both to the description of "poultry, prepared in any manner” and to that of "meats of all kinds, prepared or preserved,” and that the poultry provision is the more specific and should therefore control the present assessment. The Government concedes that under the tariff acts of 1894, 1897, and 1909 páté de foie gras was held to be dutiable as prepared or preserved meats, but contends that the poultry paragraphs in those acts provided only for "poultry, dressed” or "poultry, dead,” and that in the act of 1913 Congress amended the paragraph by adding the clause, "or prepared in any manner” with the evident purpose and effect of bringing such articles as the present within the purview of the paragraph.

In coming to consider these respective claims we may say at once that the provision for "poultry, prepared in any manner” is more specific than that for "meats of all kinds, prepared or preserved, not specially provided for in this section.” The term "poultry” is a more limited term than "meats of all kinds,” and this fact is accentuated by the presence of the n. s. p. f. clause in the meat provision and not in the poultry provision. Therefore we conclude that if the merchandise answers directly to both descriptions the present assessment should be sustained.

In respect to the tariff status of páté de foie gras under the tariff acts of 1894, 1897, and 1909 an examination of the decisions discloses the fact that the article was uniformly held to be dutiable under the meat provisions of those acts rather than under their poultry provisions. The effect of those decisions, however, is modified by the fact that the poultry provision in those acts was limited to poultry, "dressed” or poultry, "dead,” whereas the present paragraph in addition to retaining the description of "poultry, dead” adds thereto the clause “ or prepared in any manner.”

The final question therefore in the present case is whether the • addition of the words "or prepared in any manner” to the poultry paragraph shall be given the effect of bringing within the paragraph articles like the present ones, which are composed only of prepared parts of fowls and not of whole or nearly whole fowls.

Under the tariff act of 1897 this court decided the case of Kwong Yuen Shing v. United States (1 Ct. Cust. Appls. 16; T. D. 30774) and held therein that the flesh of ducks either as a whole or in pieces, salted, dried, packed in tins, and in some instances packed in peanut [237]*237oil, was dutiable as prepared or preserved meat under paragraph 275 of the act, rather than as poultry, "dressed” under paragraph 278.

In Notes on Tariff Revision, 1913 (pp. 80, 81), this decision yeas called to the attention of Congress in the following language:

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Bluebook (online)
6 Ct. Cust. 234, 1915 WL 20688, 1915 CCPA LEXIS 83, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/united-states-v-weber-ccpa-1915.