U.S. Divers Co. v. United States

64 Cust. Ct. 721, 1970 Cust. Ct. LEXIS 3125
CourtUnited States Customs Court
DecidedJune 2, 1970
DocketR.D. 11707; Entry No. 253683
StatusPublished
Cited by1 cases

This text of 64 Cust. Ct. 721 (U.S. Divers Co. v. United States) is published on Counsel Stack Legal Research, covering United States Customs Court primary law. Counsel Stack provides free access to over 12 million legal documents including statutes, case law, regulations, and constitutions.

Bluebook
U.S. Divers Co. v. United States, 64 Cust. Ct. 721, 1970 Cust. Ct. LEXIS 3125 (cusc 1970).

Opinion

Foed, Judge:

The above enumerated appeal for reappraisment presents the question of the proper dutiable value of the following items:

2400 masks junior safety glass
1000 masks equipressure
1886 masks luxe safety glass yellow
2442 masks luxe safety glass blue

Appraisement was made on the basis of foreign value under the provisions of section 402a (c), Tariff Act of 1930, as amended by the Customs Simplification Act of 1956, 91 Treas. Dec. 295, T.D. 54165. The appraised Values were $0.98 each for the junior masks and $1.28 each for the remaining items enumerated above.

Plaintiffs contend the basis of appraisement is erroneous as the merchandise is not enumerated on the final list of the Secretary of the Treasury, 93 Treas. Dec. 14 T.D. 54521. The proper basis, plaintiffs claim, is export value under section 402(b), and that said value is the invoice value. This position is based upon the decision of this court in U.S.D. Importing Co. et al. v. United States, 44 Cust. Ct. 360, Abstract 63864 (1960), wherein it is contended the identical merchandise was [722]*722held not to be goggles within the purview of paragraph 225, Tariff Act of 1930, as modified by T.D. 54108 or T.D. 51802. The final list provides as follows:

Goggles, and frame, mountings, and parts thereof, to be used in conjunction with underwater swimming, and valued over $2.50 per dozen.

Plaintiffs accordingly contend that the imported articles are masks and not goggles within the common meaning of that term and following the rationale in National Carloading Corporation v. United States, 53 CCPA 57, C.A.D. 877 (1966), they are not on the final list, supra. Therefore, it is contended the basis of appraisement of foreign value is incorrect.

Defendant, on the other hand, contends the mere fact that the court held the classification to be erroneous in Abstract 63864, supra, does not affect the final list enumeration. To do so would negate the intent of Congress which delegated the authority to promulgate the list to the Secretary of the Treasury. This aspect was thoroughly considered in the National Carloading case, supra, and rejected. In that case, the importation consisted of spark plugs which this court in Lodge Spark Plug Co., Inc., et al. v. United States, 44 Cust. Ct. 448, Abstract 64136 (1960), held not to be parts of automobiles. The same basic argument was considered by the court in the National Carloading case, supra, and in arriving at its conclusion, the following observation was made:

Eelying on Bureau of Census reports reflecting customs practice in 1958 of classifying spark plugs as automobile parts, the court concluded that the Secretary used words that were adequate to place spark plugs on the final list “according to the understanding of those who would read the list.”
The only words we find that may be relied on to fulfill this requirement of adequacy are the words “Automobile parts, finished.” In this connection the court stated:
To any reasonable person, in 1958, interested in the import trade in spark plugs, the words on the final list “Automobile parts, finished,” either denoted spark plugs among other things, or at least put him on notice that the Secretary might so intend.
If the Secretary intended to designate spark plugs, and if what he published was so understandable at the time, this court is not going to be led off into any tangential inquiry as to whether he used the right magic words. However, we may regret that the Secretary did not provide more effective guides to his intent at the time. [Emphasis quoted.]
We find of record no publication by the Secretary which would clarify or be conducive to the understanding of those who would [723]*723read the list that it included spark plugs. He not only did not use the “right magic words” but he employed no words of clarification. To say that he “did not provide more effective guides as to his intent” is an inadequate characterization of the fact that he provided no guides.

In the case at 'bar there is no evidence that the Secretary of the Treasury, in providing for goggles, intended the merchandise at bar to be encompassed within the language employed. If the intent to encompass within the common meaning of the term goggles had been established as including the masks involved, certainly the intent would be carried out. In the classification case, Abstract 63864, supra, the meaning of the term was found not to encompass masks. I do not believe the common meaning of the phrase goggles, etc., contained in the final list, supra, ever embodied masks. Accordingly, appraisement on the basis of foreign value is erroneous.

Since the merchandise is not enumerated on the final list, supra, first consideration for the basis of appraisement is export value as defined in section 402(b), supra. The evidence adduced by plaintiff with respect to export value was in the form of oral testimony of one Michel Ragot, manager of the production and control department of the importer, and an affidavit of Mr. René Cavalero, president and manager of the French manufacturer. It appears that the importer herein has an exclusive agreement with the manufacturer for the sale of its equipment in the Western Hemisphere. According to the affiant, since 1958, his company’s sales for home consumption have been the same as for export except that home consumption sales have the addition of a French Production Tax known as T.V.A. Tax. The masks imported are the same as those involved in Abstract 63864, supra.

Based upon the record, it is clear that plaintiffs are selected purchasers within the meaning of section 402(f) (1) (B), Tariff Act of 1930, as amended, supra. The issue of whether or not there was an export value for the merchandise mider consideration depends upon the existence of sales in the ordinary course of trade at prices which fairly reflect the market value of the merchandise.

In the case of United States v. Acme Steel Company, 51 CCPA 81, C.A.D. 841 (1964), the court made the following comment:

The Appellate Term, one judge dissenting, disagreed with the view thus expressed by the trial judge, stating, in substance, that normal conditions and practices in the trade, within the purview of the term “ordinary course of trade,” do not “require that any usual transactions be disregarded”; that it did not construe “ordinary course of trade” as limited to sales for exportation to the United States but that it should be construed as embracing the usual practices appertaining to all sales of such or similar merchandise; that where sales are made in the regular course of [724]*724business, it is appropriate to consider sucli transactions to ascertain the price which fairly reflects the market value of the merchandise and that it was a pertinent and proper inquiry to look into and consider the customary practices in Canada with regard to the sale of steel strapping of the class or kind here involved.

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Bluebook (online)
64 Cust. Ct. 721, 1970 Cust. Ct. LEXIS 3125, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/us-divers-co-v-united-states-cusc-1970.