West Coast Mercantile Co. v. United States

60 Cust. Ct. 397, 283 F. Supp. 412, 1968 Cust. Ct. LEXIS 2455
CourtUnited States Customs Court
DecidedApril 10, 1968
DocketC.D. 3399
StatusPublished
Cited by1 cases

This text of 60 Cust. Ct. 397 (West Coast Mercantile 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
West Coast Mercantile Co. v. United States, 60 Cust. Ct. 397, 283 F. Supp. 412, 1968 Cust. Ct. LEXIS 2455 (cusc 1968).

Opinion

BecewoRth, Judge:

The merchandise involved in this case consists of shelf brackets of iron or steel, imported from the United Kingdom and entered at the port of Los Angeles on January 7,1963. It was assessed with duty at 19 per centum ad valorem under paragraph 397 of the Tariff Act of 1930, as modified by the Sixth Protocol of Supplementary Concessions to the General Agreement on Tariffs and Trade, 91 Treas. Dec. 150, T.D. 54108, as articles, not specially provided for, composed wholly or in chief value of iron or steel. It is claimed to be dutiable at 7% per centum ad valorem under paragraph 312 of said tariff act, as modified by the Torquay Protocol to the General Agreement on Tariffs and Trade, 86 Treas. Dec. 121, T.D. 52739, as angles or other structural shapes of iron or steel.

The pertinent provisions of the tariff act, as modified, are as follows:

Paragraph 397, as modified by T.D. 54108:
Articles or wares not specially provided for, whether partly or wholly manufactured:
* * * * * * *
Composed wholly or in chief value of iron, steel, * * *, or other base metal (except lead), but not plated with platinum, gold, or silver, or colored with gold lacquer:
* * * * * *
Other, composed wholly or in chief value of iron, steel, * * *, or aluminum (except the following: * * *)-19% ad val.
Paragraph 312, as modified by T.D. 52739:
Beams, girders, joists, angles, channels, car-truck channels, tees, columns and posts, or parts or sections of columns and posts, and deck and bulb beams, together with all other structural shapes of iron or steel:
Not assembled, manufactured or advanced beyond hammering, rolling, or casting-0.1(4 per lb.
Machined, drilled, punched, assembled, fitted, fabricated for use, or otherwise advanced beyond hammering, rolling, or casting-7%% ad val.

[399]*399The sole issue before the court is whether the shelf brackets at bar fall within the scope of the provisions in paragraph 312, sufra, for angles and all other structural shapes of iron or steel.

At the trial, the record in West Coast Mercantile Co. v. United States, 56 Cust. Ct. 466, C.D. 2680, was incorporated herein. Reference is made to the opinion in that case for a summary of the testimony therein and for a description of the exhibits. The court held that shelf brackets were not structural shapes within the meaning of paragraph 312, sufra, stating (pp. 475-476):

The cases decided on the subject at bar afford a faithful interpretation of the congressional intent and of what was meant by the words of the statute to embrace structural shapes. We are quite aware that a structure may be a building, a ship, a bridge, an oil well casing, scaffolding, an airplane approach, or an iron bedstead, all among the innumerable possible kinds of structures, comprised of parts called structural members which are structural shapes. To be such a member, the prime purpose of the article must be to support the structure of which it is a part. It is, thus, not enough to say that bolts, nuts, nails, couplings, etc., are an integral part of a structure and, thus, are structural shapes. Integral as those articles are, their prime purpose is to join together, but they themselves are not structural members. Being integral alone, therefore, is not enough to establish classification. Unquestionably these articles lend strength to the structure, but such strength and support are incidental to their prime purpose. [Emphasis quoted.]

Referring to the shelf brackets in issue, the court added (pp. 476-477) :

* * * We, however, do not accept that the said exhibits are such angles as are named in paragraph 312 of the tariff act, or that the eo nomine provision of the said paragraph for angles contemplated all angles of iron or steel without regard for their purpose. The paragraph contemplates angles which are structural shapes. A metal bookend might be in the shape and form of an angle, yet it would not qualify as a structural shape. The definitions and numerous citations reviewed hereinbefore set forth characteristics of structural shapes, but these are not possessed by the merchandise at bar as represented by exhibits 1, 2, 3, 4, and 8. Admittedly, they are shelf brackets; they support no structure. They do not lend strength, even incidental to the structure, nor were they designed to do so.
Examination of the physical articles (exhibits 1 through 4, and exhibit 8) demonstrates this quite clearly. Their physical appearance indicates processing beyond angles. The shelf brackets involved herein are not ejusdem generis with the articles designated by name in paragraph 312. They are articles of commerce commonly recognized and known as shelf brackets.
* * * The purpose and function of the shelf brackets before us is to support a shelf and not a structure, either heavy or light, large or small.

[400]*400In the instant case, plaintiff has presented additional testimony to show the use of the shelf brackets and the manner in which they are assembled with shelves and affixed to the wall. It is claimed that the evidence establishes that the articles at bar possess the characteristics and properties of structural shapes and that since they have no function other than a load carrying one, they are properly classifiable as structural shapes under paragraph 312, sufra.

Plaintiff’s first witness was Cecil Mansour, who also testified in the previous case. He is the president of West Coast Mercantile Co., importers and distributors of hardware. He testified that his firm sells shelf brackets to wholesale hardware jobbers and retail hardware stores, mainly on the west coast and that he had seen such merchandise offered for sale in the establishments of his customers. He said they were usually displayed in bins, one bin to a size. He had seen them used to hold up shelves in garages, homes, and storerooms. One side of the bracket is affixed to the wall, and the top is affixed to the shelf by screws or bolts which fit through the holes in the brackets. Usually three or four brackets are used to a shelf, spaced about 3 feet apart. According to the witness, it is not difficult to attach the brackets to a wall, and a shelf can be put up in a home or garage where there has been no shelf. Shelves can also be made longer by adding more brackets. He had seen such shelves used for holding cans of paint, tools, luggage, and other heavy articles.

The witness was read the following definition of bracket from “Webster’s New International Dictionary, Second Edition, Unabridged, 1936”:

1. An overhanging member, simple or composite, projecting from a wall or pier or other body to support weight falling outside of the same, or a similar piece to strengthen an angle. * * * Bracket is the general term for all projecting supports, whether a piece of projecting timber or stone, a triangular frame, or of some other form; and includes various forms which are ordinarily called by specific names, such as the brace, cantilever, console, corbel, strut, cul-de-lampe, modil-lion * * *.

The witness was in agreement with this definition.

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Bluebook (online)
60 Cust. Ct. 397, 283 F. Supp. 412, 1968 Cust. Ct. LEXIS 2455, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/west-coast-mercantile-co-v-united-states-cusc-1968.