1 Ct. Cust. 437 | C.C.P.A. | 1911
delivered the opinion of the court:
A certain article of merchandise entered at the port of New York was assessed for duty b}^ the collector as a nonenumerated manufactured article under the provisions of section 6 of the tariff act of July 24, 1897, which reads as follows:
Sec. 6. That there shall be levied, collected, and paid on the importation of all raw or unmanufactured articles, not enumerated or provided for in this act, a duty of ten per centum ad valorem, and on all articles manufactured, in whole or in part, noi provided for in this act, a duty of twenty per centum ad valorem.
The importers protested against the action of the collector and as their special ground of objection to his classification and the duties imposed set up that the importation was dutiable as wheat either directly or by similitude under the provisions of paragraph 234, which is as follows:
234. Wheat, twenty-five cents per bushel.
The Board of General Appraisers overruled the protest and the importers appealed.
On the hearing before the board the importers introduced evidence from which it appears that the merchandise in question is prepared from wheat. The grain is first boiled, then dried, and finally ground in a mill or otherwise broken. So treated the article is ready for the market and constitutes a food product which is cooked and eaten principally by Syrians.
As to whether the product can be classified bjr similitude as wheat by reason of similarity of use, it is sufficient to say that it can not be used either for the purpose of making flour or as wheat seed, the particular and principal uses to which wheat is dedicated. It can of course be used as a starchy food, but in that particular it is no more similar to wheat than it is to rice, oats, barley, rye, or any other grain utilized for food purposes. In use it bears no more similitude to wheat than does flour or shredded wheat, which are not wheat at all, but manufactures of wheat.
The importers produced two witnesses to prove commercial designation, but only one of them, S. F. Zaloom, was at all competent to testify on the subject. He stated that he had dealt at wholesale and retail in the article which is the subject of appeal for a'period of about 15 years and that in the year 1897, and prior thereto, it was generally known and bought and sóidas “crushed wheat.” He further declared that it was so called by Syrians-who bought it and that the Syrian name for the article was “bulgus,” which means wheat. This evidence does not establish commercial designation. In it there is nothing which shows that the witness knew or was in a position to know what name was applied to the merchandise by the trade of the country, much less that it was definitely, uniformly, and generally known to that trade as “ crushed wheat.” In fact, there is nothing in the testimony of Mr. Zaloom which is at all convincing that he was
The importation is an article distinct in character and use from the material out of which it was made and in our opinion is a foodstuff manufactured from wheat. It was therefore dutiable as assessed.
The decision of the Board of General Appraisers is affirmed.