8 Ct. Cust. 17 | C.C.P.A. | 1917
delivered tbe opinion of tbe court:
Printed cotton fabrics of various widths and in lengths of about 30 yards, imported at tbe port of New York and classified by the collector of customs &s articles of cotton cloth, were assessed for duty
266. All articles made from cotton.cloth., whether finished or unfinished, and all manufactures of cotton or of which cotton is the component material of chief value, not specially provided for in this section, 30 per centum ad valorem.
The importers protested that the goods were not articles made from cotton cloth, but were cotton cloth, dutiable under paragraphs 252 and 253 according to the average number of yarns and the processes of manufacture applied. The parts of paragraphs 252 and 253 upon which the importers rely are as follows:
252. * * * Cotton cloth, when bleached, dyed, colored, stained, painted, printed, woven figured, or mercerized, containing yam the average number of which does not exceed number nine, 10 per centum ad valorem; exceeding number nine and not exceeding number nineteen, 12£ per centum ad valorem; * * *.
253. The term cotton cloth, or cloth, wherever used in the paragraphs of this schedule, unless otherwise specially provided for, shall be held to include all woven fabrics of cotton, in the piece, whether figured, fancy, or plain, and shall not include any article, finished or unfinished, made from cotton cloth. In the ascertainment of the condition of the cloth or yarn upon which the duties imposed upon cotton cloth are made to depend, the entire fabric and all parts thereof shall be included. * * *
The appraiser, in answer to the protest, reported as follows:
The merchandise consists of woven cotton cloths in various widths and long lengths, having printed thereon designs of tablecloths. Between each design there is sufficient space to cut the cloth into a separate tablecloth. By reason of these designs and the intervening spaces between each one for separation purposes, the cloth in question is commercially unfit for any other use than to be cut into such articles. * * *
At the hearing before the board it appeared from the samples introduced in evidence and the uncontradicted testimony submitted by the importers that the goods were printed woven cotton fabrics having a length of about 30 yards and a width which varied from 70 inches for some of the pieces to 80 inches for others. The design printed on the goods is about 90 inches long and is repeated at regular intervals throughout the length of the goods. The commodity is generally used for the making of bedspreads, which purpose is accomplished by cutting across the fabric between the designs and hemming the raw edges thus produced. The merchandise can be, and to some slight extent is, used for the making of curtains and portiéres. This is done by severing the cloth at the intervals between the designs, dividing the pieces thus produced into two equal parts, and then scalloping the raw edges. It was established by the importers that the average number of the yams exceeded number 9 and did not exceed number 19.
' The Board of General Appraisers, General Appraiser Cooper dissenting, found that- the woven fabrics were cotton bedspreads in the piece and that consequently they must be regarded as unfinished
The articles excluded from paragraph 252 and those which are included in paragraph 266 are finished or unfinished articles made from cotton cloth. The merchandise is in our opinion cotton cloth, and is not a finished or unfinished article made from cotton cloth.
The goods in issue, as they came from the loom, were, beyond doubt, cotton cloth, and as nothing was done to the cloth after it was woven except to print it, it was certainly within the tariff designation of cotton cloth printed. As cotton cloth printed is provided for by name in paragraph 252, and as paragraph 253 provides that no article, finished or unfinished, can be considered as cotton cloth, it is evident that Congress did not contemplate that the mere printing of cotton cloth, that is to say, a printing which was not the design of some particular article, should create anything more than a condition of cotton cloth or a cotton cloth advanced. Certainly it was not intended that such printing by itself should constitute a new article, that is to say, something which was not cotton cloth printed. To hold otherwise would simply result in the absurdity that cotton cloth which had been printed was cotton cloth printed within the meaning of paragraph 252 and at the same time a finished or unfinished article excluded from that paragraph by virtue of paragraph 253.
The board, however, considered that the designs printed on the cloth were so spaced that the cloth was commercially unfit for any purpose other ’than the making of invididual bedspreads, and that inasmuch as a cutting of the fabric between the designs and a hemming of the edges was all that was required to convert the cloth into finished bedspreads, the goods must be regarded as bedspreads in the piece. We think the evidence does not justify a finding that the goods are confined to a single use or that they are commercially unfit for any purpose other than'the making of bedspreads. As we read the record, the testimony is very clear that while the goods are used primarily and chiefly for the making of bedspreads, they are nevertheless suitable for the making of curtains and portieres and are advertised, offered for sale, and actually used in a minor degree for such purposes. Indeed, the goods themselves furnish ample evidence that cutting and hemming will just as readily convert them into half curtains, table spreads, and couch covers as into bedspreads, curtains, and portiéres.
We are not unaware of the fact that cotton cloth woven into a series of bandannas, handkerchiefs, scarfs, or mufflers has been held to be wearing apparel, handkerchiefs, neckties, or neckwear made up or manufactured wholly or in part (T. D. 16815); that cotton cloth, having printed thereon designs of bibs or aprons, has been held to be articles of wearing apparel made up or manufactured wholly or in part (T. D. 34243); that cotton cloth woven into a series of Turkish towels, each towel being distinctly marked by the weave, has been held to be dutiable as towels (T. D. 35101); that silk goods so woven and ornamented with a succession of borders as to constitute a series of veils, which though not separated were suitable for no other purpose than their separation into veils by cutting them at the indicated line, have been held to be articles of wearing apparel manufactured in whole or in part (Oppenheimer v. United States, 66 Fed., 52); and that cotton fabrics in running lengths, about one-third of an inch in width, woven for the sole purpose of making coat hangers, and having ridges in the weave about 3 inches apart to indicate the place for cutting into such hangers, has been held not to be tapes but manufactures of cotton. United States v. Buss & Co. (5 Ct. Cust. Appls., 110; T. D. 34138). We note, however, that every one of those cases involved merchandise the manufacture of which had proceeded so far that it either became something more than woven fabrics in the piece or its identity was established as a particular arti-
The decision of the Board of General Appraisers is reversed.