Case Name: J. & L. Brenes Co. v. United States
Court: United States Customs Court
Jurisdiction: United States
Decision Date: 1958-05-14
Citations: 40 Cust. Ct. 820
Docket Number: Reap. Dec. 9148; Entry No. 909931
Parties: J. & L. Brenes Co. v. United States
Judges: 
Reporter: United States Customs Court Reports
Volume: 40
Pages: 820–821

Head Matter:
(Reap. Dec. 9148)
J. & L. Brenes Co. v. United States
Entry No. 909931.
(Decided May 14, 1958)
Plaintiff not represented by counsel.
George Cochran Doub, Assistant Attorney General (Samuel D. Spector, trial attorney), for the defendant.

Opinion:
Oliver, Chief Judge:
This appeal for reappraisement relates to certain toys and so-called gift articles exported from Germany and entered at the port of New York. The item in dispute is identified on the invoice as "Land Freight." It was deducted by plaintiff on entry and added back by the appraiser and included in the appraised value of the merchandise.
When the case was called for trial, it was submitted by the sole owner of the plaintiff company on his following statement:
I deducted the inland freight from the dutiable amount because since the station, Salzburg, where I bought the merchandise, lies on the Austrian-German border and the inland freight was paid to the German territory until the port of Hamburg. So I thought I have the right to deduct the land freight because it is not in Austria through the territory of Germany.
The foregoing statement is wholly insufficient, and there is nothing in the official papers to overcome the statutory presumption of correctness that is attached to the value found by the appraiser (28 U. S. C. § 2633). Accordingly, I hold the appraised value to be the proper value of this merchandise. Judgment will be rendered accordingly.