Court Opinion

ID: 9455072
Source: CourtListenerOpinion
Date Created: 2023-08-04 19:10:04.020072+00
Date Added: 2024-06-11T17:34:26.460230
License: Public Domain

BALDWIN, Judge
(concurring).
I concur in the result reached by Judge Almond and wish to express my reasons for so doing, especially in view of such a well-reasoned dissent.
The appellant here has the burden of proving not only that the classification made by the Collector of Customs was wrong, but that the classification urged is the correct one. In this case, that *927burden amounts to proving that the imported merchandise belongs to the particular class or kind of twine which has as its chief use the binding of grain or stalks, or the baling of hay, straw or fodder. Proof of adequacy, adaptability or susceptibility of use will not be enough. Bob Stone Cordage Co. v. United States, 51 CCPA 60, C.A.D. 838 (1964). Nor will proof that the merchandise in question was actually used for the purpose recited in the asserted section of the statute be sufficient, although it will be relevant. United States v. Colibrí Lighters (U.S.A.) Inc., 47 CCPA 106, C.A.D. 739 (1960); United States v. C. J. Tower & Sons, 26 CCPA 1, T.D. 49534 (1938).
The evidence before us is adequately summed up in the other opinions. I will not restate it except to indicate what I think it proves. On the one hand, tending to establish that the contested merchandise belongs to the class of goods intended to be imported duty-free under the statute is the evidence that the twine had the same general physical characteristics as binder twine (except for length per pound), that the twine was seen entering into the same agricultural market channels, that no complaints were received from farmers concerning the twine and that the twine probably was unacceptable for other than agricultural uses.
On the other hand, clear and unequivocal, was the evidence establishing the characteristics of the class of twine intended to be duty-free by Congress. That evidence clearly establishes that the twine known commercially as binder twine must have a length/weight ratio ranging from 475 to 600 or 700 feet per pound. The evidence also proves that there is another class of bindmg twine, known as baler twine, which has a lower length to weight ratio. It is also clear that baler twine, in its commercially acceptable form, must have a weight corresponding to from 180 to 250 feet per pound. See United States v. Geo. Wm. Rueff, Inc., 41 CCPA 95, C.A.D. 535 (1953).
The contested twine was found to possess ft./lb. ratios falling between the values of these two separate classes of binding twine. Therefore, unless it can be proved that the contested twine falls into another class of commercially acceptable binding twine, this appeal must fail. Of course, it doesn’t, as pointed out in Judge Almond’s opinion.
I have used the limitation “commercially acceptable”, as I believe Chief Judge Rao did in his opinion for the lower court. It becomes a critical limitation in cases such as this. Ordinarily, where goods, both imported and domestic, are deficient in some characteristic as compared to a recognized standard, they are made commercially acceptable, for example, by discounting the price. In this case, the imported goods were deficient as compared to a recognized standard, i. e., length/weight ratio, for either of two “commerieally acceptable” types of bindmg twine. The evidence does not show they were ever made commercially acceptable and, in fact, appears to indicate that the twine was used by the ultimate consumer, the farmer, without his ever knowing that it was deficient in any manner.