Clipper Belt Lacer Co., Inc. v. US

• Decision Date: 13 March 1990
• Docket Number: Court No. 85-08-01032.
• Parties: CLIPPER BELT LACER CO., INC., Plaintiff, v. UNITED STATES, Defendant.
• Court: U.S. Court of International Trade

738 F. Supp. 528

14 CIT 146

CLIPPER BELT LACER CO., INC., Plaintiff, v. UNITED STATES, Defendant.

Court No. 85-08-01032.

United States Court of International Trade.

March 13, 1990.

COPYRIGHT MATERIAL OMITTED

Edmund Maciorowski, P.C., Edmund Maciorowski, for plaintiff.

Stuart M. Gerson, Asst. Atty. Gen., Washington, D.C., Joseph I. Liebman, Atty. in Charge, Intern. Trade Field Office, Commercial Litigation Branch, Civil Div., U.S. Dept. of Justice, Mark S. Sochaczewsky, New York City, for defendant.

OPINION AND ORDER

CARMAN, Judge:

Plaintiff, Clipper Belt Lacer Co., Inc. (Clipper) contests the denial of its protest filed under section 515 of the Tariff Act of 1930 as amended. 19 U.S.C. § 1515 (1988). The imported merchandise, fasteners used to splice together the sections of belting used on belt conveyors, was classified by the United States Customs Service (Customs) as other "articles of iron or steel, not coated or plated with precious metal" under item 657.25 of the Tariff Schedules of the United States (TSUS). Clipper claims the articles are best described as "Staples in strip form ..." under TSUS item 646.20. Alternatively Clipper asserts the merchandise should be classified as "staples" constructed of two or more pieces under TSUS item 646.32 or as parts of "belt conveyors" under TSUS item 664.10.

After careful examination of the evidence presented at trial, the arguments of the parties, the tariff schedules and the relevant case law, the Court concludes Clipper has failed to overcome the presumption of correctness attaching to Customs' classification of the belt fasteners. The merchandise was properly classified as other "articles of iron or steel, not coated or plated with precious metal" under item 657.25 TSUS. Judgment will enter for the defendant United States (the government) dismissing this action.

                Classified Under
                    Schedule 6, Part 3, Subpart G (1983)
                    Articles of iron or steel, not coated or plated with precious metal
                       . . . . 
                       Other articles
                          . . . .
                         Other:
                    657.25 Other.............................................. 5.7% ad val.
                First Alternative Claim Under:
                    Schedule 6, Part 3, Subpart D (1983):
                    646.20 Staples in strip form .............................. 0.9% ad val.
                Second Alternative Claim Under:
                    Schedule 6, Part 3, Subpart D (1983):
                    Brads, nails, spikes, staples, and tacks, all the foregoing, not described
                     in the foregoing provisions of this subpart, of base metal;
                       Of iron or steel. . . .
                    646.32 Of two or more pieces ............................... 2.3% ad val.
                Third Alternative Claim Under:
                    Schedule 6, Part 4, Subpart B (1983):
                    664.10 Elevators, hoists, winches, cranes, jacks, pulley tackle, belt
                            conveyors, and other lifting, handling, loading, or unloading
                            machinery, and conveyors, all the foregoing and parts thereof.
                            . . .
                               . . . .
                    Parts of the foregoing:
                           . . . .
                      Other ................................................... 2.0% ad val.
                

FACTS

The merchandise in issue consists of metal items referred to commercially as hooks, lacings, fasteners or splices, that are primarily used to attach or splice together pieces of the belts used in a belt conveyor system. The primary purpose of the splices is to create an endless belt. A belt conveyor is the machine that propels the endless belt around bearings and idler pulleys, transporting the material positioned on top of the belt from one point to another. Common examples of conveyor systems utilizing endless belts include conveyors used at supermarket check-out counters, baggage handling systems at airports and package sorting conveyors used by commercial parcel post services. Heavier industrial uses of belt conveyors include filtering sludge slurry, baling hay or transporting raw minerals such as coal or mineral ores.

By way of background, the articles under consideration are sometimes referred to as belt lacings because historically the two ends of a belt were joined together with a leather lace, much like a shoe is laced and tied. The machines used to hold the two ends of the belt in place and install the lacings were referred to as "belt lacers." Though leather lacings have long since become obsolete, replaced in some cases by more sophisticated and durable metallic devices, the terms have endured.

Clipper domestically produces a line of light-weight belt lacings, but neither manufactures nor sells conveyors or conveyor belts. The imported merchandise in issue here consists of two models of metallic belt lacings or belt fasteners, the Ultra and the Mato see attached figure, which are collectively referred to by Clipper as the "Mato Line." Testimony established that these two models are used to splice together the belting used on heavy duty belt conveyors, of the type primarily used in the coal mining industry.

For each lacing model, the Ultra and Mato, exemplars were placed into evidence at trial consisting of the individual fasteners, fasteners attached together by a common metal bar and fasteners embedded into the edge of a polyvinyl chloride or rubber two- or four-ply belt. Additionally, two other exhibits consisted of finished versions of the Ultra and Mato fasteners as they would appear after installation.

The Ultra model consists of an integral "U" shaped wire form consisting of two legs, supported by a curved crown (which is designed to carry a load) and ground point profiles. Two short pointed wires are resistance-welded to the legs. The articles are collated in rows of 14, held together by a common, non-functional bar that allows the introduction of the lacings or belt fasteners into the belt lacer as a unit.

The Ultra incorporates two grooves whose function is to accept the points from the opposite end of the hook once they have been pressed through the belt carcass by the belt lacer and bent over. The grooves allow the bent points to be recessed thereby creating a low profile for the overall splice. Each individual Ultra fastener is constructed of four pieces: the U-shaped wire form, the two short wire points and the common bar.

The Mato model, a somewhat heavier gauge fastener than the Ultra, is stamped and formed from steel plate, resulting in a rectangular stock item six millimeters wide and 60 millimeters long that is bent and shaped into the form of a "U". Eight holes are punched into the ends of the plate (four on each end) and two U-shaped wire forms with ground point profiles at each end (identical in appearance to heavy gauge staples) are press-fitted into four of the holes at one end of the plate. Like the Ultra, individual fasteners are collated and held together by a common non-functional bar.

Grooves are coined into the plate in line with the eight holes, allowing the point profiles to bend back flush with the plate upon installation by the belt lacer. Similarly, the leading edge of the plate is coined to provide a "ramp" or taper to the plate, which allows the splice to move around the pulleys and through the conveyor scraper¹ with a minimal amount of catching or jamming. The Mato is constructed from four pieces of metal: the plate, the two wire forms and the common bar.

At trial plaintiff demonstrated the actual lacing of two belt ends together. To complete a splice, a row of fasteners or lacings are pressed through one piece of the belt carcass. The protruding ground point profiles are bent over, thus creating a channel of metal loops the width of the belt carcass. When attached to the belt, the metal loops have even spaces between them. Another set of fasteners is also installed on to the other piece of belt carcass. The two sets of looped channels, one set protruding from the edge of each belt carcass, are butted together, overlapped into the spaces between the individual loops. The overlap creates a tube-like configuration the width of the belt. The splice is secured by a metal "pin" (a braided piece of wire) inserted into the tube created by the fastener overlap, preventing the two fastener sets from uncoupling.

These two belt fasteners, the Ultra and the Mato, are used almost exclusively in the coal mining industry to create endless belts for the conveyors used in transporting coal ore to the surface from mine shafts and tunnels. A typical conveyor belt of this type is up to four feet wide and one thousand yards to two miles in length. The belts are driven by large 150-200 horsepower motors and are made endless by the installation of belt fasteners at intervals of up to 250 feet. Due to the unique characteristics of each coal mine, the belts are generally installed and spliced at the site, both as original equipment and to repair damaged, worn or torn belts. It was determined at trial that while a belt conveyor must incorporate some type of belt fastener or lacing process for it to function, there is no requirement that the belt fasteners in issue be used. Indeed, belts can also be made endless by the process of vulcanization or gluing, or through the use of other mechanical splices.

Customs classified the Ultra and Mato model lacings as other "articles of iron or steel, not coated or plated with precious metal" under item 657.25, TSUS. Clipper timely filed a protest, which was denied and this action ensued.

DISCUSSION

A presumption of correctness exists in favor of Customs' classification of an imported product and the burden of proof rests upon the party challenging the classification. 28 U.S.C. § 2639(a)(1) (1982); Jarvis Clark Co. v. United States, 733 F.2d 873, 878, reh'g denied, 739 F.2d 628 (Fed.Cir.1984). This presumption of correctness pertains not only to Customs' final classification, but also to every element necessary to support that determination. United States v. New York Merchandise Co. Inc., 58 CCPA 53, 58, C.A.D. 1004, 435 F.2d 1315, 1318 (1970); Schott Optical Glass, Inc. v. United States, 82 Cust.Ct. 11, 15, C.D....