Balfour, Guthrie & Co. v. United States

Keefe, Judge;

In this action the plaintiff seeks to recover certain customs duties claimed to have been illegally assessed upon an importation of palmyra fiber stalks upon which the collector at New York assessed duty at 20 per centum ad valorem under paragraph 1558, Tariff Act of 1930, as a nonenumerated manufactured article. In his protest the plaintiff made a number of claims but relies principally upon the claim that the merchandise is free of duty under paragraph 1684, as fibrous vegetable substances, not dressed or manufactured in any manner.

At the trial the plaintiff offered the record…