Circle Import-Export Co. v. United States

LaNdis, Judge:

The merchandise in these three protests, consolidated for trial, consists of switch plates of the kind used to face up the opening of an electrical switch bos and through which the on and off switch knob protrudes. The plates, made in Japan, are concededly decorative ceramic articles. (Exhibits 1, 2, 3, A, and B are representative samples of the imported switch plates.) Customs at Los Angeles, following what it perceived to be the legislative intent, classified the ceramic switch plates under the Tariff Schedules of the United States (TSUS) as household articles or ornamental…