Amorient Petroleum Co. v. United States (607 F. Supp. 1484, 1985)

RE, Chief Judge:

The question presented in this case pertains to the proper classification, for customs duty purposes, of 18,344,771 gallons of certain petroleum derivatives imported from South Korea and China, and described on the customs invoices as “gasoline.”

The petroleum derivatives were entered at the port of Long Beach, California, and were classified by the Customs Service (Customs) as “motor fuels” under item 475.25 of the Tariff Schedules of the United States (TSUS). Hence, they were assessed with a duty of 1.25 cents per gallon.

Plaintiff protests this classification, contending that the petroleum derivatives are properly classified as “naphthas derived from petroleum, shale oil, or combinations thereof (except motor fuel)” under item 475.35 TSUS, dutiable at .25 cents per gallon.

The pertinent statutory provisions of the tariff schedules are as follows:

General Headnotes and Rules of Interpretation

10. General Interpretive Rules. For the purposes of these schedules—

(e) in the absence of special language or context which otherwise requires—

(i) a tariff classification controlled by use (other than actual use) is to be determined in accordance with the use in the United States at, or immediately prior to, the date of importation, of articles of that class or kind to which the imported articles belong, and the controlling use is the chief use, i.e., the use which exceeds all other uses (if any) combined;

Schedule 4,

Part 10 Headnotes:

2. For the purposes of this part—

(b) “Motor Fuel” (item 475.25) is any product derived primarily from petroleum, shale, or natural gas, whether or not containing additives, which is chiefly used as a fuel in internal-combustion or other engines.

Classified under:

Schedule 4, Part 10:

475.25 Motor Fuel. 1.25