Kalle USA, Inc. v. United States

Kalle's sausage casings, imported from Germany, are comprised of a woven textile sheet that is coated with a layer of plastic on one side. The plastic coating is thin and “only fills the interstitial spaces between the textile fibers” to ensure that the casing’s “textile character remains recognizable.” The textile gives the casing its strength and shape and allows the casing to “absorb dyes and aroma substances.” The plastic coating helps prevent moisture transmission. After the textile sheet is coated in plastic, it is trimmed, folded to form a tube, and fixed with a seam for importation as flattened tubes wound around a cardboard core. The casings were liquidated by U.S. Customs and Border Protection under Harmonized Tariff Schedule of the United States (HTSUS) subheading 6307.90.98, as “[o]ther made up articles, including dress patterns,” subject to a duty of 7%. Kalle argued that the casings should be classified under subheading 3917.39.0050, which covers “[t]ubes, pipes and hoses and fittings therefor (for example, joints, elbows, flanges), of plastics,” subject to a duty of 3.1%, emphasizing that Note 8 includes “sausage casings and other lay-flat tubing.” The Trade Court granted the government summary judgment. The Federal Circuit affirmed. The casings are not “completely embedded,” or entirely fixed in a surrounding mass of plastic. The court distinguished “impregnated” fabrics. View "Kalle USA, Inc. v. United States" on Justia Law