Business Law: Principles for Today's Commercial Environment 3rd Edition by Marianne Moody Jennings, David Twomey, Marianne Jennings

Exercise 8

Campbell Soup Co. imports tomato paste from a wholly owned Mexican subsidiary, Sinalopasta, S. A. de C.V. It deducted $416,324 from the computed value of goods shipped to the United States, which was the cost of transportation of the finished tomato paste from Sinalopasta's loading dock in Mexico to the U.S. border. The deduction thus lowered the computed value of the goods and the amount of duty to be paid the U. S. government by Campbell Soup Co. United States Customs questioned this treatment of freight costs. Tariff Act § 140a(e)(1)(B) requires that profits and general expenses be included in calculating the computed value of goods, which in part quantify the value of the merchandise in the country of production. Is Campbell's position correct [Campbell Soup Co., Inc. v United States, 107 F3d 1556 (Fed Cir)]