Art. 652. Duties to offset commercial disadvantages.Tariff act of 1930, section 338 (d): Whenever the President shall find as a fact that any foreign country places any burden or disadvantage upon the commerce of the United States by any of the unequal impositions or discriminations aforesaid, he shall, when he finds that the public interest will be served thereby, by proclamation specify and declare such new or additional rate or rates of duty as he shall determine will offset such burden or disadvantage, not to exceed 50 per centum ad valorem or its equivalent, on any products of, or on articles imported in a vessel of, such foreign country; and thirty days after the date of such proclamation there shall be levied, collected, and paid upon the articles enumerated in such proclamation when imported into the United States from such foreign country such new or additional rate or rates of duty; or, in case of articles declared subject to exclusion from importation into the United States under the provisions of subdivision (b) of this section, such articles shall be excluded from importation. Art. 653. Duties to offset benefits to third country.Tariff act of 1930, section 338 (e): Whenever the President shall find as a fact that any foreign country imposes any unequal imposition or discrimination as aforesaid upon the commerce of the United States, or that any benefits accrue or are likely to accrue to any industry in any foreign country by reason of any such imposition or discrimination imposed by any foreign country other than the foreign country in which such industry is located, and whenever the President shall determine that any new or additional rate or rates of duty or any prohibition hereinbefore provided for do not effectively remove such imposition or discrimination and that any benefits from any such imposition or discrimination accrue or are likely to accrue to any industry in any foreign country, he shall, when he finds that the public interest will be served thereby, by proclamation specify and declare such new or additional rate or rates of duty upon the articles wholly or in part the growth or product of any such industry as he shall determine will offset such benefits, not to exceed 50 per centum ad valorem or its equivalent, upon importation from any foreign country into the United States of such articles; and on and after thirty days after the date of any such proclamation such new or additional rate or rates of duty so specified and declared in such proclamation shall be levied, collected, and paid upon such articles. Art. 654. Forfeiture of articles.-Tariff act of 1930, section 338 (f): All articles imported contrary to the provisions of this section shall be forfeited to the United States and shall be liable to be seized, prosecuted, and condemned in like manner and under the same regulations, restrictions, and provisions as may from time to time be established for the recovery, collection, distribution, and remission of forfeitures to the United States by the several revenue laws. Whenever the provisions of this Act shall be applicable to importations into the United States of articles wholly or in part the growth or product of any foreign country, they shall be applicable thereto whether such articles are imported directly or indirectly. Art. 655. Ascertainment by commission of discriminations. Tariff act of 1930, section 338 (g): It shall be the duty of the commission to ascertain and at all times to be informed whether any of the discriminations against the commerce of the United States enumerated in subdivisions (a), (b), and (e) of this section are practiced by any country; and if and when such discriminatory acts are disclosed, it shall be the duty of the commission to bring the matter to the attention of the President, together with recommendations. Art. 656. Rules and regulations of Secretary of the Treasury. Tariff act of 1930, section 338 (h): The Secretary of the Treasury with the approval of the President shall make such rules and regulations as are necessary for the execution of such proclamations as the President may issue in accordance with the provisions of this section. Art. 657. Definition.-Tariff act of 1930, section 338 (i): When used in this section the term "foreign country" means any empire, country, dominion, colony or protectorate, or any subdivision or subdivisions thereof (other than the United States and its possessions), within which separate tariff rates or separate regulations of commerce are enforced. IMMORAL ARTICLES Art. 658. Prohibition of importation.-Tariff act of U. S. Code, title 1930, section 305 (a): 18, secs. 334, 387, 43603, 43660, 44293, All persons are prohibited from importing into the United States 24311, 26058, 31411, from any foreign country any book, pamphlet, paper, writing, 36920, 41001, 41111, advertisement, circular, print, picture, or drawing containing any 41410, 42347, 42907, matter advocating or urging treason or insurrection against the 44342, 44766, 44884 United States, or forcible resistance to any law of the United States, (7), C. I. E. 354/32. or containing any threat to take the life of or inflict bodily harm Aug. 6, 1931. upon any person in the United States, or any obscene book, pamphlet, paper, writing, advertisement, circular, print, picture, drawing, or other representation, figure, or image on or of paper or other material, or any cast, instrument, or other article which is obscene or immoral, or any drug or medicine or any article whatever for the prevention of conception or for causing unlawful abortion, or any lottery ticket, or any printed paper that may be used as a lottery ticket, or any advertisement of any lottery. No such articles, whether imported separately or contained in packages with other goods entitled to entry, shall be admitted to entry; and all such articles and, unless it appears to the satisfaction of the collector that the obscene or other prohibited articles contained in the package were inclosed therein without the knowledge or consent of the importer, owner, agent, or consignee, the entire contents of the package in which such articles are contained shall be subject to seizure and forfeiture as hereinafter provided: Provided, That the drugs hereinbefore mentioned, when imported in bulk and not put up for any of the purposes hereinbefore specified, are excepted from the operation of this subdivision: Provided further, That the Secretary of the Treasury may, in his discretion, admit the so-called classics or books of recognized and established literary or scientific merit, but may, in his discretion, admit such classics or books only when imported for noncommercial purposes. Upon the appearance of any such book or matter at any customs office, the same shall be seized and held by the collector to await the judgment of the district court as hereinafter provided; and no protest shall be taken to the United States Customs Court from the decision of the collector. Upon the seizure of such book or matter the collector shall transmit information thereof to the district attorney of the district in which is situated the office at which such seizure has taken place, who shall institute proceedings in the district court for the forfeiture, confiscation, and destruction of the book or matter seized. Upon the adjudication that such book or matter thus seized is of the character the entry of which is by this section prohibited, it shall be ordered destroyed and shall be T. D. 44293, 44766. destroyed. Upon adjudication that such book or matter thus seized is not of the character the entry of which is by this section prohibited, it shall not be excluded from entry under the provisions of this section. In any such proceeding any party in interest may upon demand have the facts at issue determined by a jury and any party may have an appeal or the right of review as in the case of ordinary actions or suits. Art. 659. Penalty on government officers.-Tariff act of 1930, section 305 (b): Any officer, agent, or employee of the Government of the United States who shall knowingly aid or abet any person engaged in any violation of any of the provisions of law prohibiting importing, advertising, dealing in, exhibiting, or sending or receiving by mail obscene or indecent publications or representations, or books, pamphlets, papers, writings, advertisements, circulars, prints, pictures, or drawings containing any matter advocating or urging treason or insurrection against the United States, or forcible resistance to any law of the United States, or containing any threat to take the life of or inflict bodily harm upon any person in the United States, or means for preventing conception or procuring abortion, or other articles of indecent or immoral use or tendency, shall be deemed guilty of a misdemeanor, and shall for every offense be punishable by a fine of not more than $5,000, or by imprisonment at hard labor for not more than ten years, or both. Art. 660. Seizure-Disposition of seized articles-Reports to United States attorney.-(a) Upon the seizure of any book, pamphlet, paper, writing, advertisement, circular, print, picture, or drawing containing any matter advocating or urging treason or insurrection against the United States or forcible resistance to any law of the United States, or containing any threat to take the life of or inflict bodily harm upon any person in the United States, such book or other matter shall be transmitted to the United States attorney for his consideration and action. (b) Upon the seizure of articles and/or matter prohibited entry by section 305 (with the exception of the matter included in the preceding paragraph), a notice of the seizure of such articles and/or matter shall be sent to the person for whom intended. (c) When articles of the class covered by the preceding paragraph are of small value and no criminal intent is apparent, a blank assent to forfeiture and destruction of the articles seized, customs Form 4609, should accompany the notice of seizure. Upon receipt of the assent to forfeiture and destruction duly executed, the articles should be destroyed and the case closed. (d) When the facts indicate that the importation was made deliberately with intent to evade the law, or in the case of a repeated offender, the facts and evidence should be submitted to the United States attorney for consideration of prosecution under the provisions of the Criminal Code as well as an action in rem under section 305 for condemnation of the articles. (e) If the importer declines to execute an assent to forfeiture of the articles other than those mentioned in paragraph (a) and fails to submit within 30 days after being notified of his privilege so to do, a petition under section 618 of the tariff act for the remission of the forfeiture and permission to export the seized merchandise, information concerning the seizure should be submitted to the United States attorney in accordance with the provisions of Paragraph 2 of section 305 (a) of the tariff act for the institution of condemnation proceedings. (f) Section 305 prohibits the importation of articles for the prevention of conception and/or causing abortion but does not prohibit the importation of articles containing information or advertisements relative thereto. Section 211 and 245 of the United States Criminal Code contain provisions which apply to information and advertisements on these subjects. (g) If seizure is made of books or other articles which do not contain obscene matter but contain information or advertisements relative to the prevention of conception or to means of causing abortion, the procedure outlines in paragraph (b), (c), (d), and (e), supra, should be followed. (h) In all cases when a book is seized as being obscene and the importer declines to execute an assent to forfeiture on the ground that the book is a classic, or of recognized and established literary or scientific merit, a petition addressed to the Secretary of the Treasury may be filed by the importer for release of the book. Petitioners must establish their claims by satisfactory evidence. Mere unsupported statements or allegations will not be considered. Petitioners should be so advised before a petition is transmitted to the bureau. If the ruling is favorable, release of such a book shall be made only to the ultimate consignee. (i) When a ruling by the bureau is requested, a sample of the seized articles or the article itself should be transmitted to the bureau at the time of the request for a ruling, unless reasons are apparent that the sample or article will not be required for the purpose of a ruling. Art. 661. Prohibited films.-Customs officers will make a careful examination of all importations of films Tariff act 1930, sec. 593. T. D. 32754, 35501. whenever practicable and report to the United States attorney and the bureau any objectionable importations which they discover. Any such objectionable film should be detained pending instructions from the bureau or a decision of the court as to their final disposition. Importers of films will be required at the time of entry to make affidavit that the film which they desire to import contains no matter repugnant to the principles of the Government of the United States or subversive of public morals. Art. 662. Disposition of seized articles by United States attorneys.-(a) In the event that seized articles are transmitted to the United States attorney for action and, upon a final determination, the merchandise is not to be forfeited, but released, the United States attorney should be requested to return the articles to the office of the collector for release in order that the revenue may be protected and customs formalities complied with. (b) As collectors of customs are charged with the custody of seized articles, they should require receipts for such seized articles which are submitted to United States attorneys. Such receipts should be attached to the proper seizure reports and retained pending the return of the articles. PICTORIAL REPRESENTATIONS OF PRIZE FIGHTS Art. 663. Importation prohibited-Procedure.-(a) United States Code, title 18, section 405: It shall be unlawful for any person to deposit or cause to be deposited in the United States mails for mailing or delivery, or to deposit or cause to be deposited with any express company or other common carrier for carriage, or to send or carry from one State or Territory of the United States or the District of Columbia to any other State or Territory of the United States or the District of Columbia, or to bring or to cause to be brought into the United States from abroad any film or other pictorial representation of any prize fight or encounter of pugilists, under whatsoever name, which is designed to be used or may be used for purposes of public exhibition. (July 31, 1912, ch. 263, sec. 1, 37 Stat. 240.) (b) Collectors will require importers of films and similar articles at the time of entry to make affidavit on customs Form 3291 that the shipment contains no representation of a prize fight or pugilistic encounter. (c) All imported films and similar articles will be sent to the appraiser's stores for examination. If any package is found to contain a representation of a prize fight or pugilistic encounter, it will be seized by the collector and the facts reported to the United States attorney. |