Ford Motor Co. v. United States

In the United States, there was a 25 percent tariff on trucks imported from Europe. The duty on imports of passenger vehicles classified under 8703.23.00 of the Harmonized Tariff Schedule of the United States (HTSUS) was 2.5 percent. Heading 8703 covered vehicles “principally designed for the transport of persons.” Ford Motor Company (Ford) manufactured the Transit Connect (Transit) in Turkey and imported them to the United States. Transits were made to order as cargo vans. However, to avoid the higher duty for trucks, Ford imported Transits with a second-row seat and declared the vehicles as passenger vehicles under subheading 8703.23.00. The Transits also contained auxiliary design features, including child locks on the sliding doors, an optional third cupholder in the rear of the center console, coat hooks in the second row, map pockets behind the driver’s seat, and dome lighting throughout the vehicle. Ford had the second-row seats removed and other changes made to deliver the vehicle as a cargo van. The United States (defendant) determined that the inclusion of the second-row seat was an improper artifice or disguise masking the true nature of the Transits at importation and the vehicles were properly classified as motor vehicles for the transport of goods under subheading 8704.31.00 and subject to the 2.5 percent tariff.