Page:United States Statutes at Large Volume 5.djvu/600



part, which shall be imported into the United States in an unfinished condition, shall, in every such appraisal, be taken, deemed, and estimated to have been at the time purchased, and place whence the same were imported into the United States, of as great value as if the same had been entirely finished: Provided, That in all cases where goods, wares, and merchandise, subject to ad valorem duty, or on which the duties are to be levied upon the value of the square yard, and in all cases where any specific quantity or parcel of such goods, wares, and merchandise, shall have been imported into the United States from a country in which the same have not been manufactured or produced, the foreign value shall be appraised and estimated according to the current market value or wholesale price of similar articles at the principal markets of the country of production or manufacture, at the period of the exportation of said goods, wares, and merchandise, to the United States.

. And be it further enacted, That it shall be lawful for the appraisers, or the collector and naval officer, as the case may be, to call before them and examine, upon oath or affirmation, any owner, importer, consignee or other person, touching any matter or thing which they may deem material in ascertaining the true market value or wholesale price of any merchandise imported, and to require the production, on oath or affirmation, to the collector or to any permanent appraiser, of any letters, accounts, or invoices, in his possession relating to the same, for which purpose they are hereby respectively authorized to administer oaths or affirmations; and if any person so called shall neglect or refuse to attend, or shall decline to answer, or shall, if required, refuse to answer in writing any interrogatories, and subscribe his name to his deposition, or to produce such papers, when so required, he shall forfeit and pay to the United States the sum of one hundred dollars; and if such person be the owner, importer, or consignee, the appraisement which the said appraisers, or collector and naval officer, where there are no legal appraisers, may make of the goods, wares, and merchandise, shall be final and conclusive, any act of Congress to the contrary notwithstanding; and any person who shall wilfully and corruptly swear or affirm falsely on such examination, shall be deemed guilty or perjury; and if he be the owner, importer, or consignee, the merchandise shall be forfeited; and all testimony in writing, or depositions, taken by virtue of this section, shall be filed in the collector’s office, and preserved for future or reference, to be transmitted to the Secretary of the Treasury when he shall require the same: Provided, That if the importer, owner, agent, or consignee, of any such goods, shall be dissatisfied with the appraisement, and shall have complied with the foregoing requisitions, he may forthwith give notice to the collector, in writing, of such dissatisfaction; on the receipt of which, the collector shall select two discreet and experienced merchants, citizens of the United States, familiar with the character and value of the goods in question, to examine and appraise the same, agreeably to the foregoing provisions; and if they shall disagree, the collector shall decide between them; and the appraisement thus determined shall be final, and deemed and taken to be the true value of said goods, and the duties shall be levied thereon accordingly, any act of Congress to the contrary notwithstanding: Provided, also, That in all cases where the actual value to be appraised, estimated, and ascertained as hereinbefore stated, of any goods, wares, and merchandise, imported into the United States, and subject to any ad valorem duty, or whereon the duty is regulated by or directed to be imposed or levied on the value of the square yard, or other parcel or quantity thereof, shall exceed by ten per centum or more the invoice value, then, in addition to the duty imposed by law on the same, there shall be levied and collected, on the same goods, wares, and