Transaction value for imported scrap cannot be rejected on stray comparables or indicative LME prices without satisfying valuation-rule conditions.

Imported brass scrap was assessed under the transaction value regime, and the declared value could be rejected only if the conditions for discarding it under the valuation rules were established. Stray higher-value imports were insufficient because no comparable quality, quantity or grade was shown. LME prices were only indicative and could not, by themselves, justify loading the assessable value. The best judgment method under the valuation rules was unavailable until the statutory basis for rejection of the declared value was first satisfied, so enhancement of value was unsustainable and the declared transaction value was accepted.

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Issues: Whether the declared transaction value of imported brass scrap could be rejected and enhanced on the basis of stray higher-value imports, contemporaneous prices and LME prices, and whether the best judgment method under the valuation rules was justified.

Analysis: The appeal concerned valuation of imported goods under the transaction value regime. The declared value can be discarded only when the circumstances contemplated by Rule 4 are shown to exist. Mere reliance on stray import instances of higher price, where the quality, quantity or grade is not shown to be comparable, is insufficient to reject the transaction value. LME prices are only indicative and cannot, by themselves, form the basis for loading the assessable value. The best judgment method under Rule 8 is not available unless the statutory conditions for rejection of the declared value are first satisfied.

Conclusion: The declared transaction value was rightly accepted and the enhancement of value was unsustainable.

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