Chae v. Yellen

CourtCourt of Appeals for the Federal Circuit
DecidedApril 25, 2023
Docket22-2017
StatusUnpublished

This text of Chae v. Yellen (Chae v. Yellen) is published on Counsel Stack Legal Research, covering Court of Appeals for the Federal Circuit primary law. Counsel Stack provides free access to over 12 million legal documents including statutes, case law, regulations, and constitutions.

Bluebook
Chae v. Yellen, (Fed. Cir. 2023).

Opinion

Case: 22-2017 Document: 29 Page: 1 Filed: 04/25/2023

NOTE: This disposition is nonprecedential.

United States Court of Appeals for the Federal Circuit ______________________

BYUNGMIN CHAE, Plaintiff-Appellant

v.

JANET YELLEN, SECRETARY OF THE TREASURY, ALEJANDRO MAYORKAS, SECRETARY OF HOMELAND SECURITY, DEPARTMENT OF THE TREASURY, DEPARTMENT OF HOMELAND SECURITY, UNITED STATES, Defendants-Appellees ______________________

2022-2017 ______________________

Appeal from the United States Court of International Trade in No. 1:20-cv-00316-TMR, Judge Timothy M. Reif. ______________________

Decided: April 25, 2023 ______________________

BYUNGMIN CHAE, Elkhorn, NE, pro se.

MARCELLA POWELL, Commercial Litigation Branch, Civil Division, United States Department of Justice, New York, NY, for defendants-appellees. Also represented by Case: 22-2017 Document: 29 Page: 2 Filed: 04/25/2023

BRIAN M. BOYNTON, AIMEE LEE, PATRICIA M. MCCARTHY, JUSTIN REINHART MILLER; MATHIAS RABINOVITCH, Office of Assistant Chief Counsel, International Trade Litigation, United States Bureau of Customs and Border Protection, New York, NY. ______________________

Before NEWMAN, PROST, and HUGHES, Circuit Judges. NEWMAN, Circuit Judge. Appellant Byungmin Chae appeals the decision of the United States Court of International Trade (“CIT”), which sustained the denial of Mr. Chae’s application for a cus- toms broker license. 1 The CIT affirmed the ruling of United States Customs and Border Protection (“Customs” or “CBP”) that Mr. Chae did not achieve the required passing grade of at least 75 percent on the Customs Broker License Examination (“CBLE”), which Mr. Chae sat for in April 2018. See 19 U.S.C. § 1641(b)(2) (stating that the Secretary of the Treasury “may conduct an examination to determine the applicant’s knowledge of customs and related laws, reg- ulations and procedures, bookkeeping, accounting, and all other appropriate matters”); 19 C.F.R. § 111.11(a)(4) (es- tablishing “75 percent or higher” as the passing grade on the CBLE). On appellate review, we affirm the decision of the CIT denying Mr. Chae’s customs broker license appli- cation. 2

1 Chae v. Yellen, 579 F. Supp. 3d 1343 (Ct. Int’l Trade 2022) (“CIT Op.”). 2 The CBLE is administered twice a year. 19 C.F.R. § 111.13(b). “Applicants who fail the examination and do not receive a passing score can retake the exam without penalty.” Sec’y Br. 4 (citing 19 C.F.R. § 111.13(e)). The rec- ord before us does not state whether Mr. Chae has retaken the exam. Case: 22-2017 Document: 29 Page: 3 Filed: 04/25/2023

CHAE v. YELLEN 3

BACKGROUND The CBLE is an 80-question, multiple-choice examina- tion administered by Customs. The directions for the exam state that “[e]ach question has a single best answer.” J.A. 413 (Apr. 25, 2018 CBLE, Directions) (emphasis in original). It is an open book examination, and applicants are “responsible for having the following references:” Harmonized Tariff Schedule of the United States . . . Title 19, Code of Federal Regulations . . . Instructions for Preparation of CBP Form 7501 . . . Right to Make Entry Directive 3530-002A Id. The examination is initially scored by Customs. After this initial scoring, 19 C.F.R. § 111.13(f) and 19 U.S.C. § 1641(e) provide a multitiered system of administrative and judicial review. If the passing grade of 75% is not at- tained, the applicant may request an initial administrative review by the Broker Management Branch of CBP’s Office of Trade. See 19 C.F.R. § 111.13(f). If the applicant’s score remains below 75% after this initial review, the applicant may request a second round of administrative review by the “appropriate Executive Director” of CBP’s Office of Trade. Id. If an applicant’s score remains below 75% after exhausting these two levels of administrative review, the decision to deny a customs broker license may be judicially appealed to the CIT. See 19 U.S.C. § 1641(e)(1). If the ap- plicant’s requested relief is still not granted, another level of judicial review is available, by appeal to the Court of Ap- peals for the Federal Circuit. See 28 U.S.C. § 1295(a)(5). Mr. Chae initially received a score of 65% on the April 2018 CBLE. J.A. 330. After being notified of this result, he appealed to CBP’s Office of Trade’s Broker Management Branch, requesting review of thirteen questions. J.A. 333. Case: 22-2017 Document: 29 Page: 4 Filed: 04/25/2023

The Broker Management Branch awarded Mr. Chae credit for two additional answers, raising his score to 67.5%. J.A. 351. Mr. Chae then appealed the Broker Management Branch’s decision to the Executive Assistant Commissioner of CBP’s Office of Trade, requesting review of the remain- ing eleven questions for which Mr. Chae was denied credit in his initial administrative appeal. J.A. 354. The Execu- tive Assistant Commissioner awarded Mr. Chae credit for three more of his answers, raising his score to 71.25%. J.A. 398. Mr. Chae then judicially appealed to the CIT, seeking review of five of the remaining questions for which he had not received credit. 3 CIT Op. at 1348. The CIT granted Mr. Chae credit for one question, raising his score to 72.5%. CIT Op. at 1353. However, his score remained below 75%. Mr. Chae appeals to our court. He focuses on three of the remaining questions for which he was denied credit, pointing out that a decision in his favor on two of these questions will raise his score to the passing grade 75%. Chae Br. 3. At issue are Questions 5, 27, and 33 of the April 2018 CBLE. STANDARD OF REVIEW In assessing CBP’s ultimate licensing decision, “[c]on- sistent with the broad powers vested in the Secretary [of the Treasury] for licensing customs brokers under 19 U.S.C. § 1641, the denial of a license can be overturned only if the decision was arbitrary, capricious, an abuse of

3 Mr. Chae initially appealed the Executive Assis- tant Commissioner’s decision to the CIT requesting review of seven of the remaining questions for which he had not received credit. J.A. 296. However, Mr. Chae withdrew his challenges to two of those questions. CIT Op. at 1348 n.3. Case: 22-2017 Document: 29 Page: 5 Filed: 04/25/2023

CHAE v. YELLEN 5

discretion, or otherwise not in accordance with the law.” Kenny v. Snow, 401 F.3d 1359, 1361 (Fed. Cir. 2005) (citing 5 U.S.C. § 706).

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