Hammond Lead Products, Inc. v. United States

61 Cust. Ct. 137, 289 F. Supp. 533, 1968 Cust. Ct. LEXIS 2222
CourtUnited States Customs Court
DecidedSeptember 11, 1968
DocketC.D. 3552
StatusPublished
Cited by4 cases

This text of 61 Cust. Ct. 137 (Hammond Lead Products, Inc. v. United States) is published on Counsel Stack Legal Research, covering United States Customs Court primary law. Counsel Stack provides free access to over 12 million legal documents including statutes, case law, regulations, and constitutions.

Bluebook
Hammond Lead Products, Inc. v. United States, 61 Cust. Ct. 137, 289 F. Supp. 533, 1968 Cust. Ct. LEXIS 2222 (cusc 1968).

Opinion

Maletz, Judge:

This is a protest by an American manufacturer under section 516(b) of the Tariff Act of 1930, as amended (19 U.S.C. § 1516 (b)). The protest challenges the finding of the Secretary of the Treasury that no bounty or grant, as defined in section 303 of the Tariff Act of 1930 (19 U.S.C. § 1303), had been paid or bestowed by the Mexican Government upon certain litharge1 that was manufac[139]*139tured in Mexico and imported into tlie United States. See T.D. 67-142 (1967). TRe litharge was classified by the collector under item 473.52 of the Tariff Schedules of the United States at 1.25 cents per pound,2 and this classification is undisputed. However, plaintiff claims in its protest that contrary to the finding of the Secretary, the Mexican Government does in fact bestow a bounty or grant upon the exportation of the litharge to the United States (allegedly in the estimated amount of three cents per pound) and that, consequently, an additional countervailing duty equal to the net amount of such bounty or grant is required to be paid under the authority of section 303 of the Tariff Act of 1930. Defendant and the party in interest (the importer) have filed motions to dismiss on the ground that this court lacks jurisdiction to consider a protest filed by an American manufacturer under section 516(b) of the act seeking review of a finding by the Secretary of the Treasury that a foreign government did not pay or bestow a bounty or grant on exportations which would require the imposition of a countervailing duty as provided for in section 303 of the act. For the reasons set out below, we hold that the court has jurisdiction to review the Secretary’s determination and therefore deny the motions to dismiss.

As to the statutes involved, section 516(b) of the Tariff Act of 1930, as amended, provides as follows:

(b) The Secretary of the Treasury shall, upon written request by an American manufacturer, producer, or wholesaler, furnish the classification of, and the rate of duty, if any, imposed upon, designated imported merchandise of a class or kind manufactured, produced, or sold at wholesale by him. If such manufacturer, producer, or wholesaler believes that the proper rate of duty is not being assessed, he may file a complaint with the Secretary, setting forth a description of the merchandise, the classification, and the rate or rates of duty he believes proper, and the reasons for his belief. If the Secretary decides that the classification of, or rate of duty assessed upon, the merchandise is not correct, he shall notify the collectors as to the proper classification and rate of duty and shall so inform the complainant, and such rate of duty shall be assessed upon all such merchandise entered for consumption or withdrawn from warehouse for consumption after thirty days after the date such notice to the collectors is published in the weekly Treasury Decisions. If the Secretary decides that the classification and rate of duty are correct, he shall so inform the complainant. If dissatisfied with the decision of the Secretary, the complainant may file with the Secretary, not later than thirty days after [140]*140the date of such decision, notice that he desires to protest the classification of, or rate of duty assessed upon, the merchandise. Upon receipt of such notice from the complainant, the Secretary shall cause publication to be made of his decision as to the proper classification and rate of duty and of the complainant’s desire to protest, and shall thereafter furnish the complainant with such information as to the entries and consignees of such merchandise, entered after the publication of the decision of the Secretary at the port of entry designated by the complainant in his notice of desire to protest, as will enable the complainant to protest the classification of, or rate of duty imposed upon, such merchandise in the liquidation of such an entry at such port. The Secretary shall direct the collector at such port to notify such complainant immediately when the first of such entries is liquidated. Within thirty days after the date of mailing to the complainant of notice of such liquidation, the complainant may file with the collector at such port a protest in writing setting forth a description of the merchandise and the classification and rate of duty he believes proper. Notwithstanding such protest is filed, merchandise of the character covered by the published decision of the Secretary, when entered for consumption or withdrawn from warehouse for consumption on or before the date of publication of a decision of the United States Customs Court or of the United States Court of Customs and Patent Appeals, rendered under the provisions of subsection (c) of this section, not in harmony with the published decision of the Secretary, shall be classified and the entries liquidated in accordance with such decision of the Secretary, and, except as otherwise provided in this chapter, the liquidations of such entries shall be final and conclusive upon all parties. If the protest of the complainant is sustained in whole or in part by a decision of the United States Customs Court or of the United States Court of Customs and Patent Appeals, merchandise of the character covered by the published decision of the Secretary, which is entered for consumption or withdrawn from warehouse for consumption after the date of publication of such court decision, shall be subject to classification and assessment of duty in accordance with the final judicial decision on the complainant’s protest, and the liquidation of entries covering such merchandise so entered or withdrawn shall be suspended until final disposition is made of such protest, whereupon such entries shall be liquidated, or if necessary, reliquidated in accordance with such final decision.

Section 303 of the Tariff Act of 1930 reads:

_ Whenever any country, dependency, colony, province, or other political subdivision pof government, person, partnership, association, cartel, or corporation shall pay or bestow, directly or indirectly, any bounty or grant upon the manufacture or production or export or any article or merchandise manufactured or produced in such country, dependency, colony, province, or other political subdivision of government, and such article or merchandise is dutiable under the provisions of this chapter, then upon the importation of any such article or merchandise into the United States, whether the same shall be imported directly from the country of production or otherwise, and whether such article or merchandise is imported in the same condition as when [141]*141escorted from the country of production or has been changed in condition by remanufaoture or otherwise, there shall be levied and paid, in all such cases, in addition to the duties otherwise imposed by this chapter, an additional duty equal to the net amount of such bounty or grant, however the same to be paid or bestowed. The Secretary of the Treasury shall from time to time ascertain and determine, or estimate, the net amount of each such bounty or grant, and shall declare the net amount so determined or estimated. The Secretary of the Treasury shall make all regulations he may deem necessary for the identification of such articles and merchandise and for the assessment and collection of such additional duties.

We start with several introductory considerations.

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Related

ASG Industries, Inc. v. United States
467 F. Supp. 1200 (U.S. Customs Court, 1979)
Hammond Lead Products, Inc. v. United States
306 F. Supp. 460 (U.S. Customs Court, 1969)

Cite This Page — Counsel Stack

Bluebook (online)
61 Cust. Ct. 137, 289 F. Supp. 533, 1968 Cust. Ct. LEXIS 2222, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/hammond-lead-products-inc-v-united-states-cusc-1968.