Hiram Walker & Sons, Inc. v. United States

99 F.2d 337, 25 C.C.P.A. 189, 1937 CCPA LEXIS 192
CourtCourt of Customs and Patent Appeals
DecidedNovember 22, 1937
DocketNo. 4080
StatusPublished

This text of 99 F.2d 337 (Hiram Walker & Sons, Inc. v. United States) is published on Counsel Stack Legal Research, covering Court of Customs and Patent Appeals primary law. Counsel Stack provides free access to over 12 million legal documents including statutes, case law, regulations, and constitutions.

Bluebook
Hiram Walker & Sons, Inc. v. United States, 99 F.2d 337, 25 C.C.P.A. 189, 1937 CCPA LEXIS 192 (ccpa 1937).

Opinion

BlaNd, Judge,

delivered the opinion .of the court:

On December 19, 1933, appellant entered for warehousing twenty-six barrels of rye whisky, imported from Canada. According to the report of the Government gauger, the whisky then amounted to 1,473.66 gallons. On March 21, 1934, the Collector of Customs liquidated the entry upon the basis of the gauger’s return. On March 27, 1936, the whisky was regaugod, at the request of the importer, and 1,368.50 gallons were found to remain in the barrels. There being uncontradicted testimony to show that the barrels were not tampered with, and that there was no leakage, the difference of 105.16 gallons is claimed to be due to evaporation. On March 28, 1936, the appellant withdrew the 1,368.50 gallons of whisky but was required to pay duty on the basis of the original gauge — 1,473.66 gallons. Within sixty days after such payment (not sixty days after liquidation), the importer filed a protest against the liquidation and assessment of duties.

The protest section, 514, of the Tariff Act of 1930 reads as follows:

SEC. 514. PROTEST AGAINST COLLECTOR’S DECISIONS.
Except as provided in subdivision (b) of section 516 of this Act (relating to protests by American manufacturers, producers, and wholesalers), all decisions of the collector, including the legality of all orders and findings entering into the same, as to the rate and amount of duties chargeable, and as to all exactions of whatever [191]*191character (within the jurisdiction of the Secretary of the Treasury), and his decisions excluding any merchandise from entry or delivery, under any provision of the customs laws, and his liquidation or reliquidation of any entry, or refusal to pay any claim for drawback, or his refusal to reliquidate any entry for a clerical error discovered within one year after the date of entry, or within sixty days after liquidation or reliquidation when such liquidation or reliquidation is made more than ten months after the date of entry, shall, upon the expiration of sixty days after the date of such liquidation, reliquidation, decision, or refusal, be final and conclusive upon all persons (including the United States and any officer thereof), unless the importer, consignee, or agent of the person paying such charge or exaction, or filing such claim for drawback, or seeking such entry or delivery, shall, within sixty days after, but not before such liquidation, reliquidation, decision, or refusal, as the case may be, as well in cases of merchandise entered in bond as for consumption, file a protest in writing with the collector setting forth distinctly and specifically, and in respect to each entry, payment, claim, decision, or refusal, the reasons for the objection thereto. The reliquidation of an entry shall not open such entry so that a protest may be filed against the decision of the collector upon any question not involved in such reliquidation.

The protest is grounded upon tbe contention that the whisky which had evaporated did not enter into the commerce of this country and constituted a nonimportation; that no duties or other charges were properly assessable upon the merchandise which had evaporated; and that no duties or other charges could be legally assessed upon a greater quantity than the actual quantity of said merchandise withdrawn from the warehouse.

During the trial in the court below, counsel for the Government moved to dismiss the protest on the ground that it was not filed within sixty days after liquidation. The United States Customs Court, Third Division, sustained the motion and dismissed the protest, and from its judgment this appeal has been taken.

The appellant thus states the issue:

The first issue before this court is therefore as to the timeliness of the protest.
The merits of the case are also at issue based upon the accepted principle that where the law or the facts have changed between the time of entry of goods for warehouse and the time of their withdrawal, assessment of duty is in accordance with the change of law or of the facts, unless expressly precluded by statute.

Appellant relies as supporting authority for its position taken here largely upon the cases of Taylor & Co. et al. v. United States, 11 Ct. Cust. Appls. 15, T. D. 38636; Barney v. Rickard, 157 U. S. 352; American Cigar Co. v. United States, 146 Fed. 484, and other cases not necessary to cite here.

The Government takes the position that there is but one liquidation and that there was no demand for a reliquidation and in substance that a requirement by the collector that the full amount of duties be paid, based upon the first gauging, is not an exaction or other action on the part of tbe collector which is subject to review and relies upon the following cases: United States v. Andrews & Co. (Inc.), 14 Ct. Cust. Appls. 62, T. D. 41576; Scherk Importing Co. v. United States, [192]*19217 C. C. P. A. (Customs) 135, T. D. 43470; Wood & Selick, Inc. v. United States, 24 C. C. P. A. (Customs) 355, T. D. 48804, and other cases which are not pressed as being of controlling importance.

Appellant when confronted with the force of the decisions relied upon by the Government insofar as they hold that a demand long after liquidation for money which the collector claims to be due is not an exaction within the meaning of the statute seeks to invoke the principle announced in some of the cited cases that where goods have been entered for warehousing and permitted to remain there until there was- a change of law or a change of facts resulting in a disadvantage to the importer, it becomes the duty of the collector to reliquidate and his failure to do so is protestable under the statute.

Id the case at bar there was but one liquidation. There was no demand for a reliquidation (we do not suggest that the absence of a demand in this case is important because it will be noticed that the statute which is hereinbefore quoted permits protest for a “refusal to reliquidate any entry” only in case of “a clerical error.” It is not claimed that there was any clerical error involved in the facts of this case). There is nothing in the record before us which shows that the collector made a demand for the duty on the 105.16 gallons except such demand as may be implied from the only liquidation in the case. Obviously, appellant was required to pay the full amount of duty based upon the gauger’s original report before obtaining its goods, but even if the collector had made a demand for an unpaid balance represented by the duty on the evaporated whisky, under the decisions of this court hereinafter discussed such a demand is not an exaction or other decision which entitled the party withdrawing the goods to file a protest under any provision of the tariff act after the expiration of sixty days from the only liquidation made by the collector.

in United States v. Andrews & Co. (Inc.), supra, the importer, as here, entered its goods for warehousing. The goods consisted of thirty pieces of silk. About one year after entry the collector liquidated on the entered quantity. Thereafter the importer received permission to export all of the merchandise. Only nine pieces of the imported silk were found in the warehouse and they were exported.

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Related

Barney v. Rickard
157 U.S. 352 (Supreme Court, 1895)
Sheldon & Co. v. United States
8 Ct. Cust. 215 (Customs and Patent Appeals, 1917)
Kennedy & Moon v. United States
9 Ct. Cust. 49 (Customs and Patent Appeals, 1919)
Taylor & Co. v. United States
11 Ct. Cust. 15 (Customs and Patent Appeals, 1921)
Stein v. United States
11 Ct. Cust. 137 (Customs and Patent Appeals, 1921)
United States v. Fensterer
12 Ct. Cust. 410 (Customs and Patent Appeals, 1924)
United States v. Andrews & Co.
14 Ct. Cust. 62 (Customs and Patent Appeals, 1926)
American Cigar Co. v. United States
146 F. 484 (Second Circuit, 1906)

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Bluebook (online)
99 F.2d 337, 25 C.C.P.A. 189, 1937 CCPA LEXIS 192, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/hiram-walker-sons-inc-v-united-states-ccpa-1937.