Lester Engineering Co. v. United States

3 Ct. Int'l Trade 236
CourtUnited States Court of International Trade
DecidedJune 22, 1982
DocketCourt No. 80-11-00010
StatusPublished

This text of 3 Ct. Int'l Trade 236 (Lester Engineering Co. v. United States) is published on Counsel Stack Legal Research, covering United States Court of International Trade primary law. Counsel Stack provides free access to over 12 million legal documents including statutes, case law, regulations, and constitutions.

Bluebook
Lester Engineering Co. v. United States, 3 Ct. Int'l Trade 236 (cit 1982).

Opinion

Introduction

Newman, Judge:

Plaintiff challenges the denial of its protest against the refusal by Customs at Cleveland, Ohio to reliquidate an entry of die casting machine parts imported from England (entry No. 101521 of November 4, 1976) in accordance with 19 U.S.C. § 1520(c)(1). At issue is defendant’s motion to dismiss the action pursuant to rule 12 for lack of jurisdiction; or alternatively, for failure of the complaint to state a claim upon which relief can be granted.

For the reasons indicated, defendant’s motion to dismiss is denied.

Briefly, the undisputed facts are:

Plaintiff entered the subject merchandise on November 4, 1976, but for reasons not apparent from the official record, the entry was not liquidated until February 10, 1978, some fifteen months after entry. It appears that prior to liquidation, Customs requested plaintiff to submit certain information relative to the values of the imported merchandise; plaintiff concededly failed to furnish such information.

Further, the official papers reveal that the entered values were substantially advanced by Customs 1 resulting in an increase in duties — some 700% — from $2,111.85, as entered, to $16,419.56, as liquidated, or an increase upon liquidation of $14,307.71. Inexplicably, plaintiff took no action respecting the appraised values of the [237]*237merchandise for eight months after liquidation when, on October 10, 1978, plaintiff requested reliquidation of the entry under the authority of section 1520(c)(1), supra. By a letter dated November 27, 1978, the district director at Cleveland denied plaintiffs request for reliquidation of the entry under section 1520(c)(1) solely on the ground that: “this situation involves an error in the construction of the law which could have been remedied had [plaintiff] filed a protest under Section 514 within 90 days of the liquidation date”. Plaintiff subsequently filed a timely protest against this refusal to reliquidate the entry, which protest was denied.

Opinion

I

The gravamen of plaintiffs complaint is that the liquidation involved a clerical error, mistake of fact or other inadvertence not amounting to an error in the construction of the law, viz., Customs imposed erroneous appraised values on the merchandise that should be corrected by reliquidation pursuant to 19 U.S.C. § 1520(c)(1). Defendant has disputed the Court’s jurisdiction on the ground that plaintiffs request for reliquidation under section 1520(c)(1) was untimely.

It is well settled that in an action to contest the refusal of a request for reliquidation under section 1520(c)(1), plaintiff must show that its request was timely filed. St. Regis Paper Co. v. United States, 2 CIT 190, Slip Op. 81-100 (1981); United States China & Glass Co. v. United States, 66 Cust. Ct. 207, C.D. 4191 (1971). And as very recently pointed up by Judge Watson, “[ojbviously, if the plaintiff did not request reliquidation within the time provided by law, an essential jurisdictional prerequisite to the bringing of such an action is lacking”. Adorence Company, Inc. v. United States, 3 CIT 81, Slip Op. 82-24 (1982), appeal pending.

Since defendant has raised a threshold jurisdictional issue, the burden fell on plaintiff, the party asserting jurisdiction, to show that jurisdiction existed. Hambro Automotive Corporation v. United States, 66 CCPA 113, C.A.D. 1231, 603 F. 2d 850 (1979). I find that plaintiff has sustained its burden.

The provisions of 19 U.S.C. § 1520(c)(1), in effect at the relevant time, required that “a clerical error, mistake of fact, or other inadvertence not amounting to an error in the construction of a law * * * [be] brought to the attention of the customs service within one year after the date of entry, or transaction, or within ninety days after liquidation or exaction when the liquidation or exaction is made more than nine months after the date of the entry or transaction. ” [Emphasis added.]

Defendant argues that the action must be dismissed due to plaintiffs failure to request reliquidation within ninety days after liqui[238]*238dation, inasmuch as the liquidation was effected more than nine months after the date of the entry.

Plaintiff, however, insists that its request for reliquidation was timely, relying upon Customs regulation 19 CFR § 173.4(c), in effect at the time of plaintiffs request. That regulation, in pertinent part, reads:

(c) Limitation on time application. A clerical error, mistake of fact, or other inadvertence meeting the requirements of paragraph (b) of this section, must be brought to the attention of the district director:
(1) Within 1 year after the date of entry, or other transaction (including liquidation, reliquidation, or exaction) if the error, mistake of fact, or other inadvertence is in the entry, or other transaction (including a liquidation, reliqui-dation, or exaction), or
(2) Within 90 days after liquidation or exaction when the liquidation or exaction is made more than 9 months after the date of entry, or other transaction, except that in cases where the error originates in the liquidation, reliquidation, or exaction, the 1-year limitation provided for in subpara-graph (1) of this paragraph shall apply. [Emphasis added.]

Predicated upon the foregoing regulation, plaintiff contends that the alleged appraisement error originated in the liquidation on February 10, 1978, and therefore plaintiff had one year from the date of liquidation to bring the error in appraisement to the attention of Customs. On that basis, plaintiff maintains that its request for reliquidation on October 10, 1978 was timely.

Defendant, however, maintains that plaintiffs reliance on the regulation is misplaced because the alleged error was the importer’s failure to submit information concerning the value of the merchandise, and hence if there was an error within the ambit of section 1520(c)(1), such error “occurred at entry, and not liquidation” (Reply brief, at 3).

At this juncture, the issues presented concern the identity of the error alleged by plaintiff and whether such error “originated” in the liquidation within the purview of section 173.4(c) of the Customs regulations. No cases have been called to the Court’s attention which construe the pertinent portion of the regulation cited by plaintiff, and in that respect the present case appears to be of first impression. Since neither party has requested an evidentiary hearing on defendant’s motion to dismiss, the motion will be disposed of on the basis of the official record presently before the Court.

Based upon the complaint and the official record before the Court, I am unable to agree with defendant’s position that the error alleged by plaintiff was an error occurring “at entry”.

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Related

Hambro Automotive Corp. v. United States
603 F.2d 850 (Customs and Patent Appeals, 1979)
United China & Glass Co. v. United States
66 Cust. Ct. 207 (U.S. Customs Court, 1971)

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Bluebook (online)
3 Ct. Int'l Trade 236, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/lester-engineering-co-v-united-states-cit-1982.