Minkap of California, Inc. v. United States

55 C.C.P.A. 1, 1967 CCPA LEXIS 240
CourtCourt of Customs and Patent Appeals
DecidedNovember 9, 1967
DocketNo. 5262; No. 5268
StatusPublished

This text of 55 C.C.P.A. 1 (Minkap of California, 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
Minkap of California, Inc. v. United States, 55 C.C.P.A. 1, 1967 CCPA LEXIS 240 (ccpa 1967).

Opinions

Almond, Judge,

delivered the opinion of the 'court:

This appeal is from the decision of the First Division, Appellate Term of the United States Customs Court1 affirming the decision and judgment of the trial court,2 affirming the appraisement of certain ladies’ sweaters exported from J apan between J une and December 1957, [2]*2based upon the cost of production as defined in section 402(f), Tariff Act of 1930, as amended by the Customs Administrative Act of 1938, now section 402a(f) as renumbered by the Customs Simplification Act of 1956. Appellant contends that the merchandise is subject to appraisement on the basis of export value as defined in section 402(d) of said act, as amended, now section 402a (d).

We are concerned here with two petitions for review, only one of which is tenable. The petitions arose as follows:

Judgment on the merits of this case was entered by the Appellate Term of the Customs Court on May 3, 1966 (A.R.D. 209). Thirty-one days later, June 3, 1966, appellant filed with the clerk of this court a petition for review from the judgment. This became Customs Appeal 5262.

Also on June 3, 1966, appellant filed a motion with the Customs Court seeking to vacate its judgment, restore the appeals for reap-praisement to the calendar, and remand them to a single judge for all purposes. The motion was denied by the Customs Court, and on August 1, 1966 appellant filed another petition with this court renewing its petition for a review from the judgment and requesting as well a review from the denial of its motion in the Customs Court. This is Customs Appeal 5268.

Appellant contends that inasmuch as the motion for rehearing was mailed within thirty days of the decision of the Customs Court, it was timely although not actually filed with the clerk of the court until after expiration of the thirty-day time limitation. Appellant therefore argues that appeal 5268 is the viable ¡appeal, and that appeal 5262 is premature. This position is not, in our view, tenable in the light of the provisions of 28 U.S.C. 2640 and Rule 6 of the Rules of the Customs Court, which provide:

28 U.S.C. 2640. Rehearing or retrial.

A division which has decided a case or a single judge who has decided an appeal for a reappraisement may, upon motion of either party made within thirty days next after such decision, grant a rehearing or retrial. [Emphasis added.]

Rule 6. Motions.

(a) Reheakings. — All motions for rehearings must be in writing and filed with the cleric of the court at New York within SO days from the entry of judgment in the case in which rehearing is requested. [Emphasis added.]

In our view, the mailing of a motion or otherwise placing same in the course of delivery to its intended recipient does not constitute the making thereof until delivered to the official designated to receive same for the purpose intended. In other words, the motion is not made within the contemplation of the Statute until filed with the clerk.

[3]*3The Court of Customs Appeals dealt with an analogous situation in United States v. Thompson-Starrett Co., 12 Ct. Cust. Appls. 28, T.D. 39896. The court stated:

As a general proposition of law it seems clear that unless the statute specifically prescribes that depositing in the mail is sufficient filing, it will not be regarded as a compliance with the statute which prescribes that the filing must be at a definite place and within a specified time. * * *

To the same effect, see Great Pacific Co., Inc. v. United States, 22 CCPA 336, T.D. 47364; Hulse Import Co. et al. and China Liquor Distributing Co. et al. v. United States, 49 Cust. Ct. 208, Abs. 66985; St. Louis Law Printing Co. v. Aufderheide, 226 Mo. App. 680, 45 S.W. 2d 543 (1932).

,We have examined the authorities cited by appellant but do not find them germane to the issue here raised. We find no alternative but to apply the direct unambiguous terms of 28 U.S.C. 2640. The motion in issue was not made in accordance with the mandatory provisions of the statute. Mailing is synonymous with neither “made” nor “filed.”

Since the motion to rehear was untimely, no appeal lies from its denial. In The A. W. Fenton Co., Inc. v. United States, 53 CCPA 98, 100, C.A.D. 884, cert. den. 385 U.S. 970 (1966), this court stated:

Since the filing of the motion for rehearing was untimely according to statute (28 U.S.O. 2640), -the trial court properly denied the hearing and no appeal lies from such denial of motion to rehear, see Pfister v. Northern Illinois Finance Corp., 317 U.S. 144 (1942), rehearing denied 317 U.S. 714 (1943) ; Bowman v. Loperena, 311 U.S. 262 (1940) ; Conboy v. First National Bank, 203 U.S. 141 (1906) ; Roemer v. Bernheim, 132 U.S. 103 (1889). [Emphasis added.]

Customs Appeal No. 5268 is accordingly dismissed.

Holding as we do that Customs Appeal No. 5262 is the viable appeal of record, we turn to its consideration. We must determine whether the decision of the court below is supported by substantial evidence.

The pertinent tariff provisions read as follows:

Section 402a (d) — Export value.

The export value of imported merchandise shall be the market value or the price, at the time of exportation of such merchandise to the United States, at which such or similar merchandise is freely offered for sale to all purchasers in the principal markets of the country from which exported, in the usual wholesale quantities and in the ordinary course of trade, for exportation to the United States, plus, when not included in such price, the cost of all containers and coverings of whatever nature, and all other costs, charges, and expenses incident to placing the merchandise in condition, packed ready for shipment to the United States.

Section 402a(f) — Cost of production.

For the purpose of this subtitle the cost of production of imported merchandise shall be the sum of—

(1) The cost of materials of, and of fabrication, manipulation, or other [4]*4process employed in manufacturing or producing such or similar merchandise, at a time preceding the date of exportation of the particular merchandise under consideration which would ordinarily permit the manufacture or production of the particular merchandise under consideration in the usual course of business ;

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Related

Conboy v. First Nat. Bank of Jersey City
203 U.S. 141 (Supreme Court, 1906)
Bowman v. Loperena
311 U.S. 262 (Supreme Court, 1940)
Pfister v. Northern Illinois Finance Corp.
317 U.S. 144 (Supreme Court, 1942)
Charlson Realty Company v. The United States
384 F.2d 434 (Court of Claims, 1967)
St. Louis Law Printing Co. v. Aufderheide
46 S.W.2d 543 (Missouri Court of Appeals, 1932)
United States v. Thompson-Starrett Co.
12 Ct. Cust. 28 (Customs and Patent Appeals, 1923)
Minkap of California, Inc. v. United States
46 Cust. Ct. 723 (U.S. Customs Court, 1961)
Hulse Import Co. v. United States
49 Cust. Ct. 208 (U.S. Customs Court, 1962)
Roemer v. Bernheim
132 U.S. 103 (Supreme Court, 1889)
A. W. Fenton Co. v. United States
385 U.S. 970 (Supreme Court, 1966)

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