Pentax Corp. v. Robison

125 F.3d 1457, 1997 WL 573492
CourtCourt of Appeals for the Federal Circuit
DecidedSeptember 17, 1997
DocketNo. 96-1320
StatusPublished
Cited by19 cases

This text of 125 F.3d 1457 (Pentax Corp. v. Robison) 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
Pentax Corp. v. Robison, 125 F.3d 1457, 1997 WL 573492 (Fed. Cir. 1997).

Opinion

SCHALL, Circuit Judge.

This case relates to the marking of imported goods with the country of origin pursuant to 19 U.S.C. § 1304(a) (1988).1 Pentax Corporation (“Pentax”), Asahi Optical Co., Ltd. (“AOC”), and AOC’s wholly-owned subsidiary, Asahi Optical (Int’l), Ltd. (“AOI”), (collectively “plaintiffs”), appeal from the April 15, 1996 partial judgment of the United States Court of International Trade, as amended nunc pro tunc on March 10, 1997, in favor of Lewellyn Robison, United States Customs Service (“Customs”), and the United States (collectively “the government”) in Pentax Corp. v. Robison, Slip Op. 96-64 (Ct. Int’l Trade Apr. 15, 1996), amended by Pentax Corp. v. Robison, Consol., Court No. 96-01-00067 (Ct. Int’l Trade Mar. 10, 1997). The court’s decision upheld the determination of Customs that violations of 19 U.S.C. § 1592, arising from the marking of goods from the People’s Republic of China as originating from Hong Kong, resulted in $5,157,-601.30 ($5.2 million) in “actual loss of marking duties” under 19 U.S.C. § 1304(f). Id. at 18. Based on this determination, the court denied plaintiffs’ motion to enjoin the government from requiring Pentax, as importer of the goods, to tender the $5.2 million in order for Pentax to qualify for prior disclosure treatment under § 1592(e)(4) that would mitigate the penalty for false marking. Id. We reverse.

BACKGROUND

I.

Pursuant to 19 U.S.C. § 1304(a), goods imported into the United States are required to be marked with their country of origin. Customs may impose a variety of sanctions when the marking requirement is not met. For example, and of relevance here, an entity violating section 1304(a) shall have levied against it a 10 percent ad valorem duty in accordance with 19 U.S.C. § 1304(f), which provides, in pertinent part:

(f) Additional duties for failure to mark

If at the time of importation any article ... is not marked in accordance with the requirements of this section, and if such article is not exported or destroyed or ... marked after importation in accordance with the requirements of this section ..., there shall be levied, collected, and paid upon such article a duty of 10 per centum ad valorem, which shall be deemed to have accrued at the time of importation, shall not be construed to be penal, and shall not be remitted wholly or in part nor shall payment thereof be avoidable for any cause....

19 U.S.C. § 1804(f). Section 1592(d) permits Customs to recover unpaid marking duties after liquidation is final pursuant to 19 U.S.C. § 1514.2 Section 1592(d) provides in full:

(d) Deprivation of lawful duties

Notwithstanding section 1514 of this title, if the United States has been deprived of lawful duties as a result of a violation of subsection (a) of this section, the appropriate customs officer shall require that such lawful duties be restored, whether or not a monetary penalty is assessed.

The prior disclosure provision of section 1592(e)(4) serves to limit the penalties as[1459]*1459sessed pursuant to sections 1592(c)(l)-(3) for mismarking resulting from fraud, gross negligence or, at a minimum, negligence. The statutory scheme is as follows:

Section 1592(a) provides, in pertinent part:

(a) Prohibition
(1)General Rule
Without regard to whether the United States is or may be deprived of all or a portion of any lawful duty thereby, no person, by fraud, gross negligence, or negligence—
(A) may enter, introduce, or attempt to enter or introduce any merchandise into the commerce of the United States by means of—
(i) any document, written or oral statement, or act which is material and false, or
(ii) any omission which is material, ____

Sections 1592(c)(l)-(3) set the maximum penalties for culpable mismarking as follows:

(c) Maximum penalties
(1) Fraud
A fraudulent violation of subsection (a) of this section is punishable by a civil penalty in an amount not to exceed the domestic value of the merchandise.
(2) Gross Negligence
A grossly negligent violation of subsection (a) of this section is punishable by a civil penalty in an amount not to exceed—
(A) the lesser of—
(i) the domestic value of the merchandise, or
(ii) four times the lawful duties of which the United States is or may be deprived, or
(B) if the violation did not affect the assessment of duties, 40 percent of the dutiable value of the merchandise.
(3)Negligence

A negligent violation of subsection (a) of this section is punishable by a civil penalty in an amount not to exceed—

(A) the lesser of—
(i) the domestic value of the merchandise, or
(ii) two times the lawful duties of which the United States is or may be deprived, or
(B) if the violation did not affect the assessment of duties, 20 percent of the dutiable value of the merchandise.

19 U.S.C. § 1592(c)(l)-(3). Finally, section 1592(c)(4), the section central to this ease, caps the maximum penalties otherwise assessed under section 1592(c) if the concerned entity brings the mismarking to the attention of Commerce. The subsection provides, in pertinent part:

(4) Prior disclosure
If the person concerned discloses the circumstances of a violation of subsection (a) before, or without knowledge of, the commencement of a formal investigation of such violation, with respect to such violation, merchandise shall not be seized and any monetary penalty to be assessed under subsection (c) of this section shall not exceed—
(A) if the violation resulted from fraud—
(i) an amount equal to 100 percent of the lawful duties of which the United States is or may be deprived, so long as such person tenders the unpaid amount of lawful duties at the time of disclosure or within thirty days, or such longer period as the appropriate customs officer may provide, after notice by the appropriate customs officer of his calculation of such unpaid amount, or

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Bluebook (online)
125 F.3d 1457, 1997 WL 573492, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/pentax-corp-v-robison-cafc-1997.