Porto Rico Brokerage Co. v. United States

76 F.2d 605, 23 C.C.P.A. 16, 1935 CCPA LEXIS 229
CourtCourt of Customs and Patent Appeals
DecidedApril 19, 1935
DocketCustoms Appeal 3666
StatusPublished
Cited by8 cases

This text of 76 F.2d 605 (Porto Rico Brokerage Co. 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
Porto Rico Brokerage Co. v. United States, 76 F.2d 605, 23 C.C.P.A. 16, 1935 CCPA LEXIS 229 (ccpa 1935).

Opinions

HATFIELD, Associate Judge.

This is an appeal from a judgment of the United States Customs Court.

The cause was originally decided by this court on June 12, 1934. Due to certain legislation subsequently enacted by the Congress, hereinafter set forth and discussed, a petition by the government for a rehearing was granted on October 29, 1934, and the cause was again argued and submitted on December 13, 1934.

Our former decision, 71 F.(2d) 469, 470, 22 C. C. P. A. (Customs) —, T. D. 47156, contains a full statement of the facts, which, for the purpose of clarity, we deem it advisable to repeat.

Certain coffee brought into the port of San Juan, Porto Rico (now Puerto Rico, 47 Stat. 158, c. 190 [48 USCA § 731a]), from continental United States during the months of February, March, and April, 1931, was assessed for duty by the United States Collector of Customs at that port at 10 cents per pound under and by virtue of the provisions, as construed by him, of Joint Resolution No. 59, adopted by the Legislature of Puerto Rico, approved by the Governor [606]*606May 5, 1930,' and section 319 of the Tariff Act of 1930 (19 USCA § 1319), enacted June 17 of that year.

The importers protested, claiming that the merchandise was not subject to duty, and that the duties assessed by the collector were without authority of law.

The trial court overruled the protests, and the importers appealed to this court.

The appeal involves four protests, which were consolidated for the purpose of the trial in the court below.

On the.trial below, counsel for the government moved to dismiss protest 523427-G as to entry 2048, on the ground that the protest was filed more than 60 days after that entry was liquidated by the collector. Counsel for the importers stated that “we have no objection” to the granting of the motion.

It appears from the record that protest 523427-G, supra, involved, in addition to entry 2048, supra, entry 2349, liquidated June 8, 1931. In view of the fact that that protest was filed July 18, 1931, it was timely as to the latter entry. .

The trial court, evidently through inadvertence, dismissed the protest in its entirety, whereas it should have been dismissed as to entry 2048 only.

Appellants included entry 2048 in protest 523427-G in their appeal to this court. Thereafter, on December 23, 1933, the appeal was dismissed by this court, so far as it related te/that entry, in accordance with a stipulation entered into by counsel for the parties on December 18, 1933.

The cause was submitted to the court below on a stipulation of facts entered into by counsel for the parties, wherein it appears, among other things, that the Collector of Customs,'in accordance with an opinion of the Attorney General of Puerto Rico, did not collect duties under the provisions of Joint Resolution No. 59, “until on and after July 15, 1930,” and that the involved merchandise was brought into Puerto Rico from continental United States.

Joint Resolution No. 59, and section 319, supra, read, respectively, as follows:

"Joint Resolution to Impose an Import Duty on Foreign Coffee Brought Into Porto Rico, and for Other Purposes.
“Whereas, As a result of the hurricane of September 13, 1928, the coffee industry suffered losses estimated at seventy-five per cent, and one-fourth of the rural population of Porto Rico was reduced to a condition of misery; ,
“Whereas, The lands devoted to the cultivation óf coffee are, due to their hilly nature, unsuitable for the employment of mechanical means of cultivation, and the enforced use of manual labor increases the cost of production to such an extent that it makes it impossible to compete in price with other coffee exporting countries;
“Whereas, The prices now prevailing in the world market are ruinous to such an essentially Porto Rican industry, and, in the absence of tariff protection, the industry would very soon disappear;
“Whereas, An act is now pending approval by the Congress of the United States, which authorizes the Legislature of Porto Rico to impose a duty of ten cents on every pound of foreign coffee imported into Porto Rico;
“Now, Therefore, Be it resolved by the Legislature of Porto Rico:
“Section 1. From and after August 1, 1930, an import duty of ten cents a pound is hereby levied on all coffee imported into Porto Rico, such duty to be collected by the Federal Customs Service established in Porto Rico, according to such regulations as said Service may prescribe.
“Section 2. All laws or parts of laws in conflict herewith are hereby repealed.
“Section 3. This Act shall take effect as soon as any act is approved by the United States Government, whereby the Legislature of Porto Rico is authorized to impose an import duty on all coffee brought into this Island.” (Italics, except for title, ours.)
“Sec. 319. Duty on coffee imported into Porto Rico. The Legislature of Porto Rico is hereby empowered to impose tariff duties upon coffee imported into Porto Rico, including coffee grown in a foreign country coming into Porto Rico from the United States. Such duties shall be collecfed and accounted for as now provided by law in the case of duties collected in Porto Rico.”

In our original decision we stated that, “Although by the Treaty signed at Paris, December 10, 1898, duly ratified, and, thereafter, on April 11, 1899, duly proclaimed (30 Stat. 1754), Puerto Rico was ceded to, and came under the sovereignty of, the United States as a ‘dependency or possession,’ it has not been incorporated into the United States as an integral part thereof. ‘ On the contrary, it has been, and now is, ‘gov[607]*607erned under the power existing in the Congress to make laws for such territories.’ Downes v. Bidwell, 182 U. S. 244, 21 S. Ct. 770, 45 L. Ed. 1088; Hawaii v. Mankichi, 190 U. S. 197, 23 S. Ct. 787, 47 L. Ed. 1016; Dorr v. United States, 195 U. S. 138, 24 S. Ct. 808, 49 L. Ed. 128, 1 Ann. Cas. 697; Rassmussen v. United States, 197 U. S. 516, 25 S. Ct. 514, 49 L. Ed. 862; New York ex rel. Kopel v. Bingham, 211 U. S. 468, 29 S. Ct. 190, 53 L. Ed. 286; Porto Rico v. Rosaly y Castillo, 227 U. S. 270, 33 S. Ct. 352, 57 L. Ed. 507; People of Porto Rico v. Tapia, 245 U. S. 639, 38 S. Ct. 192, 62 L. Ed.

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Porto Rico Brokerage Co. v. United States
76 F.2d 605 (Customs and Patent Appeals, 1935)

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76 F.2d 605, 23 C.C.P.A. 16, 1935 CCPA LEXIS 229, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/porto-rico-brokerage-co-v-united-states-ccpa-1935.