De Lima V. Bidwell - Lower Appellate Court

Lower Appellate Court

The lower appellate court had held:

1. although the collector had the right to challenge the factual sufficiency, he was barred from challenging federal jurisdiction on the basis of wrongful removal where the case was removed upon his own petition;
2. the Customs Administrative Act did not decide whether the sugar was imported from a foreign country, therefore the court case was a proper legal action; and
3. Puerto Rico was not a foreign country for tariff purposes but was a United States territory because, by treaty, the district was ceded to and in the possession of the United States. It was not necessary for an act of Congress to embrace the territory for the purpose of tariff laws. Therefore the duties on sugar were illegal, and DeLima Sugar Importing Company was entitled to get its duties on sugar back.