Puerto Rico Towing & Barge Co. v. United States

OPINION

POGUE, Judge.

This action raises the issue of whether San Juan, Puerto Rico (“San Juan”) is a port of the United States for the purposes of section 466 of the Tariff Act of 1930 (the “Vessel Repair Statute”), as amended, 19 U.S.C. § 1466. 1

The Vessel Repair Statute imposes a 50 percent tariff on the value of certain vessel repairs performed abroad, 2 except that a vessel that “arrives in a port of the United States two years or more after its last departure from a port in the United States” is subject to the duties only on those repairs made “during the first six months after the last…