We have held that the Court of International Trade's authority to hear a claim under section 1581(a) depends upon the importer raising the claim in a valid protest filed with Customs within the prescribed 90-day period, or alternatively, in a protest coming within an exception that excuses a failure to meet the deadline. See Juice Farms, Inc. v. United States, 68 F.3d 1344, 1345-46 (Fed. Cir. 1995). Section 1581(i) provides in pertinent part as follows:
The court expressly rejected the argument that "voidable" liquidations must be protested, but "void" liquidations do not. The decision in Deringer was followed by this court in Omni U.S.A., Inc. v. United States, 840 F.2d 912 (Fed. Cir. 1988), and Juice Farms, Inc. v. United States, 68 F.3d 1344 (Fed. Cir. 1995), both of which confirmed that this court does not recognize a distinction between "void" and "voidable" liquidations for purposes of determining the applicability of the protest requirement of section 1514. In the Omni case, Customs was supposed to hold the liquidation of the entries in suspense, but instead liquidated the entries prematurely.
One of the necessary elements of a valid protest is that it is timely. See Juice Farms, Inc. v. United States, 68 F.3d 1344, 1346 (Fed. Cir. 1995). Under 19 U.S.C. § 1514(c)(3), the time period within which a protesting importer must file its protest varies according to the circumstances of the protest.
Liquidation of a party's entries is the final computation or ascertainment of duties accruing on those entries. See Juice Farms v. United States, 68 F.3d 1344, 1345 (Fed. Cir. 1995) (citing 19 C.F.R. § 159.1). Once liquidation occurs, it permanently deprives a party of the opportunity to contest Commerce's results for the administrative review by rendering the party's cause of action moot.See Zenith Radio Corp. v. United States, 710 F.2d 806, 809-10 (Fed. Cir. 1983). The Court of International Trade possesses "all the powers in law and equity of, or as conferred by statute upon, a district court of the United States."