Micro Sys. Eng'g, Inc. v. United States, No. 13-00317 (Ct. Int'l Trade 2017)

Annotate this Case

Download PDF

Slip Op. 17-97 UNITED STATES COURT OF INTERNATIONAL TRADE MICRO SYSTEMS ENGINEERING, INC., Plaintiff, v. Before: Jennifer Choe-Groves, Judge Court No. 13-00317 UNITED STATES, Defendant. JUDGMENT [Granting Plaintiff’s USCIT Rule 12(c) motion for judgment on the pleadings.] Dated: August 7, 2017 Elon A. Pollack, Stein Shostak Shostak Pollack & O’Hara, LLP, of Los Angeles, CA, for plaintiff. Alexander Vanderweide, Trial Attorney, Commercial Litigation Branch, Civil Division, U.S. Dept. of Justice, of New York, NY, for defendant. With him on brief were Chad A. Readler, Acting Assistant Attorney General, Amy M. Rubin, Assistant Director. Choe-Groves, Judge: This case involves the classification of certain parts used to manufacture subassemblies for pacemakers imported by Micro Systems Engineering, Inc. (“Plaintiff”). See Summons, Aug. 28, 2013, ECF No. 1; Compl. ¶ 5, Aug. 9, 2016, ECF No. 13. Plaintiff imported forty entries of the merchandise between January 2011 and June 2011.1 See Summons. U.S. Customs and Border Protection (“Customs”) classified and liquidated the 1 This case initially concerned forty-two entries, but Entry Nos. UPS-1492397-9 and UPS2641343-1 were severed and dismissed from this case on March 2, 2017. See Order, Mar. 2, 2017, ECF No. 23 (granting Plaintiff’s consent motion to sever and dismiss). Court No. 13-00317 Page 2 merchandise under various provisions of the Harmonized Tariff Schedule of the United States (“HTSUS”). See Compl. ¶ 5; Answer ¶ 5, Feb. 15, 2017, ECF No. 21. Plaintiff’s complaint alleges that Customs misclassified the imported merchandise because the parts are specially designed or adapted for use in heart pacemakers and are classifiable under the Nairobi Protocol to the Florence Agreement on the Importation of Educational, Scientific, and Cultural Materials (“Nairobi Protocol”). See Compl. ¶ 7. The HTSUS implemented the Nairobi Protocol under subheading 9817.00.96, which is a duty free provision that exempts payment of certain merchandise processing fees. See 19 C.F.R. § 24.23(c)(1)(i). Defendant agrees that the imported pacemaker components contained in the entries at issue are classifiable under HTSUS subheading 9817.00.96. See Answer n.1, ¶ 7. Before the court is Plaintiff’s Motion for Judgment on the Pleadings filed pursuant to USCIT Rule 12(c). See Mot. J. Pleadings, Mar. 22, 2017, ECF No. 24. USCIT Rule 12(c) permits a party to move for judgment on the pleadings “after the pleadings are closed and if it would not delay trial.” Forest Labs., Inc. v. United States, 29 CIT 1401, 1402, 403 F. Supp. 2d 1348, 1349 (2005), aff’d, 476 F.3d 877 (Fed. Cir. 2007). A judgment on the pleadings is appropriate where there are no material facts in dispute and the moving party is entitled to judgment as a matter of law. See New Zealand Lamb Co., Inc. v. United States, 40 F.3d 377, 380 (Fed. Cir. 1994) (citing Gen. Conference Corp. of Seventh-Day Adventists v. Seventh-Day Adventist Congregational Church, 887 F.2d 228, 230 (9th Cir. 1989), cert. denied, 493 U.S. 1079 (1990)). Plaintiff asserts that there are no factual or legal disputes for the court to review and the court should enter judgment in Plaintiff’s favor because Defendant admits that the imported Court No. 13-00317 Page 3 goods are classifiable under the Nairobi Protocol. See Mot. J. Pleadings 3. Defendant responds as follows: Micro Systems is correct that the Government admits that the imported substrates, cap sensors, and coils contained in the entries covered by this action are properly afforded secondary classification under subheading 9817.00.96, HTSUS. See Answer ¶ 7. However, the Government does not agree that Micro Systems has established that it is entitled to refunds on “TANT Caps” contained in Entry Nos. UPS-1590276-6 and UPS-2470970-7, “Tabs” contained in Entry Nos. UPS1283211-5 and UPS-2539341-0, and “AOTs” contained in Entry Nos. UPS1272304-1 and UPS-1384281-6. “TANT Caps,” “Tabs,” and “AOTs” are not the subject of the Complaint, and “TANT Caps” and “Tabs” are not the subject of the protests covering the entries in which they are contained. See Compl. ¶ 7; see also Entry Papers and Protests. Def.’s Resp. Pl.’s Mot. J. Pleadings 2, Apr. 17, 2017, ECF No. 27. Plaintiff agrees that “TANT Caps” and “Tabs” are not classifiable under the Nairobi Protocol. See Reply in Supp. Pl.’s Mot. J. Pleadings 1, May 26, 2017, ECF No. 33. Plaintiff maintains, however, that the “AOTs” should be afforded duty-free treatment under the Nairobi Protocol. See id. Plaintiff represents that, after providing Defendant with documents and technical specifications, Defendant agrees that the “AOTs” qualify for duty-free treatment under the Nairobi Protocol. See id. The Parties are in agreement that the imported substrates, cap sensors, coils, and AOTs contained in the entries at issue in this action are classifiable under the Nairobi Protocol. The Parties are also in agreement that “TANT Caps” and “Tabs” are not classifiable under the Nairobi Protocol. Judgment on the pleadings is appropriate here because the pleadings do not raise any triable material issue of fact and Plaintiff is entitled to judgment as a matter of law regarding the classification of the imported substrates, cap sensors, coils, and AOTs. Therefore, upon consideration of Plaintiff’s Motion for Judgment on the Pleadings, and all other papers and proceedings in this action, and upon due deliberation, it is hereby Court No. 13-00317 Page 4 ORDERED that judgment is granted in favor of Plaintiff; it is further ORDERED that the imported substrates, cap sensors, coils, and AOTs contained in the entries set forth on the attached Schedule are classifiable under HTSUS subheading 9817.00.96, which is a duty free provision that exempts payment of merchandise processing fees; it is further ORDERED that, in accordance with this judgment, U.S. Customs and Border Protection shall reliquidate and issue refunds for those entries on the attached Schedule containing substrates, cap sensors, coils, and AOTs; it is further ORDERED that any refunds payable by reason of this judgment shall be paid with any interest as provided by law; it is further ORDERED that all claims with respect to “TANT Caps” contained in Entry Nos. UPS-1590276-6 and UPS-2470970-7 are dismissed; and it is further ORDERED that all claims with respect to “Tabs” contained in Entry Nos. UPS-1283211-5 and UPS-2539341-0 are dismissed. /s/ Jennifer Choe-Groves Jennifer Choe-Groves, Judge Dated: August 7, 2017 New York, New York Court No. 13-00317 Page 5 SCHEDULE Court No. 13-00317 Port: Cleveland, OH (4101) Protest No. Entry No. Description of Merchandise 4101-12-100417 UPS-1439875-0 UPS-1455049-1 UPS-1467605-6 UPS-1494247-4 Substrate Nos. 358018, 362539 Substrate No. 380143 Substrate No. 358018 Substrate No. 358018 4101-12-100430 UPS-1765499-3 UPS-1782685-6 UPS-1829299-1 Substrate Nos. 355686, 369164 Substrate Nos. 355686, 358018 Substrate Nos. 358018, 362539 4101-12-100775 UPS-2622837-5 UPS-2648611-4 UPS-2695243-8 UPS-2726160-7 UPS-2748481-1 UPS-2812258-4 Substrate Nos. 375850, 358018 Substrate No. 358018 Substrate No. 375851 Substrate Substrate Nos. 375851, 375850 Substrate No. 375850 4101-12-100416 UPS-1547077-2 UPS-1547087-1 UPS-1590276-6 UPS-1685871-0 UPS-1702034-4 UPS-1717033-9 UPS-1733939-7 Substrate No. 362539 Substrate Nos. 358018, 355686 Substrate No. 371594 Substrate No. 355686 Substrate No. 355686 Substrate Nos. 369164, 362539 Substrate No. 362539 4101-12-100415 UPS-1209282-7 UPS-1202813-6 UPS-1184562-1 UPS-1178068-7 UPS-1154883-7 UPS-1286564-4 UPS-1272304-1 UPS-1270044-5 UPS-1255860-3 UPS-1314435-3 UPS-1283211-5 UPS-1384281-6 Substrate Nos. 358018, 355686 Substrate No. 362539 Substrate Nos. 358018, 362539 Substrate Nos. 358018, 380143 Substrate Nos. 362539 Substrate No. 358018 Cap Sensor, AOTs Substrate No. 369164 Substrate Nos. 362539, 355686 Substrate Nos. 355686, 380695 Coil Cap Sensor, AOTs Court No. 13-00317 Page 6 Protest No. Entry No. Description of Merchandise 4101-12-100728 UPS-2461979-9 UPS-2470970-7 UPS-2476717-6 UPS-2506937-4 UPS-2507255-0 UPS-2521936-7 UPS-2539341-0 UPS-2541579-1 Substrate Nos. 358018, 362539 Cap Sensor Substrate Substrate Nos. 375850, 375851 Substrate No. 369164 Substrate No. 380143 Coil Substrate No. 375851

Some case metadata and case summaries were written with the help of AI, which can produce inaccuracies. You should read the full case before relying on it for legal research purposes.

This site is protected by reCAPTCHA and the Google Privacy Policy and Terms of Service apply.