CIT Rules Parts for Pacemakers Duty Free After Government Agrees With Importer's Challenge

The Court of International Trade granted an importer’s motion to reclassify parts used to manufacture subassemblies for pacemakers in a special duty-free tariff provision, in three separate decisions issued Aug. 7 (here) (here) and (here). CBP had originally classified the components, including substrates, cap sensors, coils and “AOTs,” in various tariff subheadings throughout the tariff schedule. But the importer, Micro Systems Engineering, protested, and the government subsequently agreed, that the parts are specially designed or adapted for use in heart pacemakers and should have been classified in a special subheading in Chapter 98 for goods that fall under the Nairobi Protocol to the Florence Agreement on the Importation of Educational, Scientific and Cultural Materials. That subheading 9817.90.96, is duty free and exempt from the Merchandise Processing Fee. With the parties in agreement, CIT ordered CBP to reliquidate and issue duty refunds with interest.