U.S. Court of Appeals for the Federal Circuit, Sigvaris, Inc. v. United States

Import: Customs: Duty free: HTSUS: Nairobi Protocol:

Sigvaris, Inc. (“Sigvaris”) appeals the judgment of the United States Court of International Trade in which the court found that the subject merchandise is not classified as duty free under the Harmonized Tariff Schedule of the United States (“HTSUS”) subheading 9817.00.96 as articles specially designed for the use or benefit of physically handicapped persons. Sigvaris, Inc. v. United States, 227 F. Supp. 3d 1327 (Ct. Int’l Trade 2017).

HTSUS subheading 9817.00.96 implements the United States’ obligations under the Nairobi Protocol on the Importation of Educational, Scientific, and Cultural Materials (“Nairobi Protocol”). U.S. Customs Serv. Implementation of the Duty-Free Provisions of the Nairobi Protocol, Annex E, to the Florence Agreement (“Customs Implementation”), T.D. 92-77, 26 Cust. B. & Dec. no. 35 (Treas. Dep’t Aug. 26, 1992). The Nairobi Protocol is an international agreement that encourages trade in articles for the handicapped by “expanding duty-free treatment to articles for the use or benefit of the physically or mentally handicapped persons.” Id.

Customs classified the subject merchandise as “other graduated compression hosiery: . . . of synthetic fibers” under HTSUS subheading 6115.10.40 subject to a duty rate of 14.6% ad valorem.

Sigvaris timely protested the classification of the subject merchandise, and sought “special classification” as duty free under HTSUS subheading 9817.00.96.

Customs denied the protest on December 12, 2011. Sigvaris paid liquidated duties according to Customs’s classification but challenged the classification by filing a complaint in the Court of International Trade.

(…) The parties filed cross-motions for summary judgment.

(…) This court has jurisdiction to review the Court of International Trade’s decision under 28 U.S.C. § 1295(a)(5).

“We review the Court of International Trade’s grant or denial of summary judgment for correctness as a matter of law, deciding de novo the proper interpretation of the governing statute and regulations as well as whether genuine issues of material fact exist.” United States v. Am. Home Assurance Co., 789 F.3d 1313, 1319 (Fed. Cir. 2015). “We employ the same standard employed by the Court of International Trade in assessing Customs’ classification determinations.” Otter Prods., LLC v. United States, 834 F.3d 1369, 1375 (Fed. Cir. 2016).

The HTSUS scheme “is organized by headings, each of which has one or more subheadings; the headings set forth general categories of merchandise, and the subheadings provide a more particularized segregation of the goods within each category.” Wilton Indus., Inc. v. United States, 741 F.3d 1263, 1266 (Fed. Cir. 2013). General Rules of Interpretation (“GRIs”) of the HTSUS govern the proper classification of merchandise entering the United States and are applied in numerical order. Id. According to GRI 1, we look first to the HTSUS headings and any relevant section or chapter notes. Otter Prods., 834 F.3d at 1375. We construe terms from the HTSUS according to their common and commercial meanings, which we presume are the same. Id. We may consult dictionaries, scientific authorities, and other reliable information sources to discern the common meanings. Id.

The Additional U.S. Rules of Interpretation (“ARIs”) also bear on the classification analysis. See Schlumberger, 845 F.3d at 1163 & n.5. However, it is not necessary for us to reach the ARIs in this case, because, even though HTSUS heading 9817 is a use provision, no aspect of the ARIs is dispositive of the issues raised here.

(U.S. Court of Appeals for the Federal Circuit, August 16, 2018, Sigvaris, Inc. v. United States, Docket 17-2237, Circuit Judge O’Malley)

Classification douanière à l’importation, taxation, procédure administrative puis judiciaire de contestation (douane, Court of International Trade, U.S. Court of Appeals for the Federal Circuit). Standard de la preuve (en droit : de novo). Méthode d’analyse des dispositions de HTSUS.