Analysis
HTS 8428.20.00 covers pneumatic elevators and conveyors under heading 8428 (other lifting, handling, loading or unloading machinery (for example, elevators…). US Customs collects import statistics for it under 2 ten-digit suffixes, reported in number of items.
For statistics it divides in two: 8428.20.00.10 for conveyors and 8428.20.00.50 for elevators. Both pay the same duty; the suffix records which kind was imported.
Goods from countries without normal trade relations pay the column 2 rate of 35% instead of nothing, so origin decides between free entry and a 35% duty.
There is no general-rate duty on this line, which puts it with roughly 61% of the 823 tariff lines in chapter 84 that are also free. Chapter 99 measures such as Section 301 or 232 can still apply on top, depending on where the goods come from.
Census statistics map these goods to NAICS 333922 (Conveyor and Conveying Equipment Manufacturing), an industry of 805 US establishments employing 44,787 people, the industry a domestic producer of these goods reports under.
All 9 neighbouring lines carry the same duty-free rate, so a borderline choice between them changes the statistics reported, not the duty paid.
Statistical suffixes
Neighbouring lines
| Line | Description | General rate |
|---|---|---|
| 8428.10.00 | Passenger or freight elevators other than continuous action; skip hoists | Free |
| 8428.31.00 | Specially designed for underground use | Free |
| 8428.32.00 | Other continuous-action elevators and conveyors, for goods or materials: other, bucket type | Free |
| 8428.33.00 | Other continuous-action elevators and conveyors, for goods or materials: other, belt type | Free |
| 8428.39.00 | Other continuous-action elevators and conveyors, for goods or materials: other | Free |
| 8428.40.00 | Escalators and moving walkways | Free |
| 8428.60.00 | Teleferics, chair lifts, ski draglines; traction mechanisms for funiculars | Free |
| 8428.70.00 | Other lifting, handling, loading or unloading machinery (for example, elevators, escalators, conveyors, teleferics): industrial robots | Free |
| 8428.90.03 | Other lifting, handling, loading or unloading machinery (for example, elevators, escalators, conveyors, teleferics): other machinery | Free |