Analysis
HTS 8428.40.00 covers escalators and moving walkways under heading 8428 (other lifting, handling, loading or unloading machinery (for example, elevators…).
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.
The normal trade relations rate here is zero, shared by about 61% of the 823 tariff lines in chapter 84, a useful check when a neighbouring dutiable line is a candidate. 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 333921 (Elevator and Moving Stairway Manufacturing), an industry of 191 US establishments employing 8,360 people. That concordance is how imports of this line are compared with US output.
All 9 neighbouring lines carry the same duty-free rate, so a borderline choice between them changes the statistics reported, not the duty paid.
Every edition we compared, from Jan 2023 to Oct 2026 (Rev. 22), shows the same general rate of Free.
Neighbouring lines
| Line | Description | General rate |
|---|---|---|
| 8428.10.00 | Passenger or freight elevators other than continuous action; skip hoists | Free |
| 8428.20.00 | Pneumatic elevators and conveyors | 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 |
| 8428.60.00 | 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 |