Analysis
HTS 8438.60.00 covers machinery for the preparation of fruits, nuts or vegetables under heading 8438 (machinery, not specified or included elsewhere in this chapter, for the industrial…).
Neighbouring lines carry rates from duty-free to 2.8%, so the exact line matters. The widest gap is with 8438.90.90 (parts: other), at 2.8%: a product that belongs there but is entered here, or the reverse, changes the duty by 2.8 percentage points.
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.
Goods classified here enter the United States duty-free at the general (normal trade relations) rate, as do about 61% of the 823 tariff lines in chapter 84. 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 333241 (Food Product Machinery Manufacturing), an industry of 525 US establishments employing 19,033 people. That is the industry code a US manufacturer of the same product would normally use.
Neighbouring lines
| Line | Description | General rate |
|---|---|---|
| 8438.10.00 | Bakery machinery and machinery for the manufacture of macaroni, spaghetti or similar products | Free |
| 8438.20.00 | Machinery for the manufacture of confectionery, cocoa or chocolate | Free |
| 8438.30.00 | Machinery for sugar manufacture | Free |
| 8438.40.00 | Machinery, not specified or included elsewhere in this chapter, for the industrial preparation or manufacture of food or drink, other than machinery for the extraction or preparation of animal or fixed vegetable or microbial fats or oils; parts thereof: brewery machinery | 2.3% |
| 8438.50.00 | Machinery for the preparation of meat or poultry | 2.8% |
| 8438.80.00 | Machinery, not specified or included elsewhere in this chapter, for the industrial preparation or manufacture of food or drink, other than machinery for the extraction or preparation of animal or fixed vegetable or microbial fats or oils; parts thereof: other machinery | Free |
| 8438.90.10 | Of machinery for sugar manufacture | Free |
| 8438.90.90 | Parts: other | 2.8% |