Analysis
HTS 8461.20.40 covers numerically controlled under heading 8461 (machine tools for planing, shaping, slotting, broaching, gear cutting, gear grinding or…).
The general duty rate is 4.4% of the customs value, which is among the highest the rates in chapter 84 (91st percentile of 823 lines with an ad valorem rate). On a shipment valued at $10,000 that is $440 in duty before any Chapter 99 additions or preference claims.
Within this group the rate runs from 4.4% to 5.8%. Compared with 8461.40.10 (gear cutting machines), which pays 5.8%, a misclassification either way moves the duty by 1.4 percentage points.
Goods that qualify under GSP, the Australia FTA, the Bahrain FTA, the Chile FTA, the Colombia TPA, and 12 others can enter duty-free instead of paying 4.4%. It is also eligible under GSP, the developing-country programme, which Congress has to renew; check whether GSP is in force on the entry date.
The column 2 rate, for countries without normal trade relations, is 30%, 6.8 times the general rate.
Census statistics map these goods to NAICS 333517 (Machine Tool Manufacturing), an industry of 1,195 US establishments employing 28,524 people. That concordance is how imports of this line are compared with US output.
Neighbouring lines
| Line | Description | General rate |
|---|---|---|
| 8461.20.80 | Shaping or slotting machines: other | 4.4% |
| 8461.30.40 | Numerically controlled | 4.4% |
| 8461.30.80 | Broaching machines: other | 4.4% |
| 8461.40.10 | Gear cutting machines | 5.8% |
| 8461.40.50 | Gear grinding or finishing machines | 4.4% |
| 8461.50.40 | Numerically controlled | 4.4% |
| 8461.50.80 | Sawing or cutting-off machines: other | 4.4% |
| 8461.90.30 | Numerically controlled | 4.4% |
| 8461.90.60 | Other: other | 4.4% |