8481.80.90

Analysis

HTS 8481.80.90 covers other appliances: other under heading 8481 (taps, cocks, valves and similar appliances, for pipes, boiler shells, tanks, vats or the…). US Customs collects import statistics for it under 10 ten-digit suffixes, reported in number of items.

Rates on the nearby lines range from 3% to 5.6%. The costliest confusion would be with 8481.80.30 (hand operated: of iron or steel) at 5.6%, a difference of 3.6 points on the customs value.

The general duty rate is 2% of the customs value, which is in the middle of the rates in chapter 84 (63rd percentile of 823 lines with an ad valorem rate). On a shipment valued at $10,000 that is $200 in duty before any Chapter 99 additions or preference claims.

The column 2 rate, for countries without normal trade relations, is 35%, 17.5 times the general rate.

The ten-digit suffixes separate solenoid valves, ballcock mechanisms, regulator valves, self-operating, for…, control valves designed for…, with hydraulic actuators and control valves designed for… and 1 more. The duty is the same across them; the suffix matters for statistics, licensing and some quotas, and an entry needs all ten digits.

Goods that qualify under GSP, the Australia FTA, the Automotive Products Trade Act, the Bahrain FTA, the Chile FTA, and 13 others can enter duty-free instead of paying 2%. 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.