8483.40.50

Analysis

HTS 8483.40.50 covers fixed ratio speed changers, multiple and variable ratio speed changers each ratio of which is selected by manual manipulation: other under heading 8483 (transmission shafts (including camshafts and crankshafts) and cranks; bearing housings…). US Customs collects import statistics for it under 3 ten-digit suffixes, reported in number of items.

This line's footnotes point to one additional provision in Chapter 99: 9903.90.08 (measures on products of Russia). Chapter 99 duties are added on top of the general rate for goods of the countries they name, and they change more often than the rest of the schedule, so check the current CBP guidance before you rely on a total.

Within this group the rate runs from duty-free to 3.8%. Compared with 8483.40.30 (imported for use with machines for making cellulosic pulp, paper or…), which pays duty-free, a misclassification either way moves the duty by 2.5 percentage points.

The general duty rate is 2.5% of the customs value, which is in the middle of the rates in chapter 84 (68th percentile of 823 lines with an ad valorem rate). On a shipment valued at $10,000 that is $250 in duty before any Chapter 99 additions or preference claims.

Goods that qualify under GSP, the Australia FTA, the Bahrain FTA, the civil aircraft agreement, the Chile FTA, and 13 others can enter duty-free instead of paying 2.5%. 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 27.5%, 11.0 times the general rate.