Analysis
HTS 8483.40.70 covers gear boxes and other speed changers: other speed changers under heading 8483 (transmission shafts (including camshafts and crankshafts) and cranks; bearing housings…).
The general rate is 25¢ each + 3.9%, a specific or compound duty rather than a simple percentage, so the effective burden depends on the unit value of the goods: cheap goods pay proportionally more than expensive ones. Importers usually convert it to an ad valorem equivalent to compare it with other lines.
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 25¢ each + 3.9%. 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.
Census statistics map these goods to NAICS 333612 (Speed Changer, Industrial High-Speed Drive, and Gear Manufacturing), an industry of 205 US establishments employing 10,759 people. That concordance is how imports of this line are compared with US output.
Neighbouring lines
| Line | Description | General rate |
|---|---|---|
| 8483.40.10 | Gears and gearing, other than toothed wheels, chain sprockets and other transmission elements entered separately; ball or roller screws; gear boxes and other speed changers, including torque converters: torque converters | Free |
| 8483.40.30 | Imported for use with machines for making cellulosic pulp, paper or paperboard | Free |
| 8483.40.50 | Fixed ratio speed changers, multiple and variable ratio speed changers each ratio of which is selected by manual manipulation: other | 2.5% |
| 8483.40.80 | Ball or roller screws | 3.8% |
| 8483.40.90 | Gears and gearing, other than toothed wheels, chain sprockets and other transmission elements entered separately | 2.5% |