Analysis
HTS 8504.40.40 covers speed drive controllers for electric motors under heading 8504 (electrical transformers, static converters (for example, rectifiers) and inductors; parts…).
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.
There is no general-rate duty on this line, which puts it with roughly 58% of the 624 tariff lines in chapter 85 that are also free. Free here means free of the base duty only: origin-specific Chapter 99 duties such as Section 301 can still be owed.
The other lines in the same group are 8504.40.60 (suitable for physical incorporation into automatic data…, duty-free), 8504.40.70 (power supplies for automatic data processing machines or…, duty-free), 8504.40.85 (for telecommunication apparatus, duty-free) and 8504.40.95 (static converters: other, duty-free).
Census statistics map these goods to NAICS 335314 (Relay and Industrial Control Manufacturing), an industry of 704 US establishments employing 33,267 people, the industry a domestic producer of these goods reports under.
All 4 neighbouring lines carry the same duty-free rate, so a borderline choice between them changes the statistics reported, not the duty paid.
Neighbouring lines
| Line | Description | General rate |
|---|---|---|
| 8504.40.60 | Suitable for physical incorporation into automatic data processing machines or units thereof of heading 8471 | Free |
| 8504.40.70 | Power supplies for automatic data processing machines or units thereof of heading 8471; power supplies for goods of subheading 8443.31 or 8443.32; power supplies for monitors of subheading 8528.42 or 8528.52 or projectors of subheading 8528.62: other | Free |
| 8504.40.85 | For telecommunication apparatus | Free |
| 8504.40.95 | Static converters: other | Free |