8508.11.00

Analysis

HTS 8508.11.00 covers of a power not exceeding 1,500 W and having a dust bag or other receptacle capacity not exceeding 20 l under heading 8508 (vacuum cleaners; parts thereof).

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 8508.19.00 (with self-contained electric motor: other, duty-free), 8508.60.00 (vacuum cleaners; parts thereof: other vacuum cleaners, duty-free) and 8508.70.00 (vacuum cleaners; parts thereof: parts, duty-free).

Census statistics map these goods to NAICS 335210 (Small Electrical Appliance Manufacturing), an industry of 178 US establishments employing 8,857 people, the industry a domestic producer of these goods reports under.

All 3 neighbouring lines carry the same duty-free rate, so a borderline choice between them changes the statistics reported, not the duty paid.