Analysis
HTS 8511.40.00 covers starter motors and dual purpose starter-generators under heading 8511 (electrical ignition or starting equipment of a kind used for spark-ignition or…).
Neighbouring lines carry rates from duty-free to 3.1%, so the exact line matters. The widest gap is with 8511.90.40 (of voltage and voltage-current regulators with cut-out relays: other), at duty-free: a product that belongs there but is entered here, or the reverse, changes 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 85 (67th percentile of 624 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.
The column 2 rate, for countries without normal trade relations, is 35%, 14.0 times the general rate.
Goods that qualify under GSP, the Australia FTA, the Automotive Products Trade Act, the Bahrain FTA, the civil aircraft agreement, and 14 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.
Neighbouring lines
| Line | Description | General rate |
|---|---|---|
| 8511.10.00 | Electrical ignition or starting equipment of a kind used for spark-ignition or compression-ignition internal combustion engines (for example, ignition magnetos, magneto-dynamos, ignition coils, spark plugs and glow plugs, starter motors); generators (for example, dynamos, alternators) and cut-outs of a kind used in conjunction with such engines; parts thereof: spark plugs | 2.5% |
| 8511.20.00 | Ignition magnetos; magneto-dynamos; magnetic flywheels | 2.5% |
| 8511.30.00 | Distributors; ignition coils | 2.5% |
| 8511.50.00 | Electrical ignition or starting equipment of a kind used for spark-ignition or compression-ignition internal combustion engines (for example, ignition magnetos, magneto-dynamos, ignition coils, spark plugs and glow plugs, starter motors); generators (for example, dynamos, alternators) and cut-outs of a kind used in conjunction with such engines; parts thereof: other generators | 2.5% |
| 8511.80.20 | Designed for use on 6, 12 or 24 V systems | 2.5% |
| 8511.80.40 | Voltage and voltage-current regulators with cut-out relays: other | Free |
| 8511.80.60 | Other equipment: other | 2.5% |
| 8511.90.20 | Designed for use on 6, 12 or 24 V systems | 3.1% |
| 8511.90.40 | Of voltage and voltage-current regulators with cut-out relays: other | Free |
| 8511.90.60 | Parts: other parts | 2.5% |