Analysis
HTS 8512.10.20 covers lighting equipment under heading 8512 (electrical lighting or signaling equipment (excluding articles of heading 8539)…).
Rates on the nearby lines range from duty-free to 2.7%. The costliest confusion would be with 8512.10.40 (visual signaling equipment) at 2.7%, a difference of 2.7 points on the customs value.
Goods from countries without normal trade relations pay the column 2 rate of 45% instead of nothing, so origin decides between free entry and a 45% 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.
Census statistics map these goods to NAICS 336320 (Motor Vehicle Electrical and Electronic Equipment Manufacturing), an industry of 574 US establishments employing 60,662 people, the industry a domestic producer of these goods reports under.
The general rate of Free has not changed in any edition of the schedule since Jan 2023.
Neighbouring lines
| Line | Description | General rate |
|---|---|---|
| 8512.10.40 | Visual signaling equipment | 2.7% |
| 8512.20.20 | Lighting equipment | Free |
| 8512.20.40 | Visual signaling equipment | 2.5% |
| 8512.30.00 | Sound signaling equipment | 2.5% |
| 8512.40.20 | Defrosters and demisters | 2.5% |
| 8512.40.40 | Windshield wipers, defrosters and demisters: windshield wipers | 2.5% |
| 8512.90.20 | Of signaling equipment | 2.5% |
| 8512.90.40 | Of a kind used on bicycles | Free |
| 8512.90.60 | Of lighting equipment: other | Free |
| 8512.90.70 | Of defrosters and demisters | 2.5% |
| 8512.90.90 | Parts: other | 2.5% |