Analysis
HTS 8512.40.20 covers defrosters and demisters 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 8512.90.60 (of lighting equipment: other) at duty-free, a difference of 2.5 points on the customs value.
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 Bahrain FTA, the Chile FTA, the Colombia TPA, and 12 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.
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.
Neighbouring lines
| Line | Description | General rate |
|---|---|---|
| 8512.10.20 | Lighting equipment | Free |
| 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% |
| 8512.40.40 | 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% |