Analysis
HTS 8515.31.00 covers fully or partly automatic under heading 8515 (electric (including electrically heated gas), laser or other light or photon beam…).
Rates on the nearby lines range from duty-free to 2.5%. The costliest confusion would be with 8515.90.40 (parts: other parts) at duty-free, a difference of 1.6 points on the customs value.
The general duty rate is 1.6% of the customs value, which is in the middle of the rates in chapter 85 (60th percentile of 624 lines with an ad valorem rate). On a shipment valued at $10,000 that is $160 in duty before any Chapter 99 additions or preference claims.
The column 2 rate, for countries without normal trade relations, is 35%, 21.9 times the general rate.
Goods that qualify under GSP, the Australia FTA, the Bahrain FTA, the Chile FTA, the Colombia TPA, and 13 others can enter duty-free instead of paying 1.6%. 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 |
|---|---|---|
| 8515.11.00 | Soldering irons and guns | 2.5% |
| 8515.19.00 | Brazing or soldering machines and apparatus: other | Free |
| 8515.21.00 | Fully or partly automatic | Free |
| 8515.29.00 | Machines and apparatus for resistance welding of metal: other | Free |
| 8515.39.00 | Machines and apparatus for arc (including plasma arc) welding of metals: other | 1.6% |
| 8515.80.00 | Electric (including electrically heated gas), laser or other light or photon beam, ultrasonic, electron beam, magnetic pulse or plasma arc soldering, brazing or welding machines and apparatus, whether or not capable of cutting; electric machines and apparatus for hot spraying of metals or cermets; parts thereof: other machines and apparatus | Free |
| 8515.90.20 | Of welding machines and apparatus | 1.6% |
| 8515.90.40 | Parts: other parts | Free |