8515.39.00

Analysis

HTS 8515.39.00 covers machines and apparatus for arc (including plasma arc) welding of metals: other under heading 8515 (electric (including electrically heated gas), laser or other light or photon beam…). US Customs collects import statistics for it under 3 ten-digit suffixes, reported in number of items.

Neighbouring lines carry rates from duty-free to 2.5%, so the exact line matters. The widest gap is with 8515.90.40 (parts: other parts), at duty-free: a product that belongs there but is entered here, or the reverse, changes the duty by 1.6 percentage points.

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 12 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.