Analysis
HTS 8517.11.00 covers line telephone sets with cordless handsets under heading 8517 (telephone sets, including smartphones and other telephones for cellular networks or for…).
Goods from countries without normal trade relations pay the column 2 rate of 35% instead of nothing, so origin decides between free entry and a 35% duty.
The normal trade relations rate here is zero, shared by about 58% of the 624 tariff lines in chapter 85, a useful check when a neighbouring dutiable line is a candidate. 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 334210 (Telephone Apparatus Manufacturing), an industry of 161 US establishments employing 8,893 people. That concordance is how imports of this line are compared with US output.
All 8 neighbouring lines carry the same duty-free rate, so a borderline choice between them changes the statistics reported, not the duty paid.
The general rate of Free has not changed in any edition of the schedule since Jan 2023.
Neighbouring lines
| Line | Description | General rate |
|---|---|---|
| 8517.13.00 | Telephone sets, including smartphones and other telephones for cellular networks or for other wireless networks: smartphones | Free |
| 8517.14.00 | Telephone sets, including smartphones and other telephones for cellular networks or for other wireless networks: other telephones for cellular networks or for other wireless networks | Free |
| 8517.18.00 | Telephone sets, including smartphones and other telephones for cellular networks or for other wireless networks: other | Free |
| 8517.61.00 | Other apparatus for transmission or reception of voice, images or other data, including apparatus for communication in a wired or wireless network (such as a local or wide area network): base stations | Free |
| 8517.62.00 | Machines for the reception, conversion and transmission or regeneration of voice, images or other data, including switching and routing apparatus | Free |
| 8517.69.00 | Other apparatus for transmission or reception of voice, images or other data, including apparatus for communication in a wired or wireless network (such as a local or wide area network): other | Free |
| 8517.71.00 | Aerials and aerial reflectors of all kinds; parts suitable for use therewith | Free |
| 8517.79.00 | Parts: other | Free |