8518.10.40

Analysis

HTS 8518.10.40 covers microphones having a frequency range of 300 Hz to 3.4 kHz with a diameter of not exceeding 10 mm and a height not exceeding 3 mm, for telecommunication use under heading 8518 (microphones and stands therefor; loudspeakers, whether or not mounted in their…).

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.

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 334220 (Radio and Television Broadcasting and Wireless Communications Equipment Manufacturing), an industry of 645 US establishments employing 52,536 people, the industry a domestic producer of these goods reports under.

All 14 neighbouring lines carry the same duty-free rate, so a borderline choice between them changes the statistics reported, not the duty paid.