Analysis
HTS 8527.12.00 covers pocket-size radio cassette players under heading 8527 (reception apparatus for radiobroadcasting, whether or not combined, in the same housing…).
Within this group the rate runs from duty-free to 2%. Compared with 8527.21.25 (radio-tape player combinations: other), which pays 2%, a misclassification either way moves the duty by 2 percentage points.
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 334310 (Audio and Video Equipment Manufacturing), an industry of 539 US establishments employing 10,977 people. That concordance is how imports of this line are compared with US output.
The general rate of Free has not changed in any edition of the schedule since Jan 2023.
Neighbouring lines
| Line | Description | General rate |
|---|---|---|
| 8527.13.11 | Combinations incorporating tape players which are incapable of recording | Free |
| 8527.13.20 | Radio-tape recorder combinations | Free |
| 8527.13.40 | Radio-phonograph combinations | Free |
| 8527.13.60 | Other: other | Free |
| 8527.19.10 | Valued not over $40 each, incorporating a clock or clock-timer, not in combination with any other article, and not designed for motor vehicle installation | Free |
| 8527.19.50 | Other: other | Free |
| 8527.21.15 | Combined with sound recording or reproducing apparatus capable of receiving and decoding digital radio data system signals | Free |
| 8527.21.25 | Radio-tape player combinations: other | 2% |
| 8527.21.40 | Combined with sound recording or reproducing apparatus: other | Free |
| 8527.29.40 | FM only or AM/FM only | Free |
| 8527.29.80 | Other: other | Free |
| 8527.91.05 | Articles designed for connection to telegraphic or telephonic apparatus or instruments or to telegraphic or telephonic networks | Free |
| 8527.91.40 | Combinations incorporating tape players which are incapable of recording | Free |
| 8527.91.50 | Other: other combinations incorporating tape recorders | Free |
| 8527.91.60 | Other: other | Free |
| 8527.92.10 | Valued not over $40 each | Free |
| 8527.92.50 | Not combined with sound recording or reproducing apparatus but combined with a clock: other | Free |
| 8527.99.10 | Infant nursery monitor systems, each consisting in the same package of a radio transmitter, an electrical adapter, and a radio receiver | Free |
| 8527.99.15 | Other: other radio receivers | Free |
| 8527.99.40 | Other: other | Free |