HTS tariff line · chapter 85
8538.10.00
Boards, panels, consoles, desks, cabinets and other bases for the goods of heading 8537, not equipped with their apparatus
Analysis
HTS 8538.10.00 covers boards, panels, consoles, desks, cabinets and other bases for the goods of heading 8537, not equipped with their apparatus under heading 8538 (parts suitable for use solely or principally with the apparatus of heading 8535, 8536 or…).
Within this group the rate runs from duty-free to 3.5%. Compared with 8538.90.81 (other: other), which pays 3.5%, a misclassification either way moves the duty by 3.5 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 335313 (Switchgear and Switchboard Apparatus Manufacturing), an industry of 449 US establishments employing 35,801 people. That concordance is how imports of this line are compared with US output.
Neighbouring lines
| Line | Description | General rate |
|---|---|---|
| 8538.90.10 | Of an article of heading 8537 for one of the articles described in additional U.S. note 11 to chapter 85 | Free |
| 8538.90.30 | Printed circuit assemblies: other | 3.5% |
| 8538.90.40 | Other: other, for the articles of subheading 8535.90.40, 8536.30.40 or 8536.50.40, of ceramic or metallic materials, electrically or mechanically reactive to changes in temperature | 3.5% |
| 8538.90.60 | Other: molded parts | 3.5% |
| 8538.90.81 | Other: other | 3.5% |