Analysis
HTS 8543.70.42 covers flight data recorders under heading 8543 (electrical machines and apparatus, having individual functions, not specified or included…).
Rates on the nearby lines range from duty-free to 2.6%. The costliest confusion would be with 8543.70.98 (other: other) at 2.6%, a difference of 2.6 points on the customs value.
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 334511 (Search, Detection, Navigation, Guidance, Aeronautical, and Nautical System and Instrument Manufacturing), an industry of 522 US establishments employing 127,864 people, the industry a domestic producer of these goods reports under.
The general rate of Free has not changed in any edition of the schedule since Jan 2023.
Neighbouring lines
| Line | Description | General rate |
|---|---|---|
| 8543.70.20 | Physical vapor deposition apparatus | 2.5% |
| 8543.70.45 | Electric synchros and transducers; flight data recorders; defrosters and demisters with electric resistors for aircraft: other | 2.6% |
| 8543.70.60 | Articles designed for connection to telegraphic or telephonic apparatus or instruments or to telegraphic or telephonic networks | Free |
| 8543.70.71 | Electric luminescent lamps | 2% |
| 8543.70.80 | Microwave amplifiers | Free |
| 8543.70.85 | For electrical nerve stimulation | Free |
| 8543.70.88 | Electrical machines with translation or dictionary functions; video game console controllers which use infrared transmissions to operate or access the various functions and capabilities of the console | Free |
| 8543.70.89 | Other: other portable battery operated electronic readers for recording and reproducing text, still images or audio files | Free |
| 8543.70.91 | Digital signal processing apparatus capable of connecting to a wired or wireless network for the mixing of sound | Free |
| 8543.70.93 | Portable interactive electronic education devices primarily designed for children | Free |
| 8543.70.95 | Touch-sensitive data input devices (so-called "touch screens") without display capabilities, for incorporation into apparatus having a display, which function by detecting the presence and location of a touch within the display area (such sensing may be obtained by means of resistance, electrostatic capacity, acoustic pulse recognition, infra-red lights or other touch-sensitive technology) | Free |
| 8543.70.97 | Plasma cleaner machines that remove organic contaminants from electron microscopy specimens and specimen holders | Free |
| 8543.70.98 | Other: other | 2.6% |