Analysis
HTS 8545.90.20 covers other: arc light carbons under heading 8545 (carbon electrodes, carbon brushes, lamp carbons, battery carbons and other articles of…).
Goods from countries without normal trade relations pay the column 2 rate of 60% instead of nothing, so origin decides between free entry and a 60% duty.
Goods classified here enter the United States duty-free at the general (normal trade relations) rate, as do about 58% of the 624 tariff lines in chapter 85. 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 335991 (Carbon and Graphite Product Manufacturing), an industry of 179 US establishments employing 9,844 people. That is the industry code a US manufacturer of the same product would normally use.
All 5 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 |
|---|---|---|
| 8545.11.00 | Of a kind used for furnaces | Free |
| 8545.19.20 | Of a kind used for electrolytic purposes | Free |
| 8545.19.40 | Other: other | Free |
| 8545.20.00 | Carbon electrodes, carbon brushes, lamp carbons, battery carbons and other articles of graphite or other carbon, with or without metal, of a kind used for electrical purposes: brushes | Free |
| 8545.90.40 | Other: other | Free |