Analysis
HTS 9017.30.40 covers micrometers and calipers under heading 9017 (drawing, marking-out or mathematical calculating instruments (for example, drafting…).
Within this group the rate runs from duty-free to 5.3%. Compared with 9017.20.70 (other drawing, marking-out or mathematical calculating instruments…), which pays duty-free, a misclassification either way moves the duty by 5.8 percentage points.
The general duty rate is 5.8% of the customs value, which is among the highest the rates in chapter 90 (95th percentile of 296 lines with an ad valorem rate). On a shipment valued at $10,000 that is $580 in duty before any Chapter 99 additions or preference claims.
Goods that qualify under GSP, the Australia FTA, the Bahrain FTA, the Chile FTA, the Colombia TPA, and 12 others can enter duty-free instead of paying 5.8%. It is also eligible under GSP, the developing-country programme, which Congress has to renew; check whether GSP is in force on the entry date.
The column 2 rate, for countries without normal trade relations, is 45%, 7.8 times the general rate.
Census statistics map these goods to NAICS 332216 (Saw Blade and Handtool Manufacturing), an industry of 775 US establishments employing 25,058 people. That concordance is how imports of this line are compared with US output.
Neighbouring lines
| Line | Description | General rate |
|---|---|---|
| 9017.10.40 | Drafting tables and machines, whether or not automatic: plotters | Free |
| 9017.10.80 | Drafting tables and machines, whether or not automatic: other | 3.9% |
| 9017.20.40 | Disc calculators, slide rules and other mathematical calculating instruments | 3.9% |
| 9017.20.70 | Other drawing, marking-out or mathematical calculating instruments: plotters | Free |
| 9017.20.80 | Other drawing, marking-out or mathematical calculating instruments: other | 4.6% |
| 9017.30.80 | Micrometers, calipers and gauges: other | 3.9% |
| 9017.80.00 | Drawing, marking-out or mathematical calculating instruments (for example, drafting machines, pantographs, protractors, drawing sets, slide rules, disc calculators); instruments for measuring length, for use in the hand (for example, measuring rods and tapes, micrometers, calipers), not specified or included elsewhere in this chapter; parts and accessories thereof: other instruments | 5.3% |
| 9017.90.01 | Parts and accessories | The rate applicable to the article of which it is a part or accessory |