Analysis
HTS 9025.11.20 covers liquid-filled, for direct reading: clinical under heading 9025 (hydrometers and similar floating instruments, thermometers, pyrometers, barometers…).
Within this group the rate runs from duty-free to 2.9%. Compared with 9025.80.20 (hydrometers and similar floating instruments, whether or not…), which pays 2.9%, a misclassification either way moves the duty by 2.9 percentage points.
Goods from countries without normal trade relations pay the column 2 rate of 85% instead of nothing, so origin decides between free entry and a 85% duty.
The normal trade relations rate here is zero, shared by about 73% of the 296 tariff lines in chapter 90, a useful check when a neighbouring dutiable line is a candidate. Duty-free at the general rate does not rule out additional duties under Chapter 99, such as Section 301 or Section 232 measures, which depend on the country of origin.
Census statistics map these goods to NAICS 339112 (Surgical and Medical Instrument Manufacturing), an industry of 1,310 US establishments employing 132,354 people. That concordance is how imports of this line are compared with US output.
Neighbouring lines
| Line | Description | General rate |
|---|---|---|
| 9025.11.40 | Liquid-filled, for direct reading: other | Free |
| 9025.19.40 | Other: pyrometers | Free |
| 9025.19.80 | Other: other | Free |
| 9025.80.10 | Other instruments: electrical | 1.7% |
| 9025.80.15 | Barometers, not combined with other instruments | 1% |
| 9025.80.20 | Hydrometers and similar floating instruments, whether or not incorporating a thermometer, non-recording | 2.9% |
| 9025.80.35 | Hygrometers and psychrometers, non-recording | 1.4% |
| 9025.80.40 | Thermographs, barographs, hygrographs and other recording instruments | 1% |
| 9025.80.50 | Other: other | 1.6% |
| 9025.90.06 | Parts and accessories | Free |