Analysis
HTS 9031.80.80 covers other instruments, appliances and machines: other under heading 9031 (measuring or checking instruments, appliances and machines, not specified or included…). US Customs collects import statistics for it under 3 ten-digit suffixes, reported in kilograms.
Rates on the nearby lines range from duty-free to 1.7%. The costliest confusion would be with 9031.20.00 (measuring or checking instruments, appliances and machines, not…) at 1.7%, a difference of 1.7 points on the customs value.
Goods from countries without normal trade relations pay the column 2 rate of 40% instead of nothing, so origin decides between free entry and a 40% duty.
There is no general-rate duty on this line, which puts it with roughly 73% of the 296 tariff lines in chapter 90 that are also free. 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 334515 (Instrument Manufacturing for Measuring and Testing Electricity and Electrical Signals), an industry of 672 US establishments employing 29,914 people, the industry a domestic producer of these goods reports under.
Statistical suffixes
Neighbouring lines
| Line | Description | General rate |
|---|---|---|
| 9031.10.00 | Machines for balancing mechanical parts | Free |
| 9031.20.00 | Measuring or checking instruments, appliances and machines, not specified or included elsewhere in this chapter; profile projectors; parts and accessories thereof: test benches | 1.7% |
| 9031.41.00 | For inspecting semiconductor wafers or devices (including integrated circuits) or for inspecting photomasks or reticles used in manufacturing semiconductor devices (including integrated circuits) | Free |
| 9031.49.10 | Profile projectors | Free |
| 9031.49.40 | Coordinate-measuring machines | Free |
| 9031.49.70 | For inspecting masks (other than photomasks) used in manufacturing semiconductor devices; for measuring surface particulate contamination on semiconductor devices | Free |
| 9031.49.90 | Other: other | Free |
| 9031.80.40 | Electron beam microscopes fitted with equipment specifically designed for the handling and transport of semiconductor wafers or reticles | Free |
| 9031.90.21 | Of profile projectors | Free |
| 9031.90.45 | Bases and frames for the coordinate-measuring machines of subheading 9031.49.40 | Free |
| 9031.90.54 | Of optical instruments and appliances of subheading 9031.41 or 9031.49.70 | Free |
| 9031.90.59 | Of other optical instruments and appliances, other than test benches: other | Free |
| 9031.90.70 | Of articles of subheading 9031.80.40 | Free |
| 9031.90.91 | Other: other | Free |