Analysis
HTS 9114.90.34 covers springs, including hairsprings: for watches under heading 9114 (other clock or watch parts).
Rates on the nearby lines range from duty-free to 8.8%. The costliest confusion would be with 9114.90.10 (other: jewels) at duty-free, a difference of 7.3 points on the customs value.
The general duty rate is 7.3% of the customs value, which is above most the rates in chapter 91 (81st percentile of 48 lines with an ad valorem rate). On a shipment valued at $10,000 that is $730 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 13 others can enter duty-free instead of paying 7.3%. 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 65%, 8.9 times the general rate.
Census statistics map these goods to NAICS 334519 (Other Measuring and Controlling Device Manufacturing), an industry of 913 US establishments employing 34,818 people, the industry a domestic producer of these goods reports under.
Neighbouring lines
| Line | Description | General rate |
|---|---|---|
| 9114.90.10 | Other: jewels | Free |
| 9114.90.15 | For watch movements | 7.2% |
| 9114.90.30 | For clock movements | 6% + 2.3¢/jewel + 0.2¢ for each other piece or part, but if consisting in part of a plate or a set of plates the total duty shall not exceed the duty for the complete movement |
| 9114.90.38 | Springs, including hairsprings: other | 4.2% |
| 9114.90.40 | Other: for watches | 8.8% |
| 9114.90.50 | Other: other | 4.2% |