Analysis
HTS 9114.90.38 covers springs, including hairsprings: other under heading 9114 (other clock or watch parts).
Within this group the rate runs from duty-free to 8.8%. Compared with 9114.90.40 (other: for watches), which pays 8.8%, a misclassification either way moves the duty by 4.6 percentage points.
Goods that qualify under GSP, the Australia FTA, the Automotive Products Trade Act, the Bahrain FTA, the Chile FTA, and 13 others can enter duty-free instead of paying 4.2%. 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%, 15.5 times the general rate.
The general duty rate is 4.2% of the customs value, which is in the middle of the rates in chapter 91 (58th percentile of 48 lines with an ad valorem rate). On a shipment valued at $10,000 that is $420 in duty before any Chapter 99 additions or preference claims.
Census statistics map these goods to NAICS 334519 (Other Measuring and Controlling Device Manufacturing), an industry of 913 US establishments employing 34,818 people. That concordance is how imports of this line are compared with US output.
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 |
| 9114.90.34 | Springs, including hairsprings: for watches | 7.3% |
| 9114.90.40 | Other: for watches | 8.8% |
| 9114.90.50 | Other: other | 4.2% |