Analysis
HTS 9205.90.18 covers accordions and similar instruments: other under heading 9205 (wind musical instruments (for example, keyboard pipe organs, accordions, clarinets…).
Rates on the nearby lines range from duty-free to 4.9%. The costliest confusion would be with 9205.90.60 (other: other) at duty-free, a difference of 2.6 points on the customs value.
The column 2 rate, for countries without normal trade relations, is 40%, 15.4 times the general rate.
The general duty rate is 2.6% of the customs value, which is in the middle of the rates in chapter 92 (39th percentile of 40 lines with an ad valorem rate). On a shipment valued at $10,000 that is $260 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 2.6%. 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.
Census statistics map these goods to NAICS 339992 (Musical Instrument Manufacturing), an industry of 609 US establishments employing 11,633 people, the industry a domestic producer of these goods reports under.
Neighbouring lines
| Line | Description | General rate |
|---|---|---|
| 9205.90.12 | Keyboard pipe organs | Free |
| 9205.90.14 | Keyboard pipe organs; harmoniums and similar keyboard instruments with free metal reeds: other | 2.7% |
| 9205.90.15 | Accordions and similar instruments: piano accordions | Free |
| 9205.90.19 | Accordions and similar instruments; mouth organs: mouth organs | Free |
| 9205.90.20 | Woodwind instruments: bagpipes | Free |
| 9205.90.40 | Woodwind instruments: other | 4.9% |
| 9205.90.60 | Other: other | Free |