9506.12.40

Analysis

HTS 9506.12.40 covers ski bindings and parts and accessories thereof: cross-country under heading 9506 (articles and equipment for general physical exercise, gymnastics, athletics, other sports…).

Rates on the nearby lines range from duty-free to 5.6%. The costliest confusion would be with 9506.99.12 (badminton articles and equipment, except rackets, and parts and…) at 5.6%, a difference of 5.6 points on the customs value.

Goods from countries without normal trade relations pay the column 2 rate of 45% instead of nothing, so origin decides between free entry and a 45% duty.

There is no general-rate duty on this line, which puts it with roughly 60% of the 84 tariff lines in chapter 95 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 339920 (Sporting and Athletic Goods Manufacturing), an industry of 1,662 US establishments employing 39,073 people, the industry a domestic producer of these goods reports under.