HTS Index

HTS 8523

Discs, tapes, solid-state non-volatile storage devices, "smart cards" and other media for the recording of sound or of other phenomena, whether or not recorded, including matrices and masters for the production of discs, but excluding products of Chapter 37

General rateNot stated for this line
What most imports pay — countries with normal trade relations, which is nearly all of them.
Special rateNot stated for this line
Only under a trade programme or agreement, and only if the goods qualify. The codes name the programmes.
Column 2 rateNot stated for this line
Only for the few countries without normal trade relations.

This line states no general duty rate, and none is inherited from the lines above it. That is not the same as duty-free: lines in Chapters 98 and 99 are provisions and qualifiers rather than ordinary commodities, and a rate may be stated elsewhere. Check the heading before assuming anything.

Additional duties may apply

This line references Chapter 99, where Section 301, Section 232 and other additional duties live. Those are charged on top of the general rate above and depend on where the goods were made. The rate shown here is therefore not the whole story for every origin.

What the Chapter 99 provisions are

Statistical breakouts

The 10-digit lines under this code. They are reporting categories; the duty is the one above unless a line states its own.

CodeDescriptionUnitsRate
8523.21.00.00Cards incorporating a magnetic stripeNo.Free
8523.29Othersee above
8523.29.10.00Unrecorded magnetic mediaNo.Free
8523.29.20.00Magnetic tapes for reproducing phenomena other than sound or imagem2Free
8523.29.30.00News sound recordings relating to current eventsNo.Free
8523.29.40OtherFree
8523.29.40.10Sound recordings on cassette tapesNo., m2Free
8523.29.40.20OtherNo., m2Free
8523.29.50Video tape recordingsFree
8523.29.50.10In cassetteslin. m, No.Free
8523.29.50.20Otherlin. mFree
8523.29.60.00Otherm2Free
8523.29.70Video tape recordingsFree
8523.29.70.10Of a width not exceeding 16 mm, in cassetteslin. m, No.Free
8523.29.70.20Otherlin. mFree
8523.29.80.00Otherm2Free
8523.29.90.00Otherm2Free
8523.41.00.00UnrecordedNo.Free
8523.49Othersee above
8523.49.20For reproducing phenomena other than sound or imageFree
8523.49.20.10Prepackaged software for automatic data processing machines, of a kind sold at retailNo., m2Free
8523.49.20.20OtherNo., m2Free
8523.49.30.00For reproducing sound onlyNo., m2Free
8523.49.40.00For reproducing representations of instructions, data, sound, and image, recorded in a machine readable binary form, and capable of being manipulated or providing interactivity to a user, by means of an automatic data processing machine; proprietary format recorded discsNo.Free
8523.49.50.00OtherNo.Free
8523.51.00.00Solid-state non-volatile storage devicesNo.Free
8523.52.00"Smart cards"Free
8523.52.00.10UnrecordedNo.Free
8523.52.00.90OtherNo.Free
8523.59.00.00OtherNo.Free
8523.80Othersee above
8523.80.10.00Phonograph recordsNo.Free
8523.80.20.00OtherNo.Free

What changed

No recorded change to this line since we began reading the schedule daily. That is the ordinary state: USITC revises it fifteen to eighteen times a year, and most codes are untouched in any given revision.

Email me when this code changes

One email if the duty on 8523 moves, or the line is reworded or withdrawn. USITC publishes revisions without a calendar, and a rate change applies to goods entered from the day it takes effect.

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Before you rely on this

Classification and the duties that finally apply to a shipment are a licensed customs broker's call. This page publishes the schedule as USITC does; it does not calculate what an entry will cost.

Source: Harmonized Tariff Schedule of the United States, U.S. International Trade Commission (public domain). Re-checked daily.