HS Code 851762: Free Rate, and No 301 on This Subheading
Last updated October 29, 2026·Data as-of: HTS 2026-10-19 / Section 301 2026-10-16 / AD-CVD 2026-10-16
Short answer: HS 851762 — machines for the reception, conversion and transmission of voice or data — is the rare heading in this family where the duty is genuinely zero: all 4 formatted US lines are Free, and 0 of 1 eight-digit code is enumerated under a China Section 301 action heading in our snapshot, while 5 sibling subheadings under 8517 are.
What HS code 851762 covers
8517.62 is the networking line: routers, switches, modems and the machines that convert or route data. It is the one heading in this family where a US importer can still enter at a zero general rate, which makes it the cleanest test of whether a supplier's quoted duty is based on the schedule or on a guess.*
The heading is a basket in the technical sense: the six digits fix the product family, and every distinction your invoice needs lives to the right of them. In our US schedule snapshot, 851762 expands to 4 formatted lines that collapse to 1 distinct eight-digit codes — the 1 codes are what a broker will ask you to choose between, and the extra digits distinguish units, uses and statutory notes.
How the heading splits: 1 eight-digit codes
The table lists every eight-digit code under the heading with its published general rate and, where one applies, the Section 301 action heading and rate that stacks on top. Reading the two rate columns together is the difference between a duty estimate and a guess.
The last column folds the Section 301 action and the stacked rate into one cell so the table stays readable on a phone.
| HTS line | Description | General | 301 action (stacked) |
|---|---|---|---|
| 8517.62.00 | Machines for the reception, conversion and transmission or regeneration of voice, images or other data, including switching and routing apparatus | Free | no 301 action |
Source: Recomputed from data/hts.json joined to data/section301_origin.json — https://hts.usitc.gov/reststop/exportList?from=0100&to=9999&format=JSON&styles=false (fetched 2026-10-19).
The whole subheading is a single eight-digit code, 8517.62.00, split into four ten-digit lines by product type: modems used with data-processing machines, switching and routing apparatus, and 'other'. The rate is Free on all four, so the ten-digit choice changes documentation, not duty.*
The duty spread: Free on every line
Across the 1 eight-digit codes, 4 carry a Free general rate and 0 carry an ad valorem rate between n/a% and n/a% (median n/a%). 0 lines are charged on a specific or compound basis — cents per kilogram, or a compound rate — and those are the ones a percentage calculator silently gets wrong.
There is no rate spread to argue about: every line is Free. The interesting variance sits in the classification boundary instead — whether the article is a 8517.62 router, a 8517.69 'other' transmission device, or a part under a different heading.*
| General-rate bucket | Eight-digit codes | What it means on entry |
|---|---|---|
| Free | 4 | no ad valorem duty from the schedule |
| ad valorem 0.1%-5.0% | 0 | percentage of customs value |
| ad valorem above 5.0% | 0 | percentage of customs value |
| specific or compound | 0 | charged by weight or as cents plus percent |
Source: Rate buckets recomputed from data/hts.json records under the heading — https://hts.usitc.gov/reststop/exportList?from=0100&to=9999&format=JSON&styles=false (fetched 2026-10-19).
Section 301 overlay: 0 of 1 eight-digit codes (0.0%)*
This is the finding worth carrying away: 8517.62.00 is not enumerated under a China Section 301 action heading in our Chapter 99 snapshot, while five sibling subheadings in the same heading are (at 7.5% and 25%). Anyone quoting a 25% addition for a router is applying a sibling's rate to the wrong line.*
| Section 301 action heading | Additional rate | Eight-digit codes under it |
|---|
Source: Per-code Section 301 enumeration extracted into data/section301_origin.json — https://hts.usitc.gov/reststop/file?release=currentRelease&filename=Chapter%2099 (fetched 2026-10-16).
Nationally the same programme covers 91.5% of the 11,414 eight-digit lines in our snapshot; the heading you are reading sits below that average, which is worth knowing before you assume a sourcing switch will save duty.*
Anti-dumping and countervailing exposure
No case number in our Federal Register table lists 851762, so there is no anti-dumping layer on this subheading in the extraction.
Six-digit codes in our Federal Register case table: 0 case numbers list 851762 as a candidate code — none. That is a statement about our extraction, not a clearance: absence from the table means no case in the 2,756 lifecycle records we parsed, and a case published after the extraction date would not appear.
Classification disputes: 3 CBP rulings touch this heading
Three rulings in our CROSS sample start from 8517.62, including consumer electronics classification questions — the disputes are about function and identity, not about rate.*
| CBP ruling | Issued | Subject (CROSS title, truncated) |
|---|---|---|
| N026539 | 2008-05-22 | The tariff classification of BigIron Series, Edge Ir |
| H260060 | 2015-07-14 | Tariff classification of the Apple “Apple Watch” wea |
| H265038 | 2016-02-23 | Tariff classification of the Movado “M1 Bold” wearab |
Source: Sampled from data/cross_rulings_full.json where hs8_prefixes start with this heading — https://rulings.cbp.gov/api/ (fetched 2026-10-29).
Rulings are the closest thing to a precedent system US classification has: a published ruling on a comparable article is the strongest support available for the line you declare, and it costs nothing to cite one on your entry file.
Why 'free' still needs a correct ten-digit line
A Free rate does not make the code optional: entry still requires the line, the country of origin and the value, and those fields drive the fee stack even when duty is zero. Neither 8517.62.99 nor 8517.62.97 appears in the US snapshot, so a ten-digit number from an EU lookup will not map.*
How to read the rate column on this heading
Three kinds of entry appear in the tables above and each needs a different arithmetic. Ad valorem lines are a percentage of the customs value and multiply cleanly. Free lines owe nothing from the schedule — 4 of the 1 codes here — but still owe the entry fee stack. Specific and compound lines are charged by weight or as cents plus a percentage; this heading has 0 of them, and a calculator that only understands percentages will report zero duty on those lines, which is the single most expensive silent failure in tariff tooling. The “stacked” column adds the Section 301 rate to the general rate only when both are ad valorem; where the general rate is specific, the two do not simply add.What this page does not measure
This page reports the schedule as extracted on the date in the header, plus the Section 301 enumeration and the CBP ruling and AD/CVD samples described above. It does not report search volume, CBP processing times, or examination rates — we hold no dataset for any of the three, and inventing a number for them would be the one thing a sourced page cannot do. Absence of an AD/CVD case or a ruling on this subheading means absence from the extractions we hold, not absence from the world; both tables record their own fetch dates so the gap is visible rather than implied.What to check next
For networking equipment, confirm the line is 8517.62 and not 8517.69, then verify that no sibling rate is being applied by habit. The calculator below runs the full stack, not just the general rate.
Three checks settle most of the cost before you speak to anyone: run the code and origin through the landed-cost calculator, confirm the eight-digit line against the HTS browser, and check the code-and-country pair in the AD/CVD case table. The raw files behind all three are published under datasets.*
What is HS code 851762?
HS 8517.62 is a six-digit subheading of the US tariff schedule that expands into 1 eight-digit codes and 4 formatted lines in our snapshot; the six digits fix the product family and the digits to the right fix the rate.*
How many US tariff lines are under 851762?
4 formatted lines, collapsing to 1 distinct eight-digit codes — that second number is the one a broker needs from you.
What duty rate applies to 851762?
Free on all 4 formatted lines (the subheading has 0 ad valorem and 0 specific-rate lines), and no China Section 301 action on 8517.62.00 in our snapshot.*
Is 851762 subject to Section 301?
0 of the 1 eight-digit codes under this subheading (0.0%) are enumerated under a China Section 301 action heading in our snapshot, at the rates listed in the table above.*
Can I declare 851762 directly?
No. Only a complete HTS line (eight or ten digits, depending on the line) can be declared; the six-digit subheading is a lookup key, not an entry line.