Tariff monitor · Machinery & Equipment

Metal-cutting machine tools: statutory & effective tariff rates

Statutory HTS duty rates for 59 metal-cutting machine tools tariff lines (MFN Free–5.8%), from USITC. Effective rate May 2026: 10.64%; monthly history since 2020.

Statutory rates from the schedule

  • Laser/EDM machines, machining centers, lathes, milling and drilling machines, and grinders — the machining capex base. This family covers HTS headings 8456, 8457, 8458, 8459, 8460, 8461: 59 eight-digit rate lines with MFN (column 1, general) rates of Free–5.8% in the 2026 schedule.
  • Chapter 99 flags on individual lines mark Section 301/232 overlay provisions (e.g. 9903.88.01) that apply on top of the MFN column.

What importers actually paid

  • Latest month on record (2026-05): 10.64% effective on $414.4M of imports, versus 10.1% in the same month a year earlier. The monthly archive holds 77 observations from 2020-01 through 2026-05.
  • In 2025, U.S. imports for consumption in this family totaled $4.3B in customs value and paid $410.1M in calculated duties: an effective tariff rate of 9.45%. The effective rate captures Section 301/232 overlays, exclusions, and special-program use that the statutory column cannot.
  • A year earlier the effective rate was 3.41%, so the duty burden rose 6.0 points.
  • Top source countries in 2025: Japan ($1.2B at 4.96%), Germany ($954.3M at 8.3%), South Korea ($472.3M at 7.95%), Italy ($326.2M at 9.56%), Taiwan ($259.4M at 13.07%).

Representative rate lines

  • 8456.11.10: For working metal — MFN 3.5%
  • 8456.11.70.00: Of a kind used solely or principally for the manufacture of printed circuits, printed circ — MFN Free
  • 8456.11.90.00: Other — MFN 2.4%
  • 8456.12.10: For working metal — MFN 3.5%
  • 8456.12.70.00: Of a kind used solely or principally for the manufacture of printed circuits, printed circ — MFN Free
  • 8456.12.90.00: Other — MFN 2.4%
  • 8456.20.10: For working metal — MFN 3.5%
  • 8456.20.50.00: Other — MFN 2.4%

About this data

  • Reference statistics derived from USITC published data. Not a customs ruling; verify rates with a licensed customs broker before relying on them.

Last reviewed 2026-05-12.