DutyCheckSample

A real dossier — the exact format you receive

This dossier was generated for a flexible smartphone tripod with a Bluetooth shutter remote imported from China — a real run of the same pipeline you're buying, on the declared values shown below. Every cited ruling links to the full public ruling text, and every quoted rate comes from the tariff-schedule rows fetched for the run.

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Recommended classification

Medium confidence

9620.00.50.00

Of plastics

Heading 9620 is an eo nomine provision specifically covering tripods and similar articles, and the flexible smartphone tripod with bendable (plastic) legs clearly falls within it under GRI 1. The 10-digit code 9620.00.50.00 (of plastics) is supported by the bendable/flexible leg construction typical of plastic/rubber-like material. However, the retail set includes a detachable Bluetooth shutter remote, creating a GRI 3(b) set classification question. Because the tripod is the article that gives the set its essential character (the remote is ancillary/detachable), 9620 still controls, but confirmation of the leg material (plastics vs. metal) is needed to lock the 10-digit code. No on-point CBP ruling was supplied for this product combination.

Your product

Description: Flexible smartphone tripod with bendable wrap-around legs and a detachable Bluetooth shutter remote control, sold together as one retail unit
Country of origin: China
Declared unit value: $6.40
Annual units: 24,000

How we got there

GRI Reasoning

Step 1 – GRI 1: Heading-level analysis

Heading 9620 covers "Monopods, bipods, tripods and similar articles" — an eo nomine provision created specifically for camera/device support products. A flexible smartphone tripod with bendable wrap-around legs is squarely described by this heading under GRI 1. This specific provision controls over general alternatives such as 8517 (wireless apparatus), 8543 (electrical machines NES), or 3926 (articles of plastics).

The Bluetooth shutter remote is a detachable component sold in the same retail unit. Standing alone it might be considered under 8517.62.00.90 (other wireless transmission/reception apparatus) or 8543.70.98.60 (other electrical apparatus NES). However, it does not drive the heading decision for the set.

Step 2 – GRI 3(b): Retail set / essential character

The product is sold as one retail unit comprising two articles: (1) a flexible tripod and (2) a detachable Bluetooth remote. This is a "set put up for retail sale" under GRI 3(b). Essential character is assessed by the role, bulk, quantity, weight, and value of each component. The tripod is the primary and dominant article — it provides the physical support function that the product is named and marketed for. The Bluetooth remote is a convenience accessory that is detachable and subordinate. Essential character therefore resides in the tripod, and classification follows heading 9620.

Step 3 – Subheading selection within 9620

The 9620 subheadings relevant to a smartphone tripod are:

9620.00.10.00 — Accessories for heading 8519/8521 apparatus (audio/video recorders): Not applicable; smartphones are not heading 8519/8521 articles.
9620.00.20.00 — Accessories for photographic cameras (heading 9006): Smartphones are not heading 9006 cameras.
9620.00.50.00 — Other: Of plastics (general rate 5.3%): Applicable if legs are of plastic construction.
9620.00.65.00 — Other: Of iron or steel (general rate 2.9%): Applicable if legs are steel.
9620.00.70.00 — Other: Of aluminum (general rate 2.5%): Applicable if legs are aluminum.

Flexible/bendable wrap-around legs on a low-cost ($6.40/unit) smartphone tripod are characteristically made of flexible plastic (TPU or similar rubber-like plastic). Accordingly, 9620.00.50.00 (Of plastics, general rate 5.3%) is the recommended 10-digit code, subject to confirmation of leg material.

Step 4 – Additional overlay flags

Footnote on 9620.00.50.00 references 9903.88.03 as an additional-overlay heading. This is a Section 301 China tariff overlay. The broker/importer must verify the current applicability and rate of any 9903 additional duty at time of entry — this analysis does not invent or quote a rate for that overlay.

Step 5 – Ruling analysis

The only supplied ruling (N230145) classified a wired camera remote switch under 8537.10.9070 and a Bluetooth wireless keyboard under 8471.60.2000. Neither classification is directly analogous to a flexible tripod retail set, and N230145 does not address heading 9620 or GRI 3(b) essential character for tripod-remote combinations. It is therefore cited for context only and does not alter the recommended classification.

Duty summary (China origin, general column)

9620.00.50.00: 5.3% ad valorem (general); other (col. 2): 80%
Additional Section 301 overlay (9903.88.03): verify at entry

Annual duty estimate (illustrative, general rate only, excluding 9903 overlay)

24,000 units × $6.40 = $153,600 dutiable value
5.3% × $153,600 ≈ $8,141 base duty (before any 9903 additional duty)

Cited CBP rulings

Ruling N230145September 4, 2012

What it classified: A wired camera remote switch (classified 8537.10.9070) and a Bluetooth wireless keyboard (classified 8471.60.2000), both sold as Samsung accessories.

Why it matters here: Tangentially relevant because it addressed classification of a Bluetooth wireless device and a camera remote control, concluding that heading 8543 was inapplicable for the keyboard because the article was specified elsewhere, and that heading 8544 was inapplicable for the wired remote. It confirms that specific-function camera remotes are not automatically classified in 8543 or 8544, supporting the view that the remote component does not control heading selection for this retail set. Not directly on-point for heading 9620 or for the GRI 3(b) essential-character analysis of a tripod-remote set.

Every ruling cited above was verified to exist in CBP's CROSS rulings database before this dossier was released. Each link opens the full public ruling text.

Alternatives considered

Code	Description	General rate	Note
9620.00.65.00	Of iron or steel	2.9%	Of iron or steel, general rate 2.9%, other 45% — applicable if the bendable legs are confirmed to be steel wire/tubing rather than plastic. Material confirmation required.
9620.00.70.00	Of aluminum	2.5%	Of aluminum, general rate 2.5%, other 45% — applicable if legs are aluminum alloy. Material confirmation required.
8517.62.00.90	Machines for the reception, conversion and transmission or regeneration of voice, images or other data, including switching and routing apparatus	Free	Other machines for reception/transmission/conversion of data in wireless networks, general rate Free — would apply only if CBP determined the Bluetooth remote is the essential character of the retail set under GRI 3(b), displacing the tripod. Considered unlikely given the tripod's dominant role, bulk, and commercial identity of the product.
8543.70.98.60	Other	2.6%	Other electrical machines and apparatus NES, general rate 2.6%, other 35% — alternative for the Bluetooth remote if classified independently or if CBP finds neither 9620 nor 8517 applicable to the set. Less likely given 9620's eo nomine coverage of the dominant tripod component.

Rates are the column-1 general rates from the tariff schedule rows fetched for this run — including the alternatives that would cost more. Same input, same recommendation, every time.

What it costs at your volumes

Rates as of July 5, 2026, from the tariff schedule rows fetched for this run.

Annual declared value: $153,600 (24,000 units × $6.40)
Base rate — 9620.00.50.00: 5.3%≈ $0.339 per unit
Est. annual base duty: $8,141

Chapter-99 overlay headings apply to this code

9903.88.03The duty provided in the applicable subheading + 25% — Except as provided in headings 9903.88.13, 9903.88.18, 9903.88.33, 9903.88.34, 9903.88.35, 9903.88.36, 9903.88.37, 9903.88.38, 9903.88.40, 9903.88.41, 9903.88.43, 9903.88.45, 9903.88.46, 9903.88.48, 9903.88.56, 9903.88.64, 9903.88.66, 9903.88.67, 9903.88.68, or 9903.88.69, articles the product of China, as provided for in U.S. note 20(e) to this subchapter and as provided for in the subheadings enumerated in U.S. note 20(f)

Overlay rates change through USTR action — verify the current overlay rate with your broker at the time of entry before relying on any combined figure.

The question to put to your licensed broker

The confidence tier on this dossier means part of the call needs a licensed customs broker (or a free CBP binding ruling). Here is the exact question, ready to paste:

Are the bendable wrap-around legs of this tripod constructed primarily of plastics (e.g., flexible TPU/rubber-like plastic) or of metal? And has CBP issued any binding ruling on GRI 3(b) essential-character analysis for a retail set combining a flexible smartphone tripod with a detachable Bluetooth shutter remote, confirming the tripod as the essential character article?

This dossier is documented analysis with cited public precedent — not legal advice, not a CBP ruling, and not a substitute for a licensed customs broker. For a binding classification, CBP's eRulings program issues binding rulings at no charge.

Generated July 5, 2026 · tariff schedule and rulings fetched July 5, 2026.

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