I just bought a new cassette for my bike from the UK, and am trying to decide where to have it shipped – here in the US, or to relatives in the UK. So to the US Customs site I go to work out what the rates are. The link to the rates isn’t obvious, but I spot a FAQ link and follow it like an eager puppy chasing a toilet roll. Here are the instructions on how to find the ‘Harmonized Tariff Schedule, direct from the site:

To locate the current Harmonized Tariff Schedule (HTS) visit www.cbp.gov click on Import (at the top of the page), click on Duty Rates (on the left), under “On the Web” (on the far right) click on 2005 HTS (U.S. International Trade Commission) or 2005 HTS by Chapter.

Oh if only there were some feature of the Interweb that allowed for direct linking to a particular page. Wait, ‘linking’, that’s it, we could call them links, and we could make them blue and underline them to make them stand out on the page.

Stage two is to work out what it counts as.

• Fish and crustaceans, molluscs and other aquatic invertebrates – No.
• Edible fruit and nuts; peel of citrus fruit or melons – Ye..oh wait, *citrus* fruits. No
• Ores, slag and ash – Of course not, but I can’t just skip over the word slag
• Impregnated, coated, covered or laminated textile fabrics; textile articles of a kind suitable for industrial use – See previous item, only this time it’s ‘impregnated’
• Nuclear reactors, boilers, machinery and mechanical appliances; parts thereof – No, but we’re getting warmer
• Vehicles other than railway or tramway rolling stock, and parts and accessories thereof – Bingo!

Opening the pdf, we first find the following comment:

Heading 8712 includes all children’s bicycles. Other children’s cycles fall in heading 9501.

That’s a pretty sophisticated parsing of bicycle versus cycle, but fortunately I’m all growed up.

Tractors, tractors, motor cars motor cars motor cars, parts, tanks, motorcycles, wait, did that say tanks?

OK, bicycles. Hmm, are my tires greater than 63.5cm in diameter? Google, 700c is 622mm, plus the tire on either side gives more than 63.5 I think. So the bike itself would be covered by 8712.00.25, so the parts are covered by 8714. Here we go, 8714.93.70.00, “Multiple free-wheel sprockets”. Well that sounds more like something I would use on my patented safety velocipede, but I think this is it.

…

Free!

Or possibly 30%, if I knew what column 2 meant. Ah, Cuba and North Korea, I’m safe. And I see products of the West Bank and Gaza Strip are covered under column one – have to make a mental note of that just in case.