Importers of HS 8512.20 (visual signaling equipment) from Taiwan actually paid 15.23% on the taxed portion of the value in 2026-06 — 14.37% across everything shipped, taxed or not. Measured from official duty receipts, not the rulebook: the statutory MFN base rate on this code is 2.5%. Over the window the rate on the taxed portion moved 2.5% → 15.23%, with the largest single step +17.1pp in 2025-05. Measured from official US duty receipts · as-of 2026-06 · confidence: measured, not modelled. The HTS base rate is 2.5% — importers actually paid 15.23%, so the trade-war overlay added 12.7 pts, measured at the border (not a summed rulebook estimate). Reproduce exactly: tariff_story(hs: "8512.20", origin: "Taiwan") · see it at trimtabist.com/tariffs
HS 8512.20. The schedule base rate is 2.5%; importers from Taiwan actually paid 15.23% on the dutiable value in 2026-06 — the trade-war overlay added 12.7 points, measured at the border. Measured, not modelled.
Over the window the collected rate moved 2.5% (2023-07) → 15.23% (2026-06), largest single step +17.1pp in 2025-05.
Taiwan's lower duty (14.37% vs 37.31%) lets it price up to 20.1% above China at the factory and still match on duty-inclusive customs cost. But on the LATEST measured prices, China actually lands cheaper — $10.08/kg vs $21.39/kg (duty in, freight out).
2 Chapter-99 measures name Taiwan; scope mapping is partial (several annexes are PDFs) — absence never means exemption. They do not sum, and some are product-specific — the collected rate above is the composed truth.
All goods from Taiwan · the whole tariff ledger · 7 CBP rulings cite this code · reproduce: tariff_story(hs: "8512.20", origin: "Taiwan") via /connect. Not customs or legal advice.