Importers of HS 8544.60 (fitted with connectors) from Korea, South actually paid 20.33% on the taxed portion of the value in 2026-06 — 20.26% across everything shipped, taxed or not. Measured from official duty receipts, not the rulebook: the statutory MFN base rate on this code is 3.7%. Over the window the rate on the taxed portion moved 3.2% → 20.33%, with the largest single step +6.4pp in 2025-08. Measured from official US duty receipts · as-of 2026-06 · confidence: measured, not modelled. The HTS base rate is 3.7% — importers actually paid 20.33%, so the trade-war overlay added 16.6 pts, measured at the border (not a summed rulebook estimate). Reproduce exactly: tariff_story(hs: "8544.60", origin: "Korea, South") · see it at trimtabist.com/tariffs
HS 8544.60. The schedule base rate is 3.7%; importers from South Korea actually paid 20.33% on the dutiable value in 2026-06 — the trade-war overlay added 16.6 points, measured at the border. Measured, not modelled.
Over the window the collected rate moved 3.2% (2023-07) → 20.33% (2026-06), largest single step +6.4pp in 2025-08.
Korea, South's lower duty (20.26% vs 45.63%) lets it price up to 21.1% above China at the factory and still match on duty-inclusive customs cost. But on the LATEST measured prices, China actually lands cheaper — $5.01/kg vs $8.82/kg (duty in, freight out).
2 Chapter-99 measures name Korea, South; 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 South Korea · the whole tariff ledger · 4 CBP rulings cite this code · reproduce: tariff_story(hs: "8544.60", origin: "South Korea") via /connect. Not customs or legal advice.