Importers of HS 9608.10 (ball point pens) from Japan actually paid 17.32% on the taxed portion of the value in 2026-06 — 17.31% across everything shipped, taxed or not. Measured from official duty receipts, not the rulebook: the statutory MFN base rate on this code is 0.8¢ each + 5.4%. Over the window the rate on the taxed portion moved 7.46% → 17.32%, with the largest single step +7.5pp in 2025-05. Measured from official US duty receipts · as-of 2026-06 · confidence: measured, not modelled. Collected 17.32% against an HTS base of 0.8¢ each + 5.4%. Reproduce exactly: tariff_story(hs: "9608.10", origin: "Japan") · see it at trimtabist.com/tariffs
HS 9608.10. The schedule base rate is 0.8¢ each + 5.4%; importers from Japan actually paid 17.32% on the dutiable value in 2026-06. Measured, not modelled.
Over the window the collected rate moved 7.46% (2023-07) → 17.32% (2026-06), largest single step +7.5pp in 2025-05.
Japan's lower duty (17.31% vs 26.86%) lets it price up to 8.1% above China at the factory and still match on duty-inclusive customs cost. But on the LATEST measured prices, China actually lands cheaper — $12.25/kg vs $38.5/kg (duty in, freight out).
12 Chapter-99 measures name Japan; 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 Japan · the whole tariff ledger · 5 CBP rulings cite this code · reproduce: tariff_story(hs: "9608.10", origin: "Japan") via /connect. Not customs or legal advice.