Heading 8518 covers microphones, loudspeakers, headphones, earphones, and combined microphone and speaker sets. The heading is the product group, and the subheading 8518.30 is the line for headphones and earphones, whether or not combined with a microphone, and sets consisting of a microphone and one or more loudspeakers. The first six digits, 8518.30, are the international code, shared by every country that uses the Harmonized System.
The digits after that are the US rate line, where the duty is set, and the statistical suffix. The rate on 8518.30 is the MFN rate for the line, and the Section 301 status depends on the origin and the 9903 line, not on the product. A headphone from one country and the same headphone from another can carry different totals, and the difference is the chapter 99 line, not the heading.
The rule that decides the heading is GRI 1: classify by the terms of the headings and the section and chapter notes. A headphone is classified as a headphone because the heading says headphones, and the notes do not exclude it. The features do not change the heading unless they change the product's essential character.
The first error is the microphone. An earbud with a built-in microphone is still an earphone under 8518.30, because the subheading expressly includes earphones whether or not combined with a microphone. The microphone does not move it to the microphone line, and it does not create a second classification. The product is one article, and it takes one heading.
The second error is the Bluetooth radio. A wireless headphone is still a headphone, because the radio is the means of connection, not the function. The function is converting an electrical signal into sound at the ear, and the heading describes that function. A product that is a radio with a headphone attached would be a different article, but a headphone with a radio inside is a headphone.
The third error is the gaming headset. A headset sold for gaming, with a boom microphone and a USB connection, is still a headphone under 8518.30, because the heading does not distinguish by use. The marketing says gaming. The schedule says headphones. The coffee machine rule is the same: the espresso maker with a grinder stays in its heading because brewing is the primary function, and the grinder does not move it.
Read the section and chapter notes for chapter 85 before you file. The notes exclude some goods from the chapter entirely, and an exclusion in the notes overrides the heading text. A product that looks like a headphone but is part of a hearing aid, for example, is classified with the hearing aid, not with the headphones, because the notes say so.
Check CBP's CROSS database for a ruling on a similar product. A ruling on wireless earbuds with active noise cancellation is the closest thing to a safe answer for your wireless earbuds with active noise cancellation, and the ruling will say which subheading CBP chose and why. The GRI walkthrough is the method: start at GRI 1, move to the later rules only when the heading text and the notes do not resolve the question.
And keep the description honest. The entry description should say what the product is, in the words of the heading, not what the marketing calls it. A product described as a gaming audio system invites a different heading from a product described as headphones with a microphone, and the description on the entry is the one CBP reads.
Heading 8518, subheading 8518.30, for headphones and earphones, whether or not combined with a microphone. The first six digits are the international code; digits seven and eight are the US rate line.
No. Subheading 8518.30 expressly includes earphones whether or not combined with a microphone. The microphone does not move the product to the microphone line.
No. A wireless headphone is still a headphone, because the radio is the means of connection, not the function. Active noise cancellation is a feature of the headphone, not a different product.
Read the chapter 85 notes, because an exclusion in the notes overrides the heading text, and check CBP's CROSS database for a ruling on a similar product. Describe the goods in the words of the heading, not the marketing.