8428.40.00.00 - Escalators and moving walkways

HTS Code 8428.40.00.00 encompasses escalators and moving walkways, which are specialized types of machinery designed for the continuous transport of people or goods between different levels or along a horizontal path. These devices typically feature a series of steps or a continuous belt that moves in a loop, facilitating the gradual elevation or horizontal movement of passengers or merchandise.

This classification is distinct from its sibling categories, particularly from passenger or freight elevators (8428.10.00.00), which operate on a stop-and-start principle for discrete vertical transport. It also differs from pneumatic elevators and conveyors (8428.20.00), which utilize air pressure for material handling, and teleferics or chair lifts (8428.60.00.00), designed for transporting people over longer distances or inclines, often in mountainous terrain. Unlike industrial robots (8428.70.00.00), escalators and moving walkways are not characterized by automated manipulation but by continuous transit.

As this is a leaf node within the HTS structure, there are no further subcategories for 8428.40.00.00. Classification within this specific code is determined by the defining characteristics of a machine designed for continuous, gradual movement of people or materials, distinguishing it from other mechanical transit systems.