8485.20.00.00 - By plastics or rubber deposit

This HTS category, 8485.20.00.00, specifically covers machines designed for additive manufacturing, also known as 3D printing, where the building material is deposited in the form of plastics or rubber. These machines utilize a layer-by-layer process to construct three-dimensional objects from digital models, relying on the application and fusion or solidification of plastic or rubber materials.

Distinguishing this category from its siblings, machines classified under 8485.10.01.00 utilize metal as the primary deposition material. Similarly, 8485.30.00.00 encompasses additive manufacturing machines employing plaster, cement, ceramics, or glass. The "Other" category (8485.80.00.00) serves as a residual for additive manufacturing machines that do not fit the specific material classifications of plastics, rubber, metal, plaster, cement, ceramics, or glass.

As a leaf node, 8485.20.00.00 does not have further subdivisions. Therefore, classification within this heading is determined by the primary material used in the deposition process. Examples include fused deposition modeling (FDM) printers utilizing thermoplastic filaments, stereolithography (SLA) printers curing liquid photopolymers, and selective laser sintering (SLS) printers fusing powdered plastics. The core criterion for classification here is the machine's capability to build objects by depositing plastic or rubber materials layer by layer.