8518.21.00.00 - Single loudspeakers, mounted in their enclosures

This HTS classification covers single loudspeakers, which are devices designed to convert electrical energy into sound waves. For an item to fall under this heading, it must be a single loudspeaker unit and it must be mounted within its own enclosure. This enclosure can be a standalone housing, a portable cabinet, or a built-in mounting structure, as long as it contains only one loudspeaker driver. The classification emphasizes the singular nature of the speaker component within its housing.

It is crucial to distinguish this category from its sibling, HTS 8518.22.00.00, which specifically enumerates "Multiple loudspeakers, mounted in the same enclosure." The key differentiator is the quantity of loudspeaker drivers. If an enclosure houses two or more separate loudspeaker units, it would be classified under 8518.22.00.00, not under this heading for single units. Similarly, standalone loudspeaker drivers without an enclosure, or loudspeakers mounted in enclosures containing other components like amplifiers (unless those amplifiers are integral and solely for the loudspeaker), would generally fall under different classifications.

As HTS 8518.21.00.00 represents a leaf node within the tariff schedule, there are no further subcategories to introduce. Classification at this level is determined by the presence of a single loudspeaker component mounted within its designated enclosure. This includes a wide range of common audio equipment such as individual bookshelf speakers, car door speakers, or single-speaker PA cabinets, provided they meet the single-driver criterion.