Trade and legal rules
CKD and SKD Kit Assembly
CKD and SKD are industry names for unassembled and partly assembled vehicle kits. U.S. duty follows the HTS classification of the shipment.
Data as of October 2, 2026
This page is factual and informational only. It is not legal advice.
CKD means completely knocked down. SKD means semi-knocked down. In the auto trade, those phrases mean a vehicle shipped as a kit, or as a partly built kit, for assembly in the importing country. This page did not find a U.S. statute that adopts CKD or SKD as a general duty exemption. If that reading is incomplete, the HTS and a CBP ruling control, not this page. [3] [2]
The HTS General Rules of Interpretation decide classification. General Rule of Interpretation 2(a) says that a reference to an article includes the article incomplete or unfinished, and includes the article complete or finished but unassembled or disassembled, when the imported item has the essential character of the complete or finished article. A kit that has the essential character of a vehicle can be classified as that vehicle. This page does not say that shipping a truck as a kit changes the chicken-tax heading. Classification is fact-specific. CBP makes it for the shipment. [1] [2]
Sources
- [1] General Rules of Interpretation, Harmonized Tariff Schedule — U.S. International Trade Commission
- [2] Determining Duty Rates — U.S. Customs and Border Protection
- [3] Harmonized Tariff Schedule — U.S. International Trade Commission
Cars affected
Published catalog cars whose public notes, description, specs, name, or stated country match this term. A match is not a legal conclusion about that car.
- Proton X702022
Malaysia