Analysis
HTS 1604.14.50 covers not in airtight containers: other under heading 1604 (prepared or preserved fish; caviar and caviar substitutes prepared from fish eggs).
Neighbouring lines carry rates from 4.9% to 35%, so the exact line matters. The widest gap is with 1604.14.10 (in airtight containers: in oil), at 35%: a product that belongs there but is entered here, or the reverse, changes the duty by 29 percentage points.
The general duty rate is 6% of the customs value, which is above most the rates in chapter 16 (76th percentile of 108 lines with an ad valorem rate). On a shipment valued at $10,000 that is $600 in duty before any Chapter 99 additions or preference claims.
Goods that qualify under GSP, the Australia FTA, the Bahrain FTA, the Chile FTA, the Colombia TPA, and 12 others can enter duty-free instead of paying 6%. It is also eligible under GSP, the developing-country programme, which Congress has to renew; check whether GSP is in force on the entry date.
The column 2 rate, for countries without normal trade relations, is 25%, 4.2 times the general rate.
Neighbouring lines
| Line | Description | General rate |
|---|---|---|
| 1604.14.10 | In airtight containers: in oil | 35% |
| 1604.14.22 | In containers weighing with their contents not over 7 kg each, and not the product of any insular possession of the United States, for an aggregate quantity entered in any calendar year not to exceed 4.8 percent of apparent United States consumption of tuna in airtight containers during the immediately preceding year, as reported by the National Marine Fisheries Service | 6% |
| 1604.14.30 | Not in oil: other | 12.5% |
| 1604.14.40 | In bulk or in immediate containers weighing with their contents over 6.8 kg each, not in oil | 1.1¢/kg |
| 1604.14.70 | Bonito (Sarda spp.): in oil | 4.9% |
| 1604.14.80 | Bonito (Sarda spp.): not in oil | 6% |