2523.90.00

Analysis

HTS 2523.90.00 covers portland cement, aluminous cement, slag cement, supersulfate cement and similar hydraulic cements, whether or not colored or in the form of clinkers: other… under heading 2523 (portland cement, aluminous cement, slag cement, supersulfate cement and similar hydraulic…).

The normal trade relations rate here is zero, shared by about 91% of the 78 tariff lines in chapter 25, a useful check when a neighbouring dutiable line is a candidate. Free here means free of the base duty only: origin-specific Chapter 99 duties such as Section 301 can still be owed.

The other lines in the same group are 2523.10.00 (portland cement, aluminous cement, slag cement…, duty-free), 2523.21.00 (white cement, whether or not artificially colored, duty-free), 2523.29.00 (portland cement: other, duty-free) and 2523.30.00 (portland cement, aluminous cement, slag cement…, duty-free).

Census statistics map these goods to NAICS 327310 (Cement Manufacturing), an industry of 192 US establishments employing 12,781 people. That concordance is how imports of this line are compared with US output.

All 4 neighbouring lines carry the same duty-free rate, so a borderline choice between them changes the statistics reported, not the duty paid.