Analysis
HTS 2620.99.20 covers containing mainly tungsten under heading 2620 (slag, ash and residues (other than from the manufacture of iron or steel), containing…).
The general rate is 17.6¢/kg on tungsten content + 3.8%, a specific or compound duty rather than a simple percentage, so the effective burden depends on the unit value of the goods: cheap goods pay proportionally more than expensive ones. Importers usually convert it to an ad valorem equivalent to compare it with other lines.
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 17.6¢/kg on tungsten content + 3.8%. 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.
Census statistics map these goods to NAICS 331410 (Nonferrous Metal (except Aluminum) Smelting and Refining), an industry of 112 US establishments employing 8,755 people. That concordance is how imports of this line are compared with US output.
Neighbouring lines
| Line | Description | General rate |
|---|---|---|
| 2620.99.10 | Containing mainly vanadium | Free |
| 2620.99.30 | Materials not provided for elsewhere in this heading containing by weight over 10 percent nickel | Free |
| 2620.99.50 | Slag containing by weight over 40 percent titanium, and which if containing over 2 percent by weight of copper, lead, or zinc is not to be treated for the recovery thereof | Free |
| 2620.99.75 | Other: other materials which are residues not advanced in value or condition by any means, and which if containing over 2 percent by weight of copper, lead or zinc are not to be treated for the recovery thereof | Free |
| 2620.99.85 | Other: other | Free |