2707.99.55

Analysis

HTS 2707.99.55 covers metacresol, orthocresol, paracresol and metaparacresol, all the foregoing having a purity of 75 percent or more by weight under heading 2707 (oils and other products of the distillation of high temperature coal tar; similar…).

The general rate is 0.9¢/kg + 3%, 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 0.9¢/kg + 3%. 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 325194 (Cyclic Crude, Intermediate, and Gum and Wood Chemical Manufacturing), an industry of 68 US establishments employing 5,542 people. That concordance is how imports of this line are compared with US output.