Analysis
HTS 2811.22.10 covers synthetic silica gel under heading 2811 (other inorganic acids and other inorganic oxygen compounds of nonmetals).
Within this group the rate runs from duty-free to 4.2%. Compared with 2811.29.20 (other: selenium dioxide), which pays duty-free, a misclassification either way moves the duty by 3.7 percentage points.
The general duty rate is 3.7% of the customs value, which is in the middle of the rates in chapter 28 (67th percentile of 274 lines with an ad valorem rate). On a shipment valued at $10,000 that is $370 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 3.7%. 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%, 6.8 times the general rate.
Census statistics map these goods to NAICS 325180 (Other Basic Inorganic Chemical Manufacturing), an industry of 705 US establishments employing 41,447 people. That concordance is how imports of this line are compared with US output.
Neighbouring lines
| Line | Description | General rate |
|---|---|---|
| 2811.11.00 | Hydrogen fluoride (Hydrofluoric acid) | Free |
| 2811.12.00 | Hydrogen cyanide (hydrocyanic acid) | 4.2% |
| 2811.19.10 | Other: arsenic acid | 2.3% |
| 2811.19.30 | Other: hydrobromic acid | Free |
| 2811.19.61 | Other: other | 4.2% |
| 2811.21.00 | Other inorganic oxygen compounds of nonmetals: carbon dioxide | 3.7% |
| 2811.22.50 | Silicon dioxide: other | Free |
| 2811.29.10 | Other: arsenic trioxide | Free |
| 2811.29.20 | Other: selenium dioxide | Free |
| 2811.29.30 | Other: sulfur dioxide | 4.2% |
| 2811.29.50 | Other: other | 3.7% |