Analysis
HTS 2941.50.00 covers erythromycin and its derivatives; salts thereof under heading 2941 (antibiotics).
Within this group the rate runs from duty-free to 3.5%. Compared with 2941.20.10 (dihydrostreptomycin and its derivatives; salts thereof), which pays 3.5%, a misclassification either way moves the duty by 3.5 percentage points.
The normal trade relations rate here is zero, shared by about 26% of the 1050 tariff lines in chapter 29, 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.
Goods from countries without normal trade relations pay the column 2 rate of 25% instead of nothing, so origin decides between free entry and a 25% duty.
Census statistics map these goods to NAICS 325412 (Pharmaceutical Preparation Manufacturing), an industry of 1,436 US establishments employing 170,029 people. That concordance is how imports of this line are compared with US output.
The general rate of Free has not changed in any edition of the schedule since Jan 2023.
Neighbouring lines
| Line | Description | General rate |
|---|---|---|
| 2941.10.10 | Ampicillin and its salts | Free |
| 2941.10.20 | Penicillin G salts | Free |
| 2941.10.30 | Carfecillin, sodium; Cloxacillin, sodium; Dicloxacillin, sodium; Flucloxacillin (Floxacillin); and Oxacillin, sodium | Free |
| 2941.10.50 | Other: other | Free |
| 2941.20.10 | Dihydrostreptomycin and its derivatives; salts thereof | 3.5% |
| 2941.20.50 | Streptomycins and their derivatives; salts thereof: other | Free |
| 2941.30.00 | Tetracyclines and their derivatives; salts thereof | Free |
| 2941.40.00 | Chloramphenicol and its derivatives; salts thereof | Free |
| 2941.90.10 | Other: natural | Free |
| 2941.90.30 | Aromatic or modified aromatic | Free |
| 2941.90.50 | Other: other | Free |