Analysis
Heading 3006 of the Harmonized Tariff Schedule covers pharmaceutical goods specified in note 4 to this chapter. It divides into 9 six-digit subheadings and 14 eight-digit tariff lines, with 14 ten-digit statistical suffixes below them.
The spread of 6.4 percentage points between the cheapest and dearest lines makes misclassification expensive here. The highest rate, 6.4%, applies to 3006.93.50 (containing ingredients having nutritional value…).
8 of its 12 lines with a percentage rate are duty-free at the general rate (67%) and 4 are dutiable, from duty-free up to 6.4%. The median line pays duty-free.
2 of the lines carry specific or compound rates (per kilogram, per dozen and so on) rather than a percentage, so their burden depends on the unit value of the goods.
The largest subheadings are 3006.93 (placebos and blinded (or double-blinded) clinical…, 5 lines), 3006.30 (opacifying preparations for X-ray examinations…, 2 lines), 3006.10 (unnamed, 1 line) and 3006.40 (unnamed, 1 line).
Tariff lines
| Line | Description | General rate |
|---|---|---|
| 3006.10.01 | Sterile surgical catgut, similar sterile suture materials (including sterile absorbable surgical or dental yarns) and sterile tissue adhesives for surgical wound closure; sterile laminaria and sterile laminaria tents; sterile absorbable surgical or dental hemostatics; sterile surgical or dental adhesion barriers, whether or not absorbable | Free |
| 3006.30.10 | Containing antigens or antisera | Free |
| 3006.30.50 | Opacifying preparations for X-ray examinations; diagnostic reagents designed to be administered to the patient: other | Free |
| 3006.40.00 | Dental cements and other dental fillings; bone reconstruction cements | Free |
| 3006.50.00 | First-aid boxes and kits | Free |
| 3006.60.00 | Chemical contraceptive preparations based on hormones, on other products of heading 2937 or on spermicides | Free |
| 3006.70.00 | Gel preparations designed to be used in human or veterinary medicine as a lubricant for parts of the body for surgical operations or physical examinations or as a coupling agent between the body and medical instruments | 5% |
| 3006.91.00 | Appliances identifiable for ostomy use | 4.2% |
| 3006.92.00 | Waste pharmaceuticals | Free |
| 3006.93.10 | Packaged with medicinal preparations | Free |
| 3006.93.20 | Containing over 10 percent by dry weight of sugar | 40¢/kg + 10.4% |
| 3006.93.50 | Containing ingredients having nutritional value, in which starch or other foodstuff predominates by weight | 6.4% |
| 3006.93.60 | In liquid form for oral intake | 0.2¢/liter |
| 3006.93.80 | Placebos and clinical trial kits containing other chemicals other than medicaments | 5% |