Analysis
HTS 3401.11.10 covers for toilet use (including medicated products): castile soap under heading 3401 (soap; organic surface-active products and preparations for use as soap, in the form of…).
Neighbouring lines carry rates from duty-free to 4%, so the exact line matters. The widest gap is with 3401.30.10 (containing any aromatic or modified aromatic surface-active agent), at 4%: a product that belongs there but is entered here, or the reverse, changes the duty by 4 percentage points.
Goods classified here enter the United States duty-free at the general (normal trade relations) rate, as do about 41% of the 41 tariff lines in chapter 34. Duty-free at the general rate does not rule out additional duties under Chapter 99, such as Section 301 or Section 232 measures, which depend on the country of origin.
Census statistics map these goods to NAICS 325611 (Soap and Other Detergent Manufacturing), an industry of 845 US establishments employing 33,783 people. That is the industry code a US manufacturer of the same product would normally use.
Goods from countries without normal trade relations pay the column 2 rate of 15% instead of nothing, so origin decides between free entry and a 15% duty.
Neighbouring lines
| Line | Description | General rate |
|---|---|---|
| 3401.11.50 | For toilet use (including medicated products): other | Free |
| 3401.19.00 | Soap and organic surface-active products and preparations, in the form of bars, cakes, molded pieces or shapes, and paper, wadding, felt and nonwovens, impregnated, coated or covered with soap or detergent: other | Free |
| 3401.20.00 | Soap in other forms | Free |
| 3401.30.10 | Containing any aromatic or modified aromatic surface-active agent | 4% |
| 3401.30.50 | Organic surface-active products and preparations for washing the skin, in the form of liquid or cream and put up for retail sale, whether or not containing soap: other | Free |