3816.00.20

Analysis

HTS 3816.00.20 covers refractory cements, mortars, concretes and similar compositions, including dolomite ramming mix, other than products of heading 3801: other under heading 3816 (refractory cements, mortars, concretes and similar compositions, including dolomite…). US Customs collects import statistics for it under 2 ten-digit suffixes, reported in kilograms.

Neighbouring lines carry rates from duty-free to duty-free, so the exact line matters. The widest gap is with 3816.00.10 (dolomite ramming mix), at duty-free: a product that belongs there but is entered here, or the reverse, changes the duty by 3 percentage points.

The general duty rate is 3% of the customs value, which is at the low end of the rates in chapter 38 (29th percentile of 179 lines with an ad valorem rate). On a shipment valued at $10,000 that is $300 in duty before any Chapter 99 additions or preference claims.

For statistics it divides in two: 3816.00.20.10 for clay and 3816.00.20.50 for other. Both pay the same duty; the suffix records which kind was imported.

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%. 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 30%, 10.0 times the general rate.