Analysis
HTS 3824.40.20 covers consisting wholly of inorganic substances under heading 3824 (prepared binders for foundry molds or cores; chemical products and preparations of the…).
Within this group the rate runs from 5% to 6.5%. Compared with 3824.40.10 (containing 5 percent or more by weight of one or more aromatic or…), which pays 6.5%, a misclassification either way moves the duty by 6.5 percentage points.
The normal trade relations rate here is zero, shared by about 25% of the 179 tariff lines in chapter 38, 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.
The other lines in the same group are 3824.40.10 (containing 5 percent or more by weight of one or more…, 6.5%) and 3824.40.50 (prepared additives for cements, mortars or concretes: other, 5%).
Neighbouring lines
| Line | Description | General rate |
|---|---|---|
| 3824.40.10 | Containing 5 percent or more by weight of one or more aromatic or modified aromatic substances | 6.5% |
| 3824.40.50 | Prepared additives for cements, mortars or concretes: other | 5% |