Analysis
HTS 3901.30.60 covers ethylene-vinyl acetate copolymers: other under heading 3901 (polymers of ethylene, in primary forms).
Rates on the nearby lines range from duty-free to 6.5%. The costliest confusion would be with 3901.90.10 (other: elastomeric) at duty-free, a difference of 5.3 points on the customs value.
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 5.3%. 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 43.5%, 8.2 times the general rate.
The general duty rate is 5.3% of the customs value, which is in the middle of the rates in chapter 39 (51st percentile of 236 lines with an ad valorem rate). On a shipment valued at $10,000 that is $530 in duty before any Chapter 99 additions or preference claims.
Census statistics map these goods to NAICS 325211 (Plastics Material and Resin Manufacturing), an industry of 1,285 US establishments employing 88,827 people, the industry a domestic producer of these goods reports under.
Neighbouring lines
| Line | Description | General rate |
|---|---|---|
| 3901.10.10 | Having a relative viscosity of 1.44 or more | 6.5% |
| 3901.10.50 | Polyethylene having a specific gravity of less than 0.94: other | 6.5% |
| 3901.20.10 | Having a relative viscosity of 1.44 or more | 6.5% |
| 3901.20.50 | Polyethylene having a specific gravity of 0.94 or more: other | 6.5% |
| 3901.30.20 | Vinyl acetate-vinyl chloride-ethylene terpolymers, containing by weight less than 50 percent derivatives of vinyl acetate, except those polymerized from aromatic or modified aromatic monomers | Free |
| 3901.40.00 | Ethylene-alpha-olefin copolymers, having a specific gravity of less than 0.94 | 6.5% |
| 3901.90.10 | Other: elastomeric | Free |
| 3901.90.55 | Ethylene copolymers | 6.5% |
| 3901.90.90 | Other: other | 6.5% |