Analysis
HTS 3904.61.00 covers polytetrafluoroethylene (PTFE) under heading 3904 (polymers of vinyl chloride or of other halogenated olefins, in primary forms). US Customs collects import statistics for it under 2 ten-digit suffixes, reported in kilograms.
This line's footnotes point to one additional provision in Chapter 99: 9903.90.08 (measures on products of Russia). Chapter 99 duties are added on top of the general rate for goods of the countries they name, and they change more often than the rest of the schedule, so check the current CBP guidance before you rely on a total.
Neighbouring lines carry rates from duty-free to 6.5%, so the exact line matters. The widest gap is with 3904.90.10 (other: elastomeric), at duty-free: a product that belongs there but is entered here, or the reverse, changes the duty by 5.8 percentage points.
Goods that qualify under GSP, the Australia FTA, the Bahrain FTA, the Chile FTA, the Colombia TPA, and 13 others can enter duty-free instead of paying 5.8%. 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 general duty rate is 5.8% of the customs value, which is in the middle of the rates in chapter 39 (61st percentile of 236 lines with an ad valorem rate). On a shipment valued at $10,000 that is $580 in duty before any Chapter 99 additions or preference claims.
For statistics it divides in two: 3904.61.00.10 for granular, whether or not filled or compounded (see… and 3904.61.00.90 for other. Both pay the same duty; the suffix records which kind was imported.
Statistical suffixes
Neighbouring lines
| Line | Description | General rate |
|---|---|---|
| 3904.10.00 | Poly(vinyl chloride), not mixed with any other substances | 6.5% |
| 3904.21.00 | Other poly(vinyl chloride): nonplasticized | 6.5% |
| 3904.22.00 | Other poly(vinyl chloride): plasticized | 6.5% |
| 3904.30.20 | 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 |
| 3904.30.60 | Vinyl chloride-vinyl acetate copolymers: other | 5.3% |
| 3904.40.00 | Polymers of vinyl chloride or of other halogenated olefins, in primary forms: other vinyl chloride copolymers | 5.3% |
| 3904.50.00 | Vinylidene chloride polymers | 6.5% |
| 3904.69.10 | Other: elastomeric | Free |
| 3904.69.50 | Other: other | 6.5% |
| 3904.90.10 | Other: elastomeric | Free |
| 3904.90.50 | Other: other | 6.5% |
Chapter 99 provisions in the footnotes
- 9903.90.08 measures on products of Russia
Articles the product of the Russian Federation, as provided for in U.S. note 30(a) to this subchapter and as provided for in the subheadings enumerated in U.S. note 30(b) to this subchapter