Analysis
HTS 3904.90.10 covers other: elastomeric under heading 3904 (polymers of vinyl chloride or of other halogenated olefins, in primary forms).
Neighbouring lines carry rates from duty-free to 6.5%, so the exact line matters. The widest gap is with 3904.90.50 (other: other), at 6.5%: a product that belongs there but is entered here, or the reverse, changes the duty by 6.5 percentage points.
Goods classified here enter the United States duty-free at the general (normal trade relations) rate, as do about 13% of the 236 tariff lines in chapter 39. Chapter 99 measures such as Section 301 or 232 can still apply on top, depending on where the goods come from.
Goods from countries without normal trade relations pay the column 2 rate of 20% instead of nothing, so origin decides between free entry and a 20% duty.
Census statistics map these goods to NAICS 325212 (Synthetic Rubber Manufacturing), an industry of 153 US establishments employing 11,337 people. That is the industry code a US manufacturer of the same product would normally use.
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% |
| 3904.61.00 | Polytetrafluoroethylene (PTFE) | 5.8% |
| 3904.69.10 | Other: elastomeric | Free |
| 3904.69.50 | Other: other | 6.5% |
| 3904.90.50 | Other: other | 6.5% |