Analysis
HTS 3912.12.00 covers cellulose acetates: plasticized under heading 3912 (cellulose and its chemical derivatives, not elsewhere specified or included, in primary…).
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 5.6%. 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.
Within this group the rate runs from 4.2% to 6.4%. Compared with 3912.39.00 (cellulose ethers: other), which pays 4.2%, a misclassification either way moves the duty by 1.4 percentage points.
The column 2 rate, for countries without normal trade relations, is 73.5%, 13.1 times the general rate.
The general duty rate is 5.6% of the customs value, which is in the middle of the rates in chapter 39 (57th percentile of 236 lines with an ad valorem rate). On a shipment valued at $10,000 that is $560 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. That concordance is how imports of this line are compared with US output.
Neighbouring lines
| Line | Description | General rate |
|---|---|---|
| 3912.11.00 | Cellulose acetates: nonplasticized | 5.6% |
| 3912.20.00 | Cellulose nitrates (including collodions) | 5.2% |
| 3912.31.00 | Carboxymethylcellulose and its salts | 6.4% |
| 3912.39.00 | Cellulose ethers: other | 4.2% |
| 3912.90.00 | Cellulose and its chemical derivatives, not elsewhere specified or included, in primary forms: other | 5.2% |