Analysis
HTS 4016.99.20 covers other: toys for pets under heading 4016 (other articles of vulcanized rubber other than hard rubber).
Within this group the rate runs from duty-free to 3.4%. Compared with 4016.99.35 (of natural rubber: other), which pays duty-free, a misclassification either way moves the duty by 4.3 percentage points.
The general duty rate is 4.3% of the customs value, which is among the highest the rates in chapter 40 (91st percentile of 142 lines with an ad valorem rate). On a shipment valued at $10,000 that is $430 in duty before any Chapter 99 additions or preference claims.
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 4.3%. 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 80%, 18.6 times the general rate.
Census statistics map these goods to NAICS 326299 (All Other Rubber Product Manufacturing), an industry of 650 US establishments employing 32,409 people. That concordance is how imports of this line are compared with US output.
Neighbouring lines
| Line | Description | General rate |
|---|---|---|
| 4016.99.03 | Containers, with or without their closures, of a kind used for the packing, transporting or marketing of merchandise | 3% |
| 4016.99.05 | Household articles not elsewhere specified or included | 3.4% |
| 4016.99.10 | Other: handles and knobs | 3.3% |
| 4016.99.15 | Caps, lids, seals, stoppers and other closures | 2.7% |
| 4016.99.30 | Vibration control goods of a kind used in the vehicles of headings 8701 through 8705 | Free |
| 4016.99.35 | Of natural rubber: other | Free |
| 4016.99.55 | Vibration control goods of a kind used in the vehicles of headings 8701 through 8705 | 2.5% |
| 4016.99.60 | Other: other | 2.5% |