Analysis
HTS 4104.19.30 covers other: buffalo under heading 4104 (tanned or crust hides and skins of bovine (including buffalo) or equine animals, without…).
This line's footnotes point to one additional provision in Chapter 99: 9903.41.05 (Chapter 99 provision, 40%). 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.
Within this group the rate runs from duty-free to 5%. Compared with 4104.19.40 (upper leather; sole leather), which pays 5%, a misclassification either way moves the duty by 2.6 percentage points.
The general duty rate is 2.4% of the customs value, which is in the middle of the rates in chapter 41 (41st percentile of 121 lines with an ad valorem rate). On a shipment valued at $10,000 that is $240 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 2.4%. 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 25%, 10.4 times the general rate.
Neighbouring lines
| Line | Description | General rate |
|---|---|---|
| 4104.19.10 | Upper leather; lining leather | Free |
| 4104.19.20 | Whole bovine leather, of a unit surface area not exceeding 28 square feet (2.6 m2): other | 2.4% |
| 4104.19.40 | Upper leather; sole leather | 5% |
| 4104.19.50 | Other: other | 3.3% |
Chapter 99 provisions in the footnotes
- 9903.41.05 Chapter 99 provision · 40%
Bovine (including buffalo) and equine leather (provided for in heading 4104 or 4107); goat, kid, sheep and lamb leather, the foregoing dyed, colored, stamped or embossed (provided for in heading 4105, 4106, 4112 or 4113)