Analysis
HTS 4202.92.08 covers with outer surface of textile materials: other under heading 4202 (trunks, suitcases, vanity cases, attache cases, briefcases, school satchels, spectacle…). US Customs collects import statistics for it under 3 ten-digit suffixes, reported in number of items and kilograms.
Neighbouring lines carry rates from 3.4% to 20%, so the exact line matters. The widest gap is with 4202.92.45 (travel, sports and similar bags: other), at 20%: a product that belongs there but is entered here, or the reverse, changes the duty by 13 percentage points.
Goods that qualify under the Australia FTA, the Bahrain FTA, the Chile FTA, the Colombia TPA, the Caribbean Basin Initiative, and 11 others can enter duty-free instead of paying 7%. 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 40%, 5.7 times the general rate.
The general duty rate is 7% of the customs value, which is in the middle of the rates in chapter 42 (53rd percentile of 88 lines with an ad valorem rate). On a shipment valued at $10,000 that is $700 in duty before any Chapter 99 additions or preference claims.
Statistical suffixes
Neighbouring lines
| Line | Description | General rate |
|---|---|---|
| 4202.92.04 | Beverage bags whose interior incorporates only a flexible plastic container of a kind for storing and dispensing potable beverages through attached flexible tubing | 7% |
| 4202.92.10 | Insulated food or beverage bags: other | 3.4% |
| 4202.92.15 | Of vegetable fibers and not of pile or tufted construction: of cotton (369) | 6.3% |
| 4202.92.20 | Of vegetable fibers and not of pile or tufted construction: other (870) | 5.7% |
| 4202.92.31 | Of man-made fibers | 17.6% |
| 4202.92.33 | Of paper yarn or of cotton; containing 85 percent or more by weight of silk or silk waste | 17.6% |
| 4202.92.39 | With outer surface of textile materials: other (870) | 17.6% |
| 4202.92.45 | Travel, sports and similar bags: other | 20% |
| 4202.92.50 | Musical instrument cases | 4.2% |
| 4202.92.60 | Other: of cotton | 6.3% |
| 4202.92.91 | Of man-made fibers (except jewelry boxes of a kind normally sold at retail with their contents) (670) | 17.6% |
| 4202.92.93 | With outer surface of textile materials: other | 17.6% |
| 4202.92.94 | Cases designed to protect and transport compact disks (CD's), CD Rom disks, CD players, cassette players, and/or cassettes | 17.6% |
| 4202.92.97 | Other: other | 17.6% |