Analysis
HTS 4203.21.70 covers specially designed for use in sports: ice hockey gloves under heading 4203 (articles of apparel and clothing accessories, of leather or of composition leather).
Within this group the rate runs from duty-free to 5.5%. Compared with 4203.21.60 (ski or snowmobile gloves, mittens and mitts: other), which pays 5.5%, a misclassification either way moves the duty by 5.5 percentage points.
The normal trade relations rate here is zero, shared by about 10% of the 88 tariff lines in chapter 42, a useful check when a neighbouring dutiable line is a candidate. Free here means free of the base duty only: origin-specific Chapter 99 duties such as Section 301 can still be owed.
Goods from countries without normal trade relations pay the column 2 rate of 30% instead of nothing, so origin decides between free entry and a 30% duty.
Census statistics map these goods to NAICS 339920 (Sporting and Athletic Goods Manufacturing), an industry of 1,662 US establishments employing 39,073 people. That concordance is how imports of this line are compared with US output.
Neighbouring lines
| Line | Description | General rate |
|---|---|---|
| 4203.21.20 | Baseball and softball gloves and mitts (including batting gloves): batting gloves | 3% |
| 4203.21.40 | Baseball and softball gloves and mitts (including batting gloves): other | Free |
| 4203.21.55 | Cross-country ski gloves, mittens and mitts | 3.5% |
| 4203.21.60 | Ski or snowmobile gloves, mittens and mitts: other | 5.5% |
| 4203.21.80 | Specially designed for use in sports: other | 4.9% |