Analysis
HTS 4205.00.40 covers other: straps and strops under heading 4205 (other articles of leather or of composition leather).
The general duty rate is 1.8% of the customs value, which is at the low end of the rates in chapter 42 (11th percentile of 88 lines with an ad valorem rate). On a shipment valued at $10,000 that is $180 in duty before any Chapter 99 additions or preference claims.
Rates on the nearby lines range from duty-free to 4.9%. The costliest confusion would be with 4205.00.60 (of reptile leather) at 4.9%, a difference of 3.1 points on the customs value.
The column 2 rate, for countries without normal trade relations, is 35%, 19.4 times the general rate.
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 1.8%. 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.
Census statistics map these goods to NAICS 31699 (Other Leather and Allied Product Manufacturing), an industry of 633 US establishments employing 11,305 people, the industry a domestic producer of these goods reports under.
Neighbouring lines
| Line | Description | General rate |
|---|---|---|
| 4205.00.05 | Belting leather cut or wholly or partly manufactured into forms or shapes suitable for conversion into belting | 2.9% |
| 4205.00.10 | Of a kind used in machinery or mechanical appliances or for other technical uses: other | Free |
| 4205.00.20 | Other: shoelaces | Free |
| 4205.00.60 | Of reptile leather | 4.9% |
| 4205.00.80 | Other: other | Free |