Analysis
HTS 4408.31.01 covers dark Red Meranti, Light Red Meranti and Meranti Bakau under heading 4408 (sheets for veneering (including those obtained by slicing laminated wood), for plywood or…).
The normal trade relations rate here is zero, shared by about 61% of the 257 tariff lines in chapter 44, 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.
The other lines in the same group are 4408.10.01 (sheets for veneering (including those obtained by slicing…, duty-free), 4408.39.02 (of tropical wood: other, duty-free) and 4408.90.01 (sheets for veneering (including those obtained by slicing…, duty-free).
Goods from countries without normal trade relations pay the column 2 rate of 20% instead of nothing, so origin decides between free entry and a 20% duty.
Census statistics map these goods to NAICS 321211 (Hardwood Veneer and Plywood Manufacturing), an industry of 201 US establishments employing 10,831 people. That concordance is how imports of this line are compared with US output.
Neighbouring lines
| Line | Description | General rate |
|---|---|---|
| 4408.10.01 | Sheets for veneering (including those obtained by slicing laminated wood), for plywood or for similar laminated wood and other wood, sawn lengthwise, sliced or peeled, whether or not planed, sanded, spliced or end-jointed, of a thickness not exceeding 6 mm: coniferous | Free |
| 4408.39.02 | Of tropical wood: other | Free |
| 4408.90.01 | Sheets for veneering (including those obtained by slicing laminated wood), for plywood or for similar laminated wood and other wood, sawn lengthwise, sliced or peeled, whether or not planed, sanded, spliced or end-jointed, of a thickness not exceeding 6 mm: other | Free |