Analysis
HTS 5503.19.10 covers containing 10 percent or more by weight of nylon 12 under heading 5503 (synthetic staple fibers, not carded, combed or otherwise processed for spinning).
Within this group the rate runs from duty-free to 4.3%. Compared with 5503.90.90 (other: other), which pays 4.3%, a misclassification either way moves the duty by 4.3 percentage points.
The normal trade relations rate here is zero, shared by about 7% of the 133 tariff lines in chapter 55, 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 25% instead of nothing, so origin decides between free entry and a 25% duty.
Census statistics map these goods to NAICS 325220 (Artificial and Synthetic Fibers and Filaments Manufacturing), an industry of 129 US establishments employing 13,925 people. That concordance is how imports of this line are compared with US output.
Neighbouring lines
| Line | Description | General rate |
|---|---|---|
| 5503.11.00 | Of nylon or other polyamides: of aramids | 4.3% |
| 5503.19.90 | Other: other | 4.3% |
| 5503.20.00 | Synthetic staple fibers, not carded, combed or otherwise processed for spinning: of polyesters | 4.3% |
| 5503.30.00 | Acrylic or modacrylic | 4.3% |
| 5503.40.00 | Synthetic staple fibers, not carded, combed or otherwise processed for spinning: of polypropylene | 4.3% |
| 5503.90.10 | Other: of vinyon | Free |
| 5503.90.90 | Other: other | 4.3% |