5903.20.30

Analysis

HTS 5903.20.30 covers with polyurethane: other under heading 5903 (textile fabrics impregnated, coated, covered or laminated with plastics, other than those…). US Customs collects import statistics for it under 2 ten-digit suffixes, reported in square metres and kilograms.

Neighbouring lines carry rates from duty-free to 8%, so the exact line matters. The widest gap is with 5903.20.18 (fabrics specified in note 9 to section XI: other (229)), at 8%: a product that belongs there but is entered here, or the reverse, changes the duty by 5.3 percentage points.

The column 2 rate, for countries without normal trade relations, is 40%, 14.8 times the general rate.

For statistics it divides in two: 5903.20.30.10 for of wool or fine animal hair (414) and 5903.20.30.90 for other. Both pay the same duty; the suffix records which kind was imported.

Goods that qualify under the Australia FTA, the Bahrain FTA, the Chile FTA, the Colombia TPA, the Caribbean Basin Initiative, and 10 others can enter duty-free instead of paying 2.7%. 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 general duty rate is 2.7% of the customs value, which is in the middle of the rates in chapter 59 (47th percentile of 59 lines with an ad valorem rate). On a shipment valued at $10,000 that is $270 in duty before any Chapter 99 additions or preference claims.