6112.19.40

Analysis

HTS 6112.19.40 covers containing 70 percent or more by weight of silk or silk waste under heading 6112 (track suits, ski-suits and swimwear, knitted or crocheted). US Customs collects import statistics for it under 6 ten-digit suffixes, reported in dozens and kilograms.

Neighbouring lines carry rates from 21.6% to 28.2%, so the exact line matters. The widest gap is with 6112.19.10 (of artificial fibers), at 28.2%: a product that belongs there but is entered here, or the reverse, changes the duty by 24.7 percentage points.

The general duty rate is 3.5% of the customs value, which is at the low end of the rates in chapter 61 (20th percentile of 227 lines with an ad valorem rate). On a shipment valued at $10,000 that is $350 in duty before any Chapter 99 additions or preference claims.

The column 2 rate, for countries without normal trade relations, is 90%, 25.7 times the general rate.

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 3.5%. 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 ten-digit suffixes separate men's or boys', women's or girls', men's or boys', women's or girls', men's or boys' and women's or girls'. The duty is the same across them; the suffix matters for statistics, licensing and some quotas, and an entry needs all ten digits.