Analysis
HTS 6203.49.07 covers containing 70 percent or more by weight of silk or silk waste under heading 6203 (men's or boys' suits, ensembles, suit-type jackets, blazers, trousers, bib and brace…). US Customs collects import statistics for it under 3 ten-digit suffixes, reported in dozens and kilograms.
Within this group the rate runs from duty-free to 27.9%. Compared with 6203.49.50 (trousers, breeches and shorts: other), which pays 27.9%, a misclassification either way moves the duty by 27.9 percentage points.
Goods from countries without normal trade relations pay the column 2 rate of 35% instead of nothing, so origin decides between free entry and a 35% duty.
The normal trade relations rate here is zero, shared by about 6% of the 352 tariff lines in chapter 62, 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.
Census statistics map these goods to NAICS 3152 (Cut and Sew Apparel Manufacturing), an industry of 3,430 US establishments employing 47,582 people. That concordance is how imports of this line are compared with US output.
Statistical suffixes
Neighbouring lines
| Line | Description | General rate |
|---|---|---|
| 6203.49.01 | Bib and brace overalls | 8.5% |
| 6203.49.05 | Trousers, breeches and shorts | 27.9% |
| 6203.49.09 | Of other textile materials: other | 2.8% |
| 6203.49.25 | Bib and brace overalls | 8.5% |
| 6203.49.35 | Certified hand-loomed and folklore products | 12.2% |
| 6203.49.50 | Trousers, breeches and shorts: other | 27.9% |
| 6203.49.60 | Containing 70 percent or more by weight of silk or silk waste | Free |
| 6203.49.90 | Other: other | 2.8% |