Analysis
HTS 6208.99.50 covers of silk or silk waste: other under heading 6208 (women's or girls' singlets and other undershirts, slips, petticoats, briefs, panties…). US Customs collects import statistics for it under 2 ten-digit suffixes, reported in dozens and kilograms.
Within this group the rate runs from 1.1% to 8.5%. Compared with 6208.99.30 (containing 70 percent or more by weight of silk or silk waste), which pays 1.1%, a misclassification either way moves the duty by 6 percentage points.
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 7.1%. 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 column 2 rate, for countries without normal trade relations, is 65%, 9.2 times the general rate.
For statistics it divides in two: 6208.99.50.10 for bathrobes, dressing gowns and similar articles (850) and 6208.99.50.20 for other (852). Both pay the same duty; the suffix records which kind was imported.
The general duty rate is 7.1% of the customs value, which is in the middle of the rates in chapter 62 (42nd percentile of 352 lines with an ad valorem rate). On a shipment valued at $10,000 that is $710 in duty before any Chapter 99 additions or preference claims.
Statistical suffixes
Neighbouring lines
| Line | Description | General rate |
|---|---|---|
| 6208.99.20 | Of wool or fine animal hair | 8.5% |
| 6208.99.30 | Containing 70 percent or more by weight of silk or silk waste | 1.1% |
| 6208.99.80 | Of other textile materials: other | 2.8% |