Analysis
HTS 6903.10.00 covers containing by weight more than 50 percent of free carbon under heading 6903 (other refractory ceramic goods (for example, retorts, crucibles, muffles, nozzles, plugs…).
Goods from countries without normal trade relations pay the column 2 rate of 45% instead of nothing, so origin decides between free entry and a 45% duty.
Goods classified here enter the United States duty-free at the general (normal trade relations) rate, as do about 27% of the 82 tariff lines in chapter 69. Chapter 99 measures such as Section 301 or 232 can still apply on top, depending on where the goods come from.
The other lines in the same group are 6903.20.00 (containing by weight more than 50 percent of alumina…, duty-free) and 6903.90.00 (other refractory ceramic goods (for example, retorts…, duty-free).
Census statistics map these goods to NAICS 327120 (Clay Building Material and Refractories Manufacturing), an industry of 461 US establishments employing 23,500 people. That is the industry code a US manufacturer of the same product would normally use.
All 2 neighbouring lines carry the same duty-free rate, so a borderline choice between them changes the statistics reported, not the duty paid.
Neighbouring lines
| Line | Description | General rate |
|---|---|---|
| 6903.20.00 | Containing by weight more than 50 percent of alumina (Al2O3) or of a mixture or compound of alumina and of silica (SiO2) | Free |
| 6903.90.00 | Other refractory ceramic goods (for example, retorts, crucibles, muffles, nozzles, plugs, supports, cupels, tubes, pipes, sheaths, rods and slide gates), other than those of siliceous fossil meals or of similar siliceous earths: other | Free |