Analysis
HTS 7002.31.00 covers of fused quartz or other fused silica under heading 7002 (glass in balls (other than microspheres of heading 7018), rods or tubes, unworked).
Rates on the nearby lines range from duty-free to 6%. The costliest confusion would be with 7002.39.00 (tubes: other) at 6%, a difference of 6 points on the customs value.
Goods from countries without normal trade relations pay the column 2 rate of 40% instead of nothing, so origin decides between free entry and a 40% duty.
There is no general-rate duty on this line, which puts it with roughly 28% of the 192 tariff lines in chapter 70 that are also free. 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 327212 (Other Pressed and Blown Glass and Glassware Manufacturing), an industry of 376 US establishments employing 10,738 people, the industry a domestic producer of these goods reports under.
The general rate of Free has not changed in any edition of the schedule since Jan 2023.
Neighbouring lines
| Line | Description | General rate |
|---|---|---|
| 7002.10.10 | Not over 6 mm in diameter | 3.9% |
| 7002.10.20 | Balls: other | Free |
| 7002.20.10 | Of fused quartz or other fused silica | Free |
| 7002.20.50 | Rods: other | 6% |
| 7002.32.00 | Of other glass having a linear coefficient of expansion not exceeding 5 x 10-6 per Kelvin within a temperature range of 0˚C to 300˚C | 6% |
| 7002.39.00 | Tubes: other | 6% |