7304.49.00

Analysis

HTS 7304.49.00 covers other, of circular cross section, of stainless steel: other under heading 7304 (tubes, pipes and hollow profiles, seamless, of iron (other than cast iron) or steel). US Customs collects import statistics for it under 4 ten-digit suffixes, reported in kilograms.

Goods from countries without normal trade relations pay the column 2 rate of 36% instead of nothing, so origin decides between free entry and a 36% duty.

The normal trade relations rate here is zero, shared by about 77% of the 250 tariff lines in chapter 73, a useful check when a neighbouring dutiable line is a candidate. Duty-free at the general rate does not rule out additional duties under Chapter 99, such as Section 301 or Section 232 measures, which depend on the country of origin.

Census statistics map these goods to NAICS 331110 (Iron and Steel Mills and Ferroalloy Manufacturing), an industry of 359 US establishments employing 78,532 people. That concordance is how imports of this line are compared with US output.

The ten-digit suffixes separate of high-nickel alloy steel, hollow bars and suitable for use in boilers…. The duty is the same across them; the suffix matters for statistics, licensing and some quotas, and an entry needs all ten digits.