Tariff monitor · Plastics & Polymers

Plastics in primary forms: statutory & effective tariff rates

Statutory HTS duty rates for 54 plastics in primary forms tariff lines (MFN Free–6.5%), from USITC. Effective rate May 2026: 7.04%; monthly history since 2023.

Statutory rates from the schedule

  • PE, PP, styrenics, PVC, acrylics, PET/polycarbonate, and nylon resins — injection molding feedstock. This family covers HTS headings 3901, 3902, 3903, 3904, 3906, 3907, 3908: 54 eight-digit rate lines with MFN (column 1, general) rates of Free–6.5% in the 2026 schedule.
  • Chapter 99 flags on individual lines mark Section 301/232 overlay provisions (e.g. 9903.88.02) that apply on top of the MFN column.

What importers actually paid

  • Latest month on record (2026-05): 7.04% effective on $1.1B of imports, versus 5.51% in the same month a year earlier. The monthly archive holds 41 observations from 2023-01 through 2026-05.
  • In 2025, U.S. imports for consumption in this family totaled $12.5B in customs value and paid $673.7M in calculated duties: an effective tariff rate of 5.39%. The effective rate captures Section 301/232 overlays, exclusions, and special-program use that the statutory column cannot.
  • A year earlier the effective rate was 2.87%, so the duty burden rose 2.5 points.
  • Top source countries in 2025: Canada ($4.1B at 0.31%), South Korea ($1.5B at 5.14%), Mexico ($1.2B at 0.32%), Germany ($921.0M at 8.42%), Japan ($863.4M at 7.89%).

Representative rate lines

  • 3901.10.10.00: Having a relative viscosity of 1.44 or more — MFN 6.5%
  • 3901.10.50: Other — MFN 6.5%
  • 3901.20.10.00: Having a relative viscosity of 1.44 or more — MFN 6.5%
  • 3901.20.50.00: Other — MFN 6.5%
  • 3901.30.20.00: Vinyl acetate-vinyl chloride-ethylene terpolymers, containing by weight less than 50 perce — MFN Free
  • 3901.30.60.00: Other — MFN 5.3%
  • 3901.40.00.00: Ethylene-alpha-olefin copolymers, having a specific gravity of less than 0.94 — MFN 6.5%
  • 3901.90.10.00: Elastomeric — MFN Free

About this data

  • Reference statistics derived from USITC published data. Not a customs ruling; verify rates with a licensed customs broker before relying on them.

Last reviewed 2026-05-12.