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What South Korea actually pays on petroleum jelly put up for retail sale

Importers of HS 3304.99 (petroleum jelly put up for retail sale) from Korea, South actually paid 9.98% on the taxed portion of the value in 2026-06 — 9.95% across everything shipped, taxed or not. Measured from official duty receipts, not the rulebook: the statutory MFN base rate on this code is Free. Over the window the rate on the taxed portion moved null% → 9.98%, with the largest single step -10.6pp in 2025-12. Measured from official US duty receipts · as-of 2026-06 · confidence: measured, not modelled. The HTS base rate is Free — importers actually paid 9.98%, so the trade-war overlay added 10 pts, measured at the border (not a summed rulebook estimate). Reproduce exactly: tariff_story(hs: "3304.99", origin: "Korea, South") · see it at trimtabist.com/tariffs

South Korea paid 9.98% on HS 3304.99 — the schedule says Free Collected rate on the taxed value — measured from US duty receipts, not the rulebook 9.98% HTS base Free — the rulebook floor2025-042025-112026-06 Measured · as-of 2026-06 · Trimtab US Tariffs & Trade Ledger · trimtabist.com

HS 3304.99. The schedule base rate is Free; importers from South Korea actually paid 9.98% on the dutiable value in 2026-06 — the trade-war overlay added 10 points, measured at the border. Measured, not modelled.

Over the window the collected rate moved % (2023-07) → 9.98% (2026-06), largest single step -10.6pp in 2025-12.

Landed cost vs the benchmark

Korea, South's lower duty (9.95% vs 29.83%) lets it price up to 18.1% above China at the factory and still match on duty-inclusive customs cost. But on the LATEST measured prices, China actually lands cheaper — $5.15/kg vs $19.66/kg (duty in, freight out).

Go deeper

All goods from South Korea · the whole tariff ledger · 3 CBP rulings cite this code · reproduce: tariff_story(hs: "3304.99", origin: "South Korea") via /connect. Not customs or legal advice.

In print: “What South Korea actually pays on petroleum jelly put up for retail sale (HS 3304.99)” — Trimtab US Trade Ledger (TT-010 Duty receipts), US Census imports-for-consumption records — trimtabist.com/tariff/330499/south-korea