9606.21
Of plastics, not covered with textile material
Buttons, press-fasteners, snap-fasteners and press-studs, button molds and other parts of these articles; button blanks > Buttons
Where this code sits
- Section XX · Chapter96 — MISCELLANEOUS MANUFACTURED ARTICLESMISCELLANEOUS MANUFACTURED ARTICLES
- Heading9606 — Buttons, press-fasteners, snap-fasteners and press-studs, button molds and other parts of these articles; button blanks
- Subheading9606.21 — Of plastics, not covered with textile material
Six digits is as far as the international nomenclature goes, and it is the same six digits in every country that applies the Harmonized System. Your destination adds further digits of its own, and the rate lives on that national line — which is why the US lines below run to eight and ten digits, and why the lookups go to each authority's own tariff.
Duty rate
This subheading splits into national lines with different duties. Which one applies is a classification decision about your specific goods, and picking one for you would be making that decision on your behalf. The national lines are listed below — choose the one that describes what you are importing.
Look it up in the authority's own tariff — the only place it is legally meaningful — then bring it back to the calculator, which will do the valuation basis, VAT treatment and statutory fees for you.
Paste 9606.21 into the lookup and follow it down to your national line.
US national lines under 9606.21
The United States subdivides this subheading into 3 lines. They do not all carry the same duty, so which one your goods fall in changes what you pay.
| Line | Description | General | Preferential |
|---|---|---|---|
| 9606.21.20.00 | Of casein | Free | — |
| 9606.21.40.00 | Of acrylic resin, of polyester resin or of both such resins | 0.3¢/line/ gross + 4.6% | Free (A,AU,B,BH,CL,CO,D,E,IL,JO,KR,MA,OM,P,PA,PE,S,SG) |
| 9606.21.60.00 | Other | 4.7% | Free (A,AU,B,BH,CL,CO,D,E,IL,JO,KR,MA,OM,P,PA,PE,S,SG) |
A blank General cell means the line states no rate of its own and takes the one above it — the line it is stated on is named, so the figure can be checked where it actually appears. Preferential rates are listed with the programme codes that grant them; the schedule offering a rate is not the same as your goods qualifying for it.
Preferential rates for 9606.21
The US lines under this subheading offer a reduced or free rate under 18 programmes. Each is named from General Note 3(c)(i) — the schedule prints only the letter.
Generalized System of Preferences
Normally supported by: GSP claim
United States-Australia Free Trade Agreement
Normally supported by: Certification / claim under a US free trade agreement
Automotive Products Trade Act
United States-Bahrain Free Trade Agreement Implementation Act
Normally supported by: Certification / claim under a US free trade agreement
United States-Chile Free Trade Agreement
Normally supported by: Certification / claim under a US free trade agreement
United States-Colombia Trade Promotion Agreement Implementation Act
Normally supported by: Certification / claim under a US free trade agreement
African Growth and Opportunity Act
Caribbean Basin Economic Recovery Act
United States-Israel Free Trade Area
Normally supported by: Certification / claim under a US free trade agreement
United States-Jordan Free Trade Area Implementation Act
Normally supported by: Certification / claim under a US free trade agreement
United States-Korea Free Trade Agreement Implementation Act
Normally supported by: Certification / claim under a US free trade agreement
United States-Morocco Free Trade Agreement Implementation Act
Normally supported by: Certification / claim under a US free trade agreement
United States-Oman Free Trade Agreement Implementation Act
Normally supported by: Certification / claim under a US free trade agreement
Dominican Republic-Central America-United States Free Trade Agreement Implementation Act
Normally supported by: Certification / claim under a US free trade agreement
United States-Panama Trade Promotion Agreement Implementation Act
Normally supported by: Certification / claim under a US free trade agreement
United States-Peru Trade Promotion Agreement Implementation Act
Normally supported by: Certification / claim under a US free trade agreement
United States-Mexico-Canada Agreement
Normally supported by: USMCA certification of origin
United States-Singapore Free Trade Agreement
Normally supported by: Certification / claim under a US free trade agreement
Origin is determined by the agreement’s product-specific rules applied to your bill of materials. We hold the tariff schedule and the programme legend, not your inputs — nothing here determines that goods qualify.
What chapter 96 excludes
A subheading's wording does not decide a classification — the legal notes do. These are the notes that push goods out of this chapter even when the description seems to fit.
1. This chapter does not cover:
- (a) Pencils for cosmetic or toilet uses (chapter 33);
- (b) Articles of chapter 66 (for example, parts of umbrellas or walking-sticks);
- (c) Imitation jewelry (heading 7117);
- (d) Parts of general use, as defined in note 2 to section XV, of base metal (section XV) or similar goods of plastics (chapter 39);
- (e) Cutlery or other articles of chapter 82 with handles or other parts of carving or molding materials; heading 9601 or 9602 applies, however, to separately entered handles or other parts of such articles;
- (f) Articles of chapter 90 (for example, spectacle frames (heading 9003), mathematical drawing pens (heading 9017), brushes of a kind specialized for use in dentistry or for medical, surgical or veterinary purposes (heading 9018));
- (g) Articles of chapter 91 (for example, clock or watch cases);
- (h) Musical instruments or parts or accessories thereof (chapter 92);
- (ij) Articles of chapter 93 (arms and parts thereof);
- (k) Articles of chapter 94 (for example, furniture, luminaires and lighting fittings);
- (l) Articles of chapter 95 (toys, games, sports equipment); or
- (m) Works of art, collectors' pieces or antiques (chapter 97).
Legal notes that govern this code
Reproduced from the published tariff schedule. Section and chapter notes are binding and are part of the nomenclature itself; statistical notes are US reporting rules and are not classification law.
Chapter 96 — Notes
Legal Notes of the Harmonized System. Binding, and part of the international nomenclature.
1. This chapter does not cover:
(a) Pencils for cosmetic or toilet uses (chapter 33);
(b) Articles of chapter 66 (for example, parts of umbrellas or walking-sticks);
(c) Imitation jewelry (heading 7117);
(d) Parts of general use, as defined in note 2 to section XV, of base metal (section XV) or similar goods of plastics (chapter 39);
(e) Cutlery or other articles of chapter 82 with handles or other parts of carving or molding materials; heading 9601 or 9602 applies, however, to separately entered handles or other parts of such articles;
(f) Articles of chapter 90 (for example, spectacle frames (heading 9003), mathematical drawing pens (heading 9017), brushes of a kind specialized for use in dentistry or for medical, surgical or veterinary purposes (heading 9018));
(g) Articles of chapter 91 (for example, clock or watch cases);
(h) Musical instruments or parts or accessories thereof (chapter 92);
(ij) Articles of chapter 93 (arms and parts thereof);
(k) Articles of chapter 94 (for example, furniture, luminaires and lighting fittings);
(l) Articles of chapter 95 (toys, games, sports equipment); or
(m) Works of art, collectors' pieces or antiques (chapter 97).
2. In heading 9602 the expression "vegetable or mineral carving material" means:
(a) Hard seeds, pips, hulls and nuts and similar vegetable materials of a kind used for carving (for example, corozo and dom);
(b) Amber, meerschaum, agglomerated amber and agglomerated meerschaum, jet and mineral substitutes for jet.
3. In heading 9603 the expression "prepared knots and tufts for broom or brush making" applies only to unmounted knots and tufts of animal hair, vegetable fiber or other material, which are ready for incorporation without division in brooms or brushes, or which require only such further minor processes as trimming to shape at the top, to render them ready for such incorporation.
4. Articles of this chapter, other than those of headings 9601 to 9606 or 9615, remain classified in the chapter whether or not composed wholly or partly of precious metal or metal clad with precious metal, of natural or cultured pearls, or precious or semiprecious stones (natural, synthetic or reconstructed). However, headings 9601 to 9606 and 9615 include articles in which natural or cultured pearls, precious or semiprecious stones (natural, synthetic or reconstructed), precious metal or metal clad with precious metal constitute only minor constituents.
Chapter 96 — Additional U.S. Notes
Additional U.S. Notes. Binding in the United States; not part of the international HS.
1. For the purposes of heading 9606 the term "line" in the rates of duty columns means the line button measure of 0.635 mm.
2. Buttons (whether or not finished) provided for in subheadings 9606.21.40 and 9606.29.20 which are the product of an insular possession of the United States outside the customs territory of the United States and which are manufactured or produced from button blanks or unfinished buttons which were the product of any foreign country shall be subject to duty under subheadings 9606.21.40 and 9606.29.20 at the rates which apply to products of such foreign country.
Notes are reproduced from the published tariff schedule. They govern classification, but reading them is not the same as applying them to your goods — that is what a broker or a binding ruling is for.
Other chapters that mention heading 9606
An exclusion pointing into this heading from another chapter is as decisive as one in your own, and it is the one nobody finds by reading their own chapter.
(m) Buttons, press-fasteners, snap-fasteners, press-studs, button molds or other parts of these articles, button blanks, of heading 9606.
2. For the purposes of heading 6406, the term "parts" does not include pegs, protectors, eyelets, hooks, buckles, ornaments, braid, laces, pompons or other trimmings (which are to be classified in their appropriate headings) or buttons or other goods of heading 9606.
(m) Articles of heading 9602, if made of materials specified in note 2(b) to chapter 96, or of heading 9606 (for example, buttons), of heading 9609 (for example, slate pencils), heading 9610 (for example, drawing slates) or of heading 9620 (monopods, bipods, tripods and similar articles); or
(l) Articles of heading 9606 (for example, buttons) or of heading 9614 (for example, smoking pipes); or
(a) of note 9 above (but not including buttons or other articles of heading 9606, or dress combs, hair slides or the like, or hairpins, of heading 9615), not incorporating natural or cultured pearls, precious or semiprecious stones (natural, synthetic or reconstructed) nor (except as plating or as minor constituents) precious metal or metal clad with precious metal.
4. Articles of this chapter, other than those of headings 9601 to 9606 or 9615, remain classified in the chapter whether or not composed wholly or partly of precious metal or metal clad with precious metal, of natural or cultured pearls, or precious or semiprecious stones (natural, synthetic or reconstructed). However, headings 9601 to 9606 and 9615 include articles in which natural or cultured pearls, precious or semiprecious stones (natural, synthetic or reconstructed), precious metal or metal clad with precious metal constitute only minor constituents.
1. For the purposes of heading 9606 the term "line" in the rates of duty columns means the line button measure of 0.635 mm.
2. Buttons (whether or not finished) provided for in subheadings 9606.21.40 and 9606.29.20 which are the product of an insular possession of the United States outside the customs territory of the United States and which are manufactured or produced from button blanks or unfinished buttons which were the product of any foreign country shall be subject to duty under subheadings 9606.21.40 and 9606.29.20 at the rates which apply to products of such foreign country.
Other subheadings under 9606
Elsewhere in chapter 96
Importing 9606.21 into
Each guide covers how duty and tax are assessed there, the authority with jurisdiction, and what catches importers out.
Common questions
What is HS code 9606.21?
9606.21 covers Of plastics, not covered with textile material. It sits under heading 9606 (Buttons, press-fasteners, snap-fasteners and press-studs, button molds and other parts of these articles; button blanks) in chapter 96, miscellaneous manufactured articles.
What is the US duty rate for 9606.21?
There is no single rate: this subheading splits into 3 US national lines with 3 different duty rates. Which one applies is a classification decision about your specific goods — the lines are listed on this page.
What is excluded from chapter 96?
1. This chapter does not cover: (a) Pencils for cosmetic or toilet uses (chapter 33); (b) Articles of chapter 66 (for example, parts of umbrellas or walking-sticks); (c) Imitation jewelry (heading 7117); (d) Parts of general use, as defined in note 2 to section XV, of base metal (section XV) or similar goods of plastics (chapter 39);