Chapter 28
Inorganic chemicals; organic or inorganic compounds of precious metals, of rare-earth metals, of radioactive elements or of isotopes
Section VI — Products of the chemical or allied industries · 50 headings · 180 subheadings
Duty in chapter 28 at a glance
Counted across the 373 US national lines beneath this chapter's subheadings. It says what kind of chapter this is before you read ninety headings to find out.
- Duty-free lines
- 114 of 373 stating a rate
- Ad valorem range
- 0.1% – 5.5%
Preference programmes appearing in this chapter
Named from General Note 3(c)(i). A programme appearing here does not mean it applies to your goods — that depends on the line, the origin and the agreement's rules of origin.
What this chapter excludes
These notes push goods out of chapter 28 even when a subheading's wording seems to fit. They are the fastest way to find out you are in the wrong chapter.
3. Subject to the provisions of note 1 to section VI, this chapter does not cover:
- (a) Sodium chloride or magnesium oxide, whether or not pure, or other products of section V;
- (b) Organo-inorganic compounds other than those mentioned in note 2 above;
- (c) Products mentioned in note 2, 3, 4 or 5 to chapter 31;
- (d) Inorganic products of a kind used as luminophores, of heading 3206; glass frit and other glass in the form of powder, granules or flakes, of heading 3207;
- (e) Artificial graphite (heading 3801); products put up as charges for fire-extinguishers or put up in fire-extinguishing grenades, of heading 3813; ink removers put up in packings for retail sale, of heading 3824; cultured crystals (other than optical elements) weighing not less than 2.5 g each, of the halides of the alkali or alkaline-earth metals, of heading 3824;
- (f) Precious or semiprecious stones (natural, synthetic or reconstructed) or dust or powder of such stones (headings 7102 to 7105), or precious metals or precious metal alloys of chapter 71;
- (g) The metals, whether or not pure, metal alloys or cermets, including sintered metal carbides (metal carbides sintered with a metal), of section XV; or
- (h) Optical elements, for example, of the halides of the alkali or alkaline-earth metals (heading 9001). Notes (con.)
Legal notes
Reproduced from the published tariff schedule. Section and chapter notes are binding and part of the nomenclature; statistical notes are US reporting rules and are not classification law.
Section VI notes PRODUCTS OF THE CHEMICAL OR ALLIED INDUSTRIES
1. (a) Goods (other than radioactive ores) answering to a description in heading 2844 or 2845 are to be classified in those headings and in no other heading of the tariff schedule.
(b) Subject to paragraph (a) above, goods answering to a description in heading 2843, 2846 or 2852 are to be classified in those headings and in no other heading of this section.
2. Subject to note 1 above, goods classifiable in heading 3004, 3005, 3006, 3212, 3303, 3304, 3305, 3306, 3307, 3506, 3707 or 3808 by reason of being put up in measured doses or for retail sale are to be classified in those headings and in no other heading of the tariff schedule.
3. Goods put up in sets consisting of two or more separate constituents, some or all of which fall in this section and are intended to be mixed together to obtain a product of section VI or VII, are to be classified in the heading appropriate to that product, provided that the constituents are:
(a) Having regard to the manner in which they are put up, clearly identifiable as being intended to be used together without first being repacked;
(b) Entered together; and
(c) Identifiable, whether by their nature or by the relative proportions in which they are present, as being complementary one to another.
4. Where a product answers to a description in one or more of the headings in section VI by virtue of being described by name or function and also to heading 3827, then it is classifiable in a heading that references the product by name or function and not under heading 3827.
Additional U.S. Notes
1. In determining the amount of duty applicable to a solution of a single compound in water subject to duty in this section at a specific rate, an allowance in weight or volume, as the case may be, shall be made for the water in excess of any water of crystallization which may be present in the undissolved compound.
2. For the purposes of the tariff schedule:
(a) The term "aromatic" as applied to any chemical compound refers to such compound containing one or more fused or unfused benzene rings;
(b) The term "modified aromatic" describes a molecular structure having at least one six-membered heterocyclic ring which contains at least four carbon atoms and having an arrangement of molecular bonds as in the benzene ring or in the quinone ring, but does not include any such molecular structure in which one or more pyrimidine rings are the only modified aromatic rings present;
(c) For the purposes of headings 2902, 2907 and 3817, the term "alkyl" describes any saturated acyclic hydrocarbon group having six or more carbon atoms or, subject to note 1 to chapter 29, any mixtures of such groups averaging six or more carbon atoms.
3. The term "products described in additional U.S. note 3 to section VI" refers to any product not listed in the Chemical Appendix to the Tariff Schedule and--
(a) For which the importer furnishes the Chemical Abstracts Service (C.A.S.) registry number and certifies that such registry number is not listed in the Chemical Appendix to the Tariff Schedule; or
(b) Which the importer certifies not to have a C.A.S. registry number and not to be listed in the Chemical Appendix to the Tariff Schedule, either under the name used to make Customs entry or under any other name by which it may be known.
Chapter 28 — Notes
Legal Notes of the Harmonized System. Binding, and part of the international nomenclature.
1. Except where the context otherwise requires, the headings of this chapter apply only to:
(a) Separate chemical elements and separate chemically defined compounds, whether or not containing impurities;
(b) The products mentioned in (a) above dissolved in water;
(c) The products mentioned in (a) above dissolved in other solvents provided that the solution constitutes a normal and necessary method of putting up these products adopted solely for reasons of safety or for transport and that the solvent does not render the product particularly suitable for specific use rather than for general use;
(d) The products mentioned in (a), (b) or (c) above with an added stabilizer (including an anticaking agent) necessary for their preservation or transport;
(e) The products mentioned in (a), (b), (c) or (d) above with an added antidusting agent or a coloring substance added to facilitate their identification or for safety reasons, provided that the additions do not render the product particularly suitable for specific use rather than for general use.
2. In addition to dithionites and sulfoxylates, stabilized with organic substances (heading 2831), carbonates and peroxocarbonates of inorganic bases (heading 2836), cyanides, cyanide oxides and complex cyanides of inorganic bases (heading 2837), fulminates, cyanates and thiocyanates, of inorganic bases (heading 2842), organic products included in headings 2843 to 2846 and 2852 and carbides (heading 2849), only the following compounds of carbon are to be classified in this chapter:
(a) Oxides of carbon, hydrogen cyanide and fulminic, isocyanic, thiocyanic and other simple or complex cyanogen acids (heading 2811);
(b) Halide oxides of carbon (heading 2812);
(c) Carbon disulfide (heading 2813);
(d) Thiocarbonates, selenocarbonates, tellurocarbonates, selenocyanates, tellurocyanates, tetrathiocyanatodiamminochromates (reineckates) and other complex cyanates, of inorganic bases (heading 2842);
(e) Hydrogen peroxide, solidified with urea (heading 2847), carbon oxysulfide, thiocarbonyl halides, cyanogen, cyanogen halides and cyanamide and its metal derivatives (heading 2853) other than calcium cyanamide, whether or not pure (chapter 31).
3. Subject to the provisions of note 1 to section VI, this chapter does not cover:
(a) Sodium chloride or magnesium oxide, whether or not pure, or other products of section V;
(b) Organo-inorganic compounds other than those mentioned in note 2 above;
(c) Products mentioned in note 2, 3, 4 or 5 to chapter 31;
(d) Inorganic products of a kind used as luminophores, of heading 3206; glass frit and other glass in the form of powder, granules or flakes, of heading 3207;
(e) Artificial graphite (heading 3801); products put up as charges for fire-extinguishers or put up in fire-extinguishing grenades, of heading 3813; ink removers put up in packings for retail sale, of heading 3824; cultured crystals (other than optical elements) weighing not less than 2.5 g each, of the halides of the alkali or alkaline-earth metals, of heading 3824;
(f) Precious or semiprecious stones (natural, synthetic or reconstructed) or dust or powder of such stones (headings 7102 to 7105), or precious metals or precious metal alloys of chapter 71;
(g) The metals, whether or not pure, metal alloys or cermets, including sintered metal carbides (metal carbides sintered with a metal), of section XV; or
(h) Optical elements, for example, of the halides of the alkali or alkaline-earth metals (heading 9001). Notes (con.)
4. Chemically defined complex acids consisting of a nonmetal acid of subchapter II and a metal acid of subchapter IV are to be classified in heading 2811.
5. Headings 2826 to 2842 apply only to metal or ammonium salts or peroxysalts.
Except where the context otherwise requires, double or complex salts are to be classified in heading 2842.
6. Heading 2844 applies only to:
(a) Technetium (atomic No. 43), promethium (atomic No. 61), polonium (atomic No. 84) and all elements with an atomic number greater than 84;
(b) Natural or artificial radioactive isotopes (including those of the precious metals or of the base metals of sections XIV and XV), whether or not mixed together;
(c) Compounds, inorganic or organic, of these elements or isotopes, whether or not chemically defined, whether or not mixed together;
(d) Alloys, dispersions (including cermets), ceramic products and mixtures containing these elements or isotopes or inorganic or organic compounds thereof and having a specific radioactivity exceeding 74 becquerels per gram (0.002 microcurie per gram);
(e) Spent (irradiated) fuel elements (cartridges) of nuclear reactors;
(f) Radioactive residues whether or not usable.
The term "isotopes", for the purposes of this note and of the wording of headings 2844 and 2845, refers to:
(i) Individual nuclides, excluding, however, those existing in nature in the monoiosotopic state;
(ii) Mixtures of isotopes of one and the same element, enriched in one or several of the said isotopes, that is, elements of which the natural isotopic composition has been artificially modified.
7. Heading 2853 includes copper phosphide (phosphor copper) containing more than 15 percent by weight of phosphorus.
8. Chemical elements (for example, silicon and selenium) doped for use in electronics are to be classified in this chapter, provided that they are in forms unworked as drawn, or in the form of cylinders or rods. When cut in the form of discs, wafers or similar forms, they fall in heading 3818.
Chapter 28 — Subheading Notes
Subheading Notes. Binding, scoped to subheadings.
1. For the purposes of subheading 2852.10, the expression "chemically defined" means all organic or inorganic compounds of mercury meeting the requirements of paragraphs (a) to (e) of Note 1 to Chapter 28 or paragraphs (a) to (h) of Note 1 to Chapter 29.
Chapter 28 — Statistical Notes
US statistical reporting only. NOT classification law.
1. 3 For the purposes of heading 2804, the term "m " (cubic meter) means a standard cubic meter measured at 21°C at 760 mm (1013 millibars) pressure.
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.
Headings in chapter 28
2801 Fluorine, chlorine, bromine and iodine
2804 Hydrogen, rare gases and other nonmetals
2805 Alkali or alkaline-earth metals; rare-earth metals, scandium and yttrium, whether or not intermixed or interalloyed; mercury
2806 Hydrogen chloride (Hydrochloric acid); chlorosulfuric acid
2809 Diphosphorus pentaoxide; phosphoric acid;polyphosphoric acids, whether or not chemically defined
2811 Other inorganic acids and other inorganic oxygen compounds of nonmetals
2812 Halides and halide oxides of nonmetals
2813 Sulfides of nonmetals; commercial phosphorus trisulfide
2814 Ammonia, anhydrous or in aqueous solution
2815 Sodium hydroxide (Caustic soda); potassium hydroxide (Caustic potash); peroxides of sodium or potassium
2816 Hydroxide and peroxide of magnesium; oxides, hydroxides and peroxides, of strontium or barium
2818 Artificial corundum, whether or not chemically defined; aluminum oxide; aluminum hydroxide
2819 Chromium oxides and hydroxides
2820 Manganese oxides
2821 Iron oxides and hydroxides; earth colors containing 70 percent or more by weight of combined iron evaluated as Fe2O3
2824 Lead oxides; red lead and orange lead
2825 Hydrazine and hydroxylamine and their inorganic salts; other inorganic bases; other metal oxides, hydroxides and peroxides
2826 Fluorides; fluorosilicates, fluoroaluminates and other complex fluorine salts
2827 Chlorides, chloride oxides and chloride hydroxides; bromides and bromide oxides; iodides and iodide oxides
2828 Hypochlorites; commercial calcium hypochlorite; chlorites; hypobromites
2829 Chlorates and perchlorates; bromates and perbromates; iodates and periodates
2830 Sulfides; polysulfides, whether or not chemically defined
2831 Dithionites and sulfoxylates
2832 Sulfites; thiosulfates
2833 Sulfates; alums; peroxosulfates (persulfates)
2834 Nitrites; nitrates
2835 Phosphinates (hypophosphites), phosphonates (phosphites) and phosphates; polyphosphates, whether or not chemically defined
2836 Carbonates; peroxocarbonates (percarbonates); commercial ammonium carbonate containing ammonium carbamate
2837 Cyanides, cyanide oxides and complex cyanides
2839 Silicates; commercial alkali metal silicates
2840 Borates; peroxoborates (perborates)
2841 Salts of oxometallic or peroxometallic acids
2842 Other salts of inorganic acids or peroxoacids (including aluminosilicates whether or not chemically defined), other than azides
2843 Colloidal precious metals; inorganic or organic compounds of precious metals, whether or not chemically defined; amalgams of precious metals
2844 Radioactive chemical elements and radioactive isotopes (including the fissile or fertile chemical elements and isotopes) and their compounds; mixtures and residues containing these products
2845 Isotopes other than those of heading 2844; compounds, inorganic or organic, of such isotopes, whether or not chemically defined
2846 Compounds, inorganic or organic, of rare-earth metals, of yttrium or of scandium, or of mixtures of these metals
2849 Carbides, whether or not chemically defined
2852 Inorganic or organic compounds of mercury, whether or not chemically defined, excluding amalgams
2853 Phosphides, whether or not chemically defined, excluding ferrophosphorous; other inorganic compounds (including distilled or conductivity water and water of similar purity); liquid air (whether or not rare gases have been removed); compressed air; amalgams, other than amalgams of precious metals
Other chapters
Common questions
What does HS chapter 28 cover?
Inorganic chemicals; organic or inorganic compounds of precious metals, of rare-earth metals, of radioactive elements or of isotopes. It contains 50 headings and 180 six-digit subheadings, and sits in Section VI (products of the chemical or allied industries).
What is excluded from chapter 28?
3. Subject to the provisions of note 1 to section VI, this chapter does not cover: (a) Sodium chloride or magnesium oxide, whether or not pure, or other products of section V; (b) Organo-inorganic compounds other than those mentioned in note 2 above; (c) Products mentioned in note 2, 3, 4 or 5 to chapter 31; (d) Inorganic products of a kind used as luminophores, of heading 3206; glass frit and other glass in the form of powder, granules or flakes, of heading 3207;
Are chapter 28's notes legally binding?
This chapter carries 37 binding note paragraph(s) — legal notes of the Harmonized System, plus any US-specific Additional U.S. Notes. They decide classification, and they outrank the wording of an individual subheading. A further 1 statistical note paragraph(s) govern US reporting only and are not classification law.