Chapter 32

Tanning or dyeing extracts; tannins and their derivatives; dyes, pigments and other coloring matter; paints and varnishes; putty and other mastics; inks

Section VI — Products of the chemical or allied industries · 15 headings · 45 subheadings

Duty in chapter 32 at a glance

Counted across the 183 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
23 of 183 stating a rate
Ad valorem range
1.3% – 6.5%
Rates stated in words
1 line state the duty by reference to another part of the schedule rather than as a figure — for example "the duty provided in the applicable subheading". Those cannot be computed from the line alone.

Preference programmes appearing in this chapter

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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 32 even when a subheading's wording seems to fit. They are the fastest way to find out you are in the wrong chapter.

1. This chapter does not cover:

  • (a) Separate chemically defined elements or compounds (except those of heading 3203 or 3204, inorganic products of a kind used as luminophores (heading 3206), glass obtained from fused quartz or other fused silica in the forms provided for in heading 3207, and also dyes and other coloring matter put up in forms or packings for retail sale, of heading 3212);
  • (b) Tannates or other tannin derivatives of products of headings 2936 to 2939, 2941 or 3501 to 3504; or
  • (c) Mastics of asphalt or other bituminous mastics (heading 2715).

5. The expression "coloring matter" in this chapter does not include products of a kind used as extenders in oil paints, whether or not they are also suitable for coloring distempers.

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 32 — Notes

Legal Notes of the Harmonized System. Binding, and part of the international nomenclature.

1. This chapter does not cover:

(a) Separate chemically defined elements or compounds (except those of heading 3203 or 3204, inorganic products of a kind used as luminophores (heading 3206), glass obtained from fused quartz or other fused silica in the forms provided for in heading 3207, and also dyes and other coloring matter put up in forms or packings for retail sale, of heading 3212);

(b) Tannates or other tannin derivatives of products of headings 2936 to 2939, 2941 or 3501 to 3504; or

(c) Mastics of asphalt or other bituminous mastics (heading 2715).

2. Heading 3204 includes mixtures of stabilized diazonium salts and couplers for the production of azo dyes.

3. Headings 3203, 3204, 3205 and 3206 apply also to preparations based on coloring matter (including, in the case of heading 3206, coloring pigments of heading 2530 or chapter 28, metal flakes and metal powders), of a kind used for coloring any material or used as ingredients in the manufacture of coloring preparations. The headings do not apply, however, to pigments dispersed in nonaqueous media, in liquid or paste form, of a kind used in the manufacture of paints, including enamels (heading 3212), or to other preparations of heading 3207, 3208, 3209, 3210, 3212, 3213 or 3215.

4. Heading 3208 includes solutions (other than collodions) consisting of any of the products specified in headings 3901 to 3913 in volatile organic solvents when the weight of the solvent exceeds 50 percent of the weight of the solution.

5. The expression "coloring matter" in this chapter does not include products of a kind used as extenders in oil paints, whether or not they are also suitable for coloring distempers.

6. The expression "stamping foils" in heading 3212 applies only to thin sheets of a kind used for printing, for example, book covers or hat bands, and consisting of--

(a) Metallic powder (including powder of precious metal) or pigment, agglomerated with glue, gelatin or other binder; or

(b) Metal (including precious metal) or pigment, deposited on a supporting sheet of any material.

Chapter 32 — Additional U.S. Notes

Additional U.S. Notes. Binding in the United States; not part of the international HS.

1. For the purposes of subheadings 3204.11.10, 3204.12.20 and 3204.16.20, the term "dyes containing, by weight" means those products which contain as the only dye components, the specified components listed therewith, each of which must be present in the product. A tolerance of plus or minus two percentage points from the named percentages is allowable.

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 32

3201 Tanning extracts of vegetable origin; tannins and their salts, ethers, esters and other derivatives

3202 Synthetic organic tanning substances; inorganic tanning substances; tanning preparations, whether or not containing natural tanning substances; enzymatic preparations for pre-tanning

3204 Synthetic organic coloring matter, whether or not chemically defined; preparations as specified in note 3 to this chapter based on synthetic organic coloring matter; synthetic organic products of a kind used as fluorescent brightening agents or as luminophores, whether or not chemically defined

3207 Prepared pigments, prepared opacifiers and prepared colors, vitrifiable enamels and glazes, engobes (slips), liquid lustres and similar preparations, of a kind used in the ceramic, enamelling or glass industry; glass frit and other glass, in the form of powder, granules or flakes

3208 Paints and varnishes (including enamels and lacquers) based on synthetic polymers or chemically modified natural polymers, dispersed or dissolved in a nonaqueous medium; solutions as defined in note 4 to this chapter

3209 Paints and varnishes (including enamels and lacquers) based on synthetic polymers or chemically modified natural polymers, dispersed or dissolved in an aqueous medium

3212 Pigments (including metallic powders and flakes) dispersed in nonaqueous media, in liquid or paste form, of a kind used in the manufacture of paints (including enamels); stamping foils; dyes and other coloring matter put up in forms or packings for retail sale

3213 Artists', students' or signboard painters' colors, modifying tints, amusement colors and the like, in tablets, tubes, jars, bottles, pans or in similar forms or packings

3214 Glaziers' putty, grafting putty, resin cements, caulking compounds and other mastics; painters' fillings; nonrefractory surfacing preparations for facades, indoor walls, floors, ceilings or the like

3215 Printing ink, writing or drawing ink and other inks, whether or not concentrated or solid

Common questions

What does HS chapter 32 cover?

Tanning or dyeing extracts; tannins and their derivatives; dyes, pigments and other coloring matter; paints and varnishes; putty and other mastics; inks. It contains 15 headings and 45 six-digit subheadings, and sits in Section VI (products of the chemical or allied industries).

What is excluded from chapter 32?

1. This chapter does not cover: (a) Separate chemically defined elements or compounds (except those of heading 3203 or 3204, inorganic products of a kind used as luminophores (heading 3206), glass obtained from fused quartz or other fused silica in the forms provided for in heading 3207, and also dyes and other coloring matter put up in forms or packings for retail sale, of heading 3212); (b) Tannates or other tannin derivatives of products of headings 2936 to 2939, 2941 or 3501 to 3504; or (c) Mastics of asphalt or other bituminous mastics (heading 2715).

Are chapter 32's notes legally binding?

This chapter carries 12 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.