Chapter 44
Wood and articles of wood; wood charcoal
Section IX — Wood and articles of wood; wood charcoal; cork and articles of cork; manufactures of straw, of esparto or of other plaiting materials; basketware and wickerwork · 21 headings · 128 subheadings
Duty in chapter 44 at a glance
Counted across the 639 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
- 410 of 639 stating a rate
- Ad valorem range
- 3.2% – 10.7%
- Dutiable per unit, not on value
- 14 lines are charged per kilogram, litre or item rather than as a percentage of the customs value. A landed-cost estimate built from value alone will understate the duty on those.
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 44 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) Wood, in chips, in shavings, crushed, ground or powdered, of a kind used primarily in perfumery, in pharmacy, or for insecticidal, fungicidal or similar purposes (heading 1211);
- (b) Bamboo or other materials of a woody nature of a kind used primarily for plaiting, in the rough, whether or not split, sawn lengthwise or cut to length (heading 1401);
- (c) Wood, in chips, in shavings, ground or powdered, of a kind used primarily in dyeing or in tanning (heading 1404);
- (d) Activated charcoal (heading 3802);
- (e) Articles of heading 4202;
- (f) Goods of chapter 46;
- (g) Footwear or parts thereof of chapter 64;
- (h) Goods of chapter 66 (for example, umbrellas and walking-sticks and parts thereof);
- (ij) Goods of heading 6808;
- (k) Imitation jewelry of heading 7117;
- (l) Goods of section XVI or section XVII (for example, machine parts, cases, covers, cabinets for machines and apparatus and wheelwrights' wares);
- (m) Goods of section XVIII (for example, clock cases and musical instruments and parts thereof);
- (n) Parts of firearms (heading 9305);
- (o) Articles of chapter 94 (for example, furniture, luminaires and lighting fittings, prefabricated buildings);
- (p) Articles of chapter 95 (for example, toys, games, sports equipment);
- (q) Articles of chapter 96 (for example, smoking pipes and parts thereof, buttons, pencils, and monopods, bipods, tripods and similar articles) excluding bodies and handles, of wood, for articles of heading 9603; or
- (r) Articles of chapter 97 (for example, works of art).
5. Heading 4417 does not apply to tools in which the blade, working edge, working surface or other working part is formed by any of the materials specified in note 1 to chapter 82.
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.
Chapter 44 — Notes
Legal Notes of the Harmonized System. Binding, and part of the international nomenclature.
1. This chapter does not cover:
(a) Wood, in chips, in shavings, crushed, ground or powdered, of a kind used primarily in perfumery, in pharmacy, or for insecticidal, fungicidal or similar purposes (heading 1211);
(b) Bamboo or other materials of a woody nature of a kind used primarily for plaiting, in the rough, whether or not split, sawn lengthwise or cut to length (heading 1401);
(c) Wood, in chips, in shavings, ground or powdered, of a kind used primarily in dyeing or in tanning (heading 1404);
(d) Activated charcoal (heading 3802);
(e) Articles of heading 4202;
(f) Goods of chapter 46;
(g) Footwear or parts thereof of chapter 64;
(h) Goods of chapter 66 (for example, umbrellas and walking-sticks and parts thereof);
(ij) Goods of heading 6808;
(k) Imitation jewelry of heading 7117;
(l) Goods of section XVI or section XVII (for example, machine parts, cases, covers, cabinets for machines and apparatus and wheelwrights' wares);
(m) Goods of section XVIII (for example, clock cases and musical instruments and parts thereof);
(n) Parts of firearms (heading 9305);
(o) Articles of chapter 94 (for example, furniture, luminaires and lighting fittings, prefabricated buildings);
(p) Articles of chapter 95 (for example, toys, games, sports equipment);
(q) Articles of chapter 96 (for example, smoking pipes and parts thereof, buttons, pencils, and monopods, bipods, tripods and similar articles) excluding bodies and handles, of wood, for articles of heading 9603; or
(r) Articles of chapter 97 (for example, works of art).
2. In this chapter, the expression "densified wood" means wood which has been subjected to chemical or physical treatment (being, in the case of layers bonded together, treatment in excess of that needed to insure a good bond), and which has thereby acquired increased density or hardness together with improved mechanical strength or resistance to chemical or electrical agencies.
3. Headings 4414 to 4421 apply to articles of the respective descriptions of particle board or similar board, fiberboard, laminated wood or densified wood as they apply to such articles of wood.
4. Products of heading 4410, 4411 or 4412 may be worked to form the shapes provided for in respect of the articles of heading 4409, curved, corrugated, perforated, cut or formed to shapes other than square or rectangular or submitted to any other operation provided it does not give them the character of articles of other headings.
5. Heading 4417 does not apply to tools in which the blade, working edge, working surface or other working part is formed by any of the materials specified in note 1 to chapter 82.
6. Subject to note 1 above and except where the context otherwise requires, any reference to "wood" in a heading of this chapter applies also to bamboo and other materials of a woody nature.
Chapter 44 — Subheading Notes
Subheading Notes. Binding, scoped to subheadings.
1. For the purposes of subheading 4401.31, the expression "wood pellets" means by-products such as cutter shavings, sawdust or chips, of the mechanical wood processing industry, furniture-making industry or other wood transformation activities, which have been agglomerated either directly by compression or by the addition of a binder in a proportion not exceeding 3 percent by weight. Such pellets are cylindrical, with a diameter not exceeding 25 mm and a length not exceeding 100 mm.
2. For the purposes of subheading 4401.32, the expression "wood briquettes" means by-products such as cutter shavings, sawdust or chips, of the mechanical wood processing industry, furniture making or other wood transformation activities, which have been agglomerated either directly by compression or by the addition of a binder in a proportion not exceeding 3 percent by weight. Such briquettes are in the form of cubiform, polyhedral or cylindrical units with the minimum cross-sectional dimension greater than 25 mm.
3. For the purposes of subheading 4407.13, "S-P-F" refers to wood sourced from mixed stands of spruce, pine and fir where the proportion of each species varies and is unknown.
4. For the purposes of subheading 4407.14, "Hem-fir" refers to wood sourced from mixed stands of Western hemlock and fir where the proportion of each species varies and is unknown.
Chapter 44 — Additional U.S. Notes
Additional U.S. Notes. Binding in the United States; not part of the international HS.
1. In this chapter:
(a) The term "wood waste" means residual material other than firewood resulting from the processing of wood, including scraps, shavings, sawdust, veneer clippings, chipper rejects and similar small wood residues, as well as larger or coarser solid types of residual wood such as slabs, edgings, cull pieces and veneer log cores;
(b) The term "standard wood moldings" means wood moldings worked to a pattern and having the same profile in cross section throughout their length; and
(c) The term "surface covered," as applied to the articles of headings 4411 and 4412, means that one or more exterior surfaces of a product have been treated with creosote or other wood preservatives, or with fillers, sealers, waxes, oils, stains, varnishes, paints or enamels, or have been overlaid with paper, fabric, plastics, base metal, or other material.
2. The effectiveness of the proviso to section 304(a)(3)(J) of the Tariff Act of 1930 (19 U.S.C. 1304(a)(3)(J)), to the extent permitted by that section and as provided for in schedule XX to the General Agreement on Tariffs and Trade, is suspended, with the result that sawed lumber and sawed timbers however provided for, telephone, trolley, electric light and telegraph poles of wood and bundles of shingles, other than red cedar shingles, shall not be required to be marked to indicate the country of origin.
3. Heading 4409 includes articles having a repeating design worked along any edge or face.
4. Heading 4418 includes--
(a) drilled or notched lumber studs; and
(b) multi-layer assembled flooring panels having a face ply 4 mm or more in thickness.
Chapter 44 — Statistical Notes
US statistical reporting only. NOT classification law.
1. For the purposes of heading 4407, the term "rough" includes wood that has been edged, resawn, crosscut or trimmed to smaller sizes but it does not include wood that has been dressed or surfaced by planing on one or more edges or faces or has been edge-glued or end-glued.
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 44
4401 Fuel wood, in logs, in billets, in twigs, in faggots or in similar forms; wood in chips or particles; sawdust and wood waste and scrap, whether or not agglomerated in logs, briquettes, pellets or similar forms
4402 Wood charcoal (including shell or nut charcoal), whether or not agglomerated
4403 Wood in the rough, whether or not stripped of bark or sap- wood, or roughly squared
4404 Hoopwood; split poles; piles, pickets and stakes of wood, pointed but not sawn lengthwise; wooden sticks, roughly trimmed but not turned, bent or otherwise worked, suitable for the manufacture of walking-sticks, umbrellas, tool handles or the like; chipwood and the like
4406 Railway or tramway sleepers (cross-ties) of wood
4407 Wood sawn or chipped lengthwise, sliced or peeled, whether or not planed, sanded or end-jointed, of a thickness exceeding 6 mm
4408 Sheets for veneering (including those obtained by slicing laminated wood), for plywood or for similar laminated wood and other wood, sawn lengthwise, sliced or peeled, whether or not planed, sanded, spliced or end-jointed, of a thickness not exceeding 6 mm
4409 Wood (including strips and friezes for parquet flooring, not assembled) continuously shaped (tongued, grooved, rebated, chamfered, V-jointed, beaded, molded, rounded or the like) along any of its edges, ends or faces, whether or not planed, sanded or end-jointed
4410 Particle board, oriented strand board (OSB) and similar board (for example, waferboard) of wood or other ligneous materials, whether or not agglomerated with resins or other organic binding substances
4411 Fiberboard of wood or other ligneous materials, whether or not bonded with resins or other organic substances
4412 Plywood, veneered panels and similar laminated wood
4414 Wooden frames for paintings, photographs, mirrors or similar objects
4415 Packing cases, boxes, crates, drums and similar packings, of wood; cable-drums, of wood; pallets, box-pallets and other load boards, of wood; pallet collars of wood
4418 Builders' joinery and carpentry of wood, including cellular wood panels and assembled flooring panels; shingles and shakes
4419 Tableware and kitchenware, of wood
4420 Wood marquetry and inlaid wood; caskets and cases for jewelry or cutlery and similar articles, of wood; statuettes and other ornaments, of wood; wooden articles of furniture not falling within chapter 94
4421 Other articles of wood
Other chapters
Common questions
What does HS chapter 44 cover?
Wood and articles of wood; wood charcoal. It contains 21 headings and 128 six-digit subheadings, and sits in Section IX (wood and articles of wood; wood charcoal; cork and articles of cork; manufactures of straw, of esparto or of other plaiting materials; basketware and wickerwork).
What is excluded from chapter 44?
1. This chapter does not cover: (a) Wood, in chips, in shavings, crushed, ground or powdered, of a kind used primarily in perfumery, in pharmacy, or for insecticidal, fungicidal or similar purposes (heading 1211); (b) Bamboo or other materials of a woody nature of a kind used primarily for plaiting, in the rough, whether or not split, sawn lengthwise or cut to length (heading 1401); (c) Wood, in chips, in shavings, ground or powdered, of a kind used primarily in dyeing or in tanning (heading 1404); (d) Activated charcoal (heading 3802);
Are chapter 44's notes legally binding?
This chapter carries 36 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.