HTS Chapter 21: Miscellaneous edible preparations
HTS Chapter 21 covers Miscellaneous edible preparations. Browse 5 published headings, then narrow to the active product line that matches the goods.
2026 HTS Rev 19 Synced Rules verified Operational
Written to help non-specialists understand this page. Rates, dates, and legal facts come from the official records above and on the linked source.
HTS Chapter 21 covers miscellaneous edible preparations and ingredients, including coffee, tea, and maté extracts or concentrates; yeasts and baking powders; sauces, condiments, seasonings, and mustard products; soups, broths, and similar preparations; and food preparations that are not more specifically described elsewhere. Other headings in the chapter cover additional prepared foods, so do not assume that every product marketed as a sauce, supplement, beverage mix, or baking ingredient belongs here.
The HTS is organized from broad to specific: a chapter identifies a general product family, a heading provides a four-digit category such as 2103, a subheading adds further distinctions, and the complete 10-digit HTS code supplies the U.S. import classification. To choose a code, examine the product’s ingredients, composition, processing, packaging, and intended use, then compare the headings and subheadings and read their legal notes. Chapter 21 often includes “residual” provisions such as food preparations not elsewhere specified or included, but those provisions should be used only after more specific classifications have been ruled out.
What to check
- Identify the product’s full ingredient list, proportions when relevant, physical form, processing, and stated use before comparing codes.
- Check whether another HTS chapter or heading describes the product more specifically, including exclusions for medicines, vaccines, dairy products, beverages, or other prepared foods.
- Read the heading, subheading, section notes, chapter notes, and relevant tariff provisions together; do not classify solely from the product’s trade name or marketing description.
- Confirm whether the product is a mixture, concentrate, extract, preparation, or single ingredient, because those distinctions can change the classification path.
- Check the current U.S. HTS for any applicable Chapter 99 measures, and obtain customs-broker or binding-ruling guidance when the ingredients, use, or exclusions create uncertainty.
How to use this chapter
A chapter is the first classification level, not a duty rate. Choose the heading that describes the product, narrow by material, construction, use, or other legal distinctions, and verify the final line against the official HTS notes.
Heading list
| HTS code | Description | Linked 8-digit entries |
|---|---|---|
| 2101 | Extracts, essences and concentrates, of coffee, tea or maté and preparations with a basis of these products or with a basis of coffee, tea or maté; roasted chicory and other roasted coffee substitutes, and extracts, essences and concentrates thereof: | 0 |
| 2102 | Yeasts (active or inactive); other single-cell microorganisms, dead (but not including vaccines of heading 3002); prepared baking powders: | 0 |
| 2103 | Sauces and preparations therefore; mixed condiments and mixed seasonings; mustard flour and meal and prepared mustard: | 0 |
| 2104 | Soups and broths and preparations therefor; homogenized composite food preparations: | 1 |
| 2106 | Food preparations not elsewhere specified or included: | 0 |
Linked measures
0 linked measure entries in the current snapshot.
Questions about HTS Chapter 21
What does HTS Chapter 21 cover?
HTS Chapter 21 covers Miscellaneous edible preparations. This page groups the chapter’s 4-digit headings; a shipment still needs the most specific active 8- or 10-digit line supported by the product facts.
Is HTS Chapter 21 a final product classification?
No. A chapter is a broad 2-digit category. Narrow it to the applicable heading and the most specific active statistical line before estimating duty or filing an entry.