HTS Chapter 38: Miscellaneous chemical products
HTS Chapter 38 covers Miscellaneous chemical products. Browse 17 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.
US HTS Chapter 38 covers a broad group of prepared chemical and related industrial products that do not fit more specifically in earlier chapters. Examples include activated carbon, turpentine and rosin products, retail pesticides and disinfectants, textile or paper finishing preparations, metal-soldering preparations, fuel additives, rubber and plastic additives, catalysts, refractory compositions, diagnostic reagents, and certain industrial fatty acids and alcohols. The product’s ingredients, physical form, intended use, packaging, and level of preparation can all affect classification.
The HTS is organized in levels: a chapter is a two-digit category, a heading is generally four digits, a subheading is generally six digits, and the complete US tariff classification is a 10-digit code. Start with the heading whose wording most specifically describes the product, then read the heading notes, section notes, and subheading text before moving through the lower-level choices. Confirm whether another chapter or heading is excluded, whether the product is a mixture or preparation, and whether its retail presentation or industrial use changes the result. The final US classification and any applicable measures should be verified against current official HTS data; a customs broker or binding ruling may be appropriate when the classification is uncertain.
What to check
- Identify the product’s complete formulation, including active ingredients, carriers, additives, concentration, and physical form.
- Compare the product’s actual composition and principal function with the heading descriptions; do not classify by marketing name alone.
- Check Section VI, Chapter 38, heading, and subheading notes for exclusions or special definitions, including rules for mixtures, preparations, kits, and retail packaging.
- Review nearby chapters and headings—such as those covering organic chemicals, pharmaceuticals, plastics, rubber, or mineral products—to confirm Chapter 38 is the correct location.
- After selecting the 10-digit code, check current general and special provisions, country-specific measures, and any applicable Chapter 99 reporting or additional-duty requirements.
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 |
|---|---|---|
| 3801 | Artificial graphite; colloidal or semi-colloidal graphite; preparations based on graphite or other carbon in the form of pastes, blocks, plates or other semimanufactures: | 1 |
| 3802 | Activated carbon; activated natural mineral products; animal black, including spent animal black: | 1 |
| 3805 | Gum, wood or sulfate turpentine and other terpenic oils produced by the distillation or other treatment of coniferous woods; crude dipentene; sulfite turpentine and other crude para-cymene; pine oil containing alpha-terpineol as the main constituent: | 0 |
| 3806 | Rosin and resin acids, and derivatives thereof; rosin spirit and rosin oils; run gums: | 1 |
| 3808 | Insecticides, rodenticides, fungicides, herbicides, antisprouting products and plant-growth regulators, disinfectants and similar products, put up in forms or packings for retail sale or as preparations or articles (for example, sulfur-treated bands, wicks and candles, and flypapers): | 0 |
| 3809 | Finishing agents, dye carriers to accelerate the dyeing or fixing of dyestuffs and other products and preparations (for example, dressings and mordants), of a kind used in the textile, paper, leather or like industries, not elsewhere specified or included: | 0 |
| 3810 | Pickling preparations for metal surfaces; fluxes and other auxiliary preparations for soldering, brazing or welding; soldering, brazing or welding powders and pastes consisting of metal and other materials; preparations of a kind used as cores or coatings for welding electrodes or rods: | 0 |
| 3811 | Antiknock preparations, oxidation inhibitors, gum inhibitors, viscosity improvers, anti-corrosive preparations and other prepared additives, for mineral oils (including gasoline) or for other liquids used for the same purposes as mineral oils: | 0 |
| 3812 | Prepared rubber accelerators; compound plasticizers for rubber or plastics, not elsewhere specified or included; antioxidizing preparations and other compound stabilizers for rubber or plastics: | 0 |
| 3815 | Reaction initiators, reaction accelerators and catalytic preparations, not elsewhere specified or included: | 1 |
| 3816 | Refractory cements, mortars, concretes and similar compositions, including dolomite ramming mix, other than products of heading 3801: | 1 |
| 3817 | Mixed alkylbenzenes and mixed alkylnaphthalenes, other than those of heading 2707 or 2902: | 0 |
| 3822 | Diagnostic or laboratory reagents on a backing, prepared diagnostic or laboratory reagents whether or not on a backing, whether or not put up in the form of kits, other than those of heading 3006; certified reference materials: | 1 |
| 3823 | Industrial monocarboxylic fatty acids; acid oils from refining; industrial fatty alcohols: | 1 |
| 3824 | Prepared binders for foundry molds or cores; chemical products and preparations of the chemical or allied industries (including those consisting of mixtures of natural products), not elsewhere specified or included: | 1 |
| 3825 | Residual products of the chemical or allied industries, not elsewhere specified or included; municipal waste; sewage sludge; other wastes specified in note 6 to this chapter: | 0 |
| 3827 | Mixtures containing halogenated derivatives of methane, ethane or propane, not elsewhere specified or included: | 0 |
Linked measures
0 linked measure entries in the current snapshot.
Questions about HTS Chapter 38
What does HTS Chapter 38 cover?
HTS Chapter 38 covers Miscellaneous chemical products. 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 38 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.