Chapter 39
Chapter 39
Chapter 39
SECTION VII
1. 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;
(c) Identifiable, whether by their nature or by the relative proportions in which they are present, as being complementary one
to another.
2. Except for the goods of heading 3918 or 3919, plastics, rubber, and articles thereof, printed with motifs, characters or pictorial
representations, which are not merely subsidiary to the primary use of the goods, fall in chapter 49.
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CHAPTER 39
1. Throughout the tariff schedule the expression "plastics" means those materials of headings 3901 to 3914 which are or have been
capable, either at the moment of polymerization or at some subsequent stage, of being formed under external influence (usually
heat and pressure, if necessary with a solvent or plasticizer) by molding, casting, extruding, rolling or other process into shapes
which are retained on the removal of the external influence.
Throughout the tariff schedule, any reference to "plastics" also includes vulcanized fiber. The expression, however, does not
apply to materials regarded as textile materials of section XI.
(e) 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 (heading 3208); stamping foils of
heading 3212;
(h) Prepared additives for mineral oils (including gasoline) or for other liquids used for the same purposes as mineral oil (heading
3811);
(ij) Prepared hydraulic fluids based on polyglycols, silicones or other polymers of Chapter 39 (heading 3819);
(l) Synthetic rubber, as defined for the purposes of chapter 40, or articles thereof;
(m) Saddlery or harness (heading 4201) or trunks, suitcases, handbags or other containers of heading 4202;
(q) Articles of section XII (for example, footwear, headgear, umbrellas, sun umbrellas, walking-sticks, whips, riding-crops or
parts thereof);
(u) Articles of chapter 90 (for example, optical elements, spectacle frames, drawing instruments);
(x) Articles of chapter 94 (for example, furniture, luminaires and lighting fittings, illuminated signs, prefabricated buildings);
(z) Articles of chapter 96 (for example, brushes, buttons, slide fasteners, combs, mouthpieces or stems for smoking pipes,
cigarette holders or the like, parts of vacuum flasks or the like, pens, mechanical pencils, and monopods, bipods, tripods
and similar articles).
3. Headings 3901 to 3911 apply only to goods of a kind produced by chemical synthesis, falling in the following categories:
(a) Liquid synthetic polyolefins of which less than 60 percent by volume distills at 300°C, after conversion to 1,013 millibars
when a reduced-pressure distillation method is used (headings 3901 and 3902);
(b) Resins, not highly polymerized, of the coumarone-indene type (heading 3911);
(c) Other synthetic polymers with an average of at least five monomer units;
4. The expression "copolymers" covers all polymers in which no single monomer contributes 95 percent or more by weight to the
total polymer content.
For the purposes of this chapter, except where the context otherwise requires, copolymers (including co-polycondensates,
co-polyaddition products, block copolymers and graft copolymers) and polymer blends are to be classified in the heading covering
polymers of that comonomer unit which predominates by weight over every other single comonomer unit. For the purposes of
this note, constituent comonomer units of polymers falling in the same heading shall be taken together.
If no single comonomer predominates, copolymers or polymer blends, as the case may be, are to be classified in the heading
which occurs last in numerical order among those which equally merit consideration.
5. Chemically modified polymers, that is, those in which only appendages to the main polymer chain have been changed by chemical
reaction, are to be classified in the heading appropriate to the unmodified polymer. This provision does not apply to graft
copolymers.
6. In headings 3901 to 3914, the expression "primary forms" applies only to the following forms:
(a) Liquids and pastes, including dispersions (emulsions and suspensions) and solutions;
(b) Blocks of irregular shape, lumps, powders (including molding powders), granules, flakes and similar bulk forms.
7. Heading 3915 does not apply to waste, parings and scrap of a single thermoplastic material, transformed into primary forms
(headings 3901 to 3914).
8. For the purposes of heading 3917, the expression "tubes, pipes and hoses" means hollow products, whether semimanufactures
or finished products, of a kind generally used for conveying, conducting or distributing gases or liquids (for example, ribbed
garden hose, perforated tubes). This expression also includes sausage casings and other lay-flat tubing. However, except for
the last mentioned, those having an internal cross section other than round, oval, rectangular (in which the length does not
exceed 1.5 times the width) or in the shape of a regular polygon are not to be regarded as tubes, pipes and hoses, but as profile
shapes.
9. For the purposes of heading 3918, the expression "wall or ceiling coverings of plastics" applies to products in rolls, of a width
not less than 45 cm, suitable for wall or ceiling decoration, consisting of plastics fixed permanently on a backing of any material
other than paper, the layer of plastics (on the face side) being grained, embossed, colored, design-printed or otherwise decorated.
10. In headings 3920 and 3921, the expression "plates, sheets, film, foil and strip" applies only to plates, sheets, film, foil and strip
(other than those of chapter 54) and to blocks of regular geometric shape, whether or not printed or otherwise surface-worked,
uncut or cut into rectangles (including squares) but not further worked (even if when so cut they become articles ready for use).
11. Heading 3925 applies only to the following articles, not being products covered by any of the earlier headings of subchapter II:
(a) Reservoirs, tanks (including septic tanks), vats and similar containers, of a capacity exceeding 300 liters;
(b) Structural elements used, for example, in floors, walls or partitions, ceilings or roofs;
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Notes (con.)
(d) Doors, windows and their frames and thresholds for doors;
(f) Shutters, blinds (including venetian blinds) and similar articles and parts and fittings thereof;
(g) Large-scale shelving for assembly and permanent installation, for example, in shops, workshops, warehouses;
(h) Ornamental architectural features, for example, flutings, cupolas, dovecotes; and
(ij) Fittings and mountings intended for permanent installation in or on doors, windows, staircases, walls or other parts of
buildings, for example, knobs, handles, hooks, brackets, towel rails, switch plates and other protective plates.
Subheading Notes
1. Within any one heading of this chapter, polymers (including copolymers) are to be classified according to the following provisions:
(1) The designation in a subheading of a polymer by the prefix "poly" (for example, polyethylene and polyamide-6,6) means
that the constituent monomer unit or monomer units of the named polymer taken together must contribute 95 percent
or more by weight of the total polymer content.
(2) The copolymers named in subheadings 3901.30, 3901.40, 3903.20, 3903.30 and 3904.30 are to be classified in those
subheadings, provided that the comonomer units of the named copolymers contribute 95 percent or more by weight of
the total polymer content.
(3) Chemically modified polymers are to be classified in the subheading named "Other", provided that the chemically modified
polymers are not more specifically covered by another subheading.
(4) Polymers not meeting (1), (2), or (3), above, are to be classified in the subheading, among the remaining subheadings
in the series, covering polymers of that monomer unit which predominates by weight over every other single comonomer
unit. For this purpose, constituent monomer units of polymers falling in the same subheading shall be taken together.
Only the constituent comonomer units of the polymers in the series of subheadings under consideration are to be
compared.
(1) Polymers are to be classified in the subheading covering polymers of that monomer unit which predominates by weight
over every other single comonomer unit. For this purpose, constituent monomer units of polymers falling in the same
subheading shall be taken together. Only the constituent comonomer units of the polymers in the series under
consideration are to be compared.
(2) Chemically modified polymers are to be classified in the subheading appropriate to the unmodified polymer.
Polymer blends are to be classified in the same subheading as polymers of the same monomer units in the same proportions.
2. For the purposes of subheading 3920.43, the term “plasticizers” includes secondary plasticizers.
1. For the purposes of this chapter, the term "elastomeric" means a plastics material which after cross-linking can be stretched at
20°C to at least three times its original length and that, after having been stretched to twice its original length and the stress
removed, returns within five minutes to less than 150 percent of its original length. Elastomeric plastics may also contain fillers,
extenders, pigments or rubber-processing chemicals, whether or not such plastics material, after the addition of such fillers,
extenders, pigments or chemicals, can meet the tests specified in the first part of this note.
2. For the purposes of heading 3916, the rate of duty "Free (B)" appearing in the "Special" subcolumn applies only to articles
measuring not more than 38.1 cm in length.
3. For the purposes of heading 3917, with respect to tubes, pipes and hoses, the rate of duty "Free (C)" appearing in the "Special"
subcolumn applies only to tubes, pipes and hoses having attached fittings.
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Subheading Notes (con.)
4. For the purposes of heading 3921, the rate of duty "Free (B)" appearing in the "Special" subcolumn applies only to articles
measuring not more than 38.1 cm in width and not more than 45.7 cm in length.
5. For the purposes of heading 3924, the expression “household articles” does not include photo albums (see subheading 3926.90.48).
Statistical Note
1. For the purposes of statistical reporting number 3904.61.0010, the term “granular” refers to polytetrafluoroethylene (PTFE) resins
and raw polymer produced by suspension polymerization as determined by ASTM D 4894-98a or PTFE compounds produced
therefrom as determined by ASTM D 4745, or micropowders from such resins or raw polymer as determined by ASTM D 5675
(Group 1, Class 1,4,6).
2. For the purposes of statistical reporting number 3918.10.1030, an expanded polymer core is a core that includes foaming agents.
Harmonized Tariff Schedule of the United States (2023)
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Heading/ Stat. Unit Rates of Duty
Subheading Suf- Article Description of 1 2
fix Quantity General Special
I. PRIMARY FORMS
3904.69.50 00 Other.......................................................................... kg.............. 6.5%1/ Free (A, AU, BH, CL, 2.2¢/kg +
CO, D, E, IL, JO, 33.5%
3/