Chapter

28

Chapter 28: Inorganic chemicals; organic or inorganic compounds of precious metals, of rare-earth metals, of radioactive elements or of isotopes

Chapter 28 of the Harmonized System has 50 headings and belongs to section VI (products of the chemical or allied industries).

Duty rates compared

UK Free – 4% Third-country duty 402 tariff lines · average 2.3% EU Free – 5.5% Third-country duty 266 tariff lines · average 4.3% Türkiye Free – 15% Third-country duty 577 tariff lines · average 4.6% USA Free – 5.5% General (MFN) 274 tariff lines · average 2.5% Canada Free – 6.5% General (MFN) 209 tariff lines · average 0% Mexico Free – 35% General (MFN) 234 tariff lines · average 1.5% Brazil Free – 20% General (MFN) 420 tariff lines · average 3.3% Argentina Free – 10.8% General (MFN) 603 tariff lines · average 2.9% Peru Free – 6% General (MFN) 289 tariff lines · average 0.6% New Zealand Free – 5% General (MFN) 246 tariff lines · average 0.2% Japan Free – 5.5% General (MFN) 225 tariff lines · average 2.3% · 2× specific or compound duty Taiwan Free – 5.5% General (MFN) 353 tariff lines · average 2.9% GCC Free – 5% General (MFN) 531 tariff lines · average 4.9% Switzerland Free General (MFN) 180 tariff lines Norway Free General (MFN) 194 tariff lines North Macedonia Free – 5% General (MFN) 267 tariff lines · average 3.1% Nigeria 5% – 20% General (MFN) 174 tariff lines · average 5.1%

Headings 50

EU: imports by month

last 12 months€20.4bn+3.7% · previous 12 months
Average import price€1.40 per kg
Jan 2024: €1.7bnFeb 2024: €1.6bnMar 2024: €1.7bnApr 2024: €1.8bnMay 2024: €1.9bnJun 2024: €1.6bnJul 2024: €1.8bnAug 2024: €1.5bnSept 2024: €1.6bnOct 2024: €1.7bnNov 2024: €1.6bnDec 2024: €1.4bnJan 2025: €1.7bnFeb 2025: €1.7bnMar 2025: €1.8bnApr 2025: €1.9bnMay 2025: €1.5bnJun 2025: €1.8bnJul 2025: €1.4bnAug 2025: €1.3bnSept 2025: €1.6bnOct 2025: €1.5bnNov 2025: €1.4bnDec 2025: €1.4bnJan 2026: €1.2bnFeb 2026: €1.6bnMar 2026: €1.8bnApr 2026: €1.8bnMay 2026: €1.8bnJun 2026: €2.3bnJul 2026: €2bnAug 2026: €1.9bn 202420252026
Data up to August 2026 (provisional) · Monthly data: Eurostat Comext (CC BY 4.0), HMRC (OGL v3.0)

World trade in 2024

28 · US$185.1bn

Trade value (US$) no reported trade < US$15mUS$15m+US$474m+US$2.4bn+> US$7.4bn

Exports: 202
  1. China: US$27bn
  2. United States: US$14.9bn
  3. Germany: US$13.3bn
  4. South Korea: US$8.1bn
  5. Australia: US$7.7bn
  6. Canada: US$7.4bn
  7. Japan: US$7bn
  8. France: US$5.9bn
  9. Chile: US$5.9bn
  10. Kazakhstan: US$5.8bn
  11. Netherlands: US$5.8bn
  12. Russia: US$5.4bn
  13. Brazil: US$5bn
  14. Belgium: US$3.9bn
  15. India: US$3.6bn
  16. Indonesia: US$3.5bn
  17. United Kingdom: US$3.4bn
  18. Türkiye: US$3.1bn
  19. Ireland: US$2.6bn
  20. Morocco: US$2.4bn
  21. Italy: US$2.3bn
  22. Spain: US$2.1bn
  23. Saudi Arabia: US$2bn
  24. Vietnam: US$1.8bn
  25. Taiwan: US$1.7bn
  26. Trinidad & Tobago: US$1.6bn
  27. Malaysia: US$1.5bn
  28. Mexico: US$1.5bn
  29. Qatar: US$1.5bn
  30. Poland: US$1.4bn
  31. Israel: US$1.4bn
  32. South Africa: US$1.3bn
  33. Norway: US$1.2bn
  34. Austria: US$1.1bn
  35. Jordan: US$1bn
  36. Algeria: US$1bn
  37. Thailand: US$1bn
  38. Argentina: US$967m
  39. Finland: US$905m
  40. Switzerland: US$832m
  41. Egypt: US$820m
  42. Myanmar (Burma): US$820m
  43. Czechia: US$798m
  44. Singapore: US$683m
  45. Hong Kong SAR China: US$632m
  46. Sweden: US$589m
  47. Oman: US$588m
  48. Hungary: US$579m
  49. Bulgaria: US$559m
  50. Peru: US$474m
  51. Senegal: US$458m
  52. Bosnia & Herzegovina: US$453m
  53. Jamaica: US$408m
  54. Laos: US$390m
  55. Tunisia: US$368m
  56. United Arab Emirates: US$336m
  57. Philippines: US$314m
  58. Greece: US$304m
  59. Denmark: US$277m
  60. Slovakia: US$268m

Top exporters

RankCountryValueShare
1 China US$27bn 14.6%
2 United States US$14.9bn 8.1%
3 Germany US$13.3bn 7.2%
4 South Korea US$8.1bn 4.4%
5 Australia US$7.7bn 4.2%
6 Canada US$7.4bn 4%
7 Japan US$7bn 3.8%
8 France US$5.9bn 3.2%
9 Chile US$5.9bn 3.2%
10 Kazakhstan US$5.8bn 3.1%

Top importers

RankCountryValueShare
1 United States US$19.6bn 10.6%
2 China US$18.9bn 10.2%
3 South Korea US$10.2bn 5.5%
4 India US$8.8bn 4.8%
5 Germany US$8.2bn 4.4%
6 Japan US$7.2bn 3.9%
7 Canada US$6.8bn 3.7%
8 France US$6.1bn 3.3%
9 Netherlands US$5.7bn 3.1%
10 Russia US$5bn 2.7%

The UK Global Tariff divides chapter 28 into 402 tariff lines; the duty is between 0% and 4% (average 2.3%). 149 of them are duty-free.

In the EU Combined Nomenclature, chapter 28 covers 266 tariff lines and the duty is between 0% and 5.5%. 38 of them are duty-free.

The Turkish Customs Tariff Schedule divides chapter 28 into 577 tariff lines; the duty is between 0% and 15% (average 4.6%). 55 of them are duty-free.

In 2024, countries exported chapter 28 goods worth US$185.1bn (−4.7% year on year).

The largest exporter was China (US$27bn), followed by the United States.

The biggest buyer was the United States, with imports of US$19.6bn.

Chapter notes

Notes

1. Except where the context otherwise requires, the headings of this chapter apply only to:

  1. (a) separate chemical elements and separate chemically defined compounds, whether or not containing impurities;

  2. (b) the products mentioned in (a) above dissolved in water;

  3. (c) the products mentioned in (a) above dissolved in other solvents provided that the solution constitutes a normal and necessary method of putting up these products adopted solely for reasons of safety or for transport and that the solvent does not render the product particularly suitable for specific use rather than for general use;

  4. (d) the products mentioned in (a), (b) or (c) above with an added stabiliser (including an anti-caking agent) necessary for their preservation or transport;

  5. (e) the products mentioned in (a), (b), (c) or (d) above with an added anti-dusting agent or a colouring substance added to facilitate their identification or for safety reasons, provided that the additions do not render the product particularly suitable for specific use rather than for general use.

2. In addition to dithionites and sulphoxylates, stabilised with organic substances (heading 2831), carbonates and peroxocarbonates of inorganic bases (heading 2836), cyanides, cyanide oxides and complex cyanides of inorganic bases (heading 2837), fulminates, cyanates and thiocyanates, of inorganic bases (heading 2842), organic products included in headings 2843 to 2846 and 2852 and carbides (heading 2849), only the following compounds of carbon are to be classified in this chapter:

  1. (a) oxides of carbon, hydrogen cyanide and fulminic, isocyanic, thiocyanic and other simple or complex cyanogen acids (heading 2811);

  2. (b) halide oxides of carbon (heading 2812);

  3. (c) carbon disulphide (heading 2813);

  4. (d) thiocarbonates, selenocarbonates, tellurocarbonates, selenocyanates, tellurocyanates, tetrathiocyanatodiamminochromates (reineckates) and other complex cyanates, of inorganic bases (heading 2842);

  5. (e) hydrogen peroxide, solidified with urea (heading 2847), carbon oxysulphide, thiocarbonyl halides, cyanogen, cyanogen halides and cyanamide and its metal derivatives (heading 2853) other than calcium cyanamide, whether or not pure (Chapter 31).

3. Subject to the provisions of note 1 to Section VI, this chapter does not cover:

  1. (a) sodium chloride or magnesium oxide, whether or not pure, or other products of Section V;

  2. (b) organo-inorganic compounds other than those mentioned in note 2 above;

  3. (c) products mentioned in note 2, 3, 4 or 5 to Chapter 31;

  4. (d) inorganic products of a kind used as luminophores, of heading 3206; glass frit and other glass in the form of powder, granules or flakes, of heading 3207;

  5. (e) artificial graphite (heading 3801); products put up as charges for fire-extinguishers or put up in fire-extinguishing grenades, of heading 3813; ink removers put up in packings for retail sale, of heading 3824; cultured crystals (other than optical elements) weighing not less than 2,5 g each, of the halides of the alkali or alkaline-earth metals, of heading 3824;

  6. (f) precious or semi-precious stones (natural, synthetic or reconstructed) or dust or powder of such stones (headings 7102 to 7105), or precious metals or precious-metal alloys of Chapter 71;

  7. (g) the metals, whether or not pure, metal alloys or cermets, including sintered metal carbides (metal carbides sintered with a metal), of Section XV; or

  8. (h) optical elements, for example, of the halides of the alkali or alkaline-earth metals (heading 9001).

4. Chemically defined complex acids consisting of a non-metal acid of sub-chapter II and a metal acid of sub-chapter IV are to be classified in heading 2811.

5. Headings 2826 to 2842 apply only to metal or ammonium salts or peroxysalts.

Except where the context otherwise requires, double or complex salts are to be classified in heading 2842.

6. Heading 2844 applies only to:

  1. (a) technetium (atomic No 43), promethium (atomic No 61), polonium (atomic No 84) and all elements with an atomic number greater than 84;

  2. (b) natural or artificial radioactive isotopes (including those of the precious metals or of the base metals of Sections XIV and XV), whether or not mixed together;

  3. (c) compounds, inorganic or organic, of these elements or isotopes, whether or not chemically defined, whether or not mixed together;

  4. (d) alloys, dispersions (including cermets), ceramic products and mixtures containing these elements or isotopes or inorganic or organic compounds thereof and having a specific radioactivity exceeding 74 Bq/g (0,002 μCi/g);

  5. (e) spent (irradiated) fuel elements (cartridges) of nuclear reactors;

  6. (f) radioactive residues whether or not usable.

The term ‘isotopes’, for the purposes of this note and of the wording of headings 2844 and 2845, refers to:

  • individual nuclides, excluding, however, those existing in nature in the monoisotopic state,

  • mixtures of isotopes of one and the same element, enriched in one or several of the said isotopes, that is, elements of which the natural isotopic composition has been artificially modified.

7. Heading 2853 includes copper phosphide (phosphor copper) containing more than 15 % by weight of phosphorus.

8. Chemical elements (for example, silicon and selenium) doped for use in electronics are to be classified in this chapter, provided that they are in forms unworked as drawn, or in the form of cylinders or rods. When cut in the form of discs, wafers or similar forms, they fall in heading 3818.

Subheading note

1. For the purposes of subheading 285210, the expression ‘chemically defined’ means all organic or inorganic compounds of mercury meeting the requirements of paragraphs (a) to (e) of note 1 to Chapter 28 or paragraphs (a) to (h) of note 1 to Chapter 29.

Additional note

1. Unless provided otherwise, the salts specified in subheadings include acid salts and basic salts.

Questions and answers

What is the HS code for inorganic chemicals; organic or inorganic compounds of precious metals, of rare-earth metals, of radioactive elements or of isotopes?

Inorganic chemicals; organic or inorganic compounds of precious metals, of rare-earth metals, of radioactive elements or of isotopes make up HS chapter 28, in section VI of the Harmonized System.

What is the import duty on inorganic chemicals in the UK?

Under the UK Global Tariff, imports under 28 from countries without a preferential agreement are charged at 0% to 4%, depending on the line. Preferential rates, anti-dumping duties and VAT are not included.

What is the import duty on inorganic chemicals in the EU?

Under the EU Combined Nomenclature, imports under 28 from countries without a preferential agreement are charged at 0% to 5.5%, depending on the line. Preferential rates, anti-dumping duties and VAT are not included.

Which country exports the most inorganic chemicals?

China, with US$27bn in 2024 (14.6% of world exports).