HTS chapter · section IV
Chapter 19
Prepared foodstuffs, beverages and tobacco
Chapter 19 of the Harmonized Tariff Schedule sits in section IV (prepared foodstuffs, beverages and tobacco). It has 5 headings and 80 eight-digit tariff lines.
The spread of 17.5 percentage points between the cheapest and dearest lines makes misclassification expensive here.
10 of its 59 lines with a percentage rate are duty-free at the general rate (17%) and 49 are dutiable, from duty-free up to 17.5%. The median line pays 10%.
21 of the lines carry specific or compound rates (per kilogram, per dozen and so on) rather than a percentage, so their burden depends on the unit value of the goods.
The most finely divided heading is 1901 (malt extract; food preparations of flour, groats, meal, starch or malt extract…), with 59 lines; fine division usually means the rates or the trade statistics differ enough to be worth separating.
The heading with the highest median rate is 1904 (prepared foods obtained by the swelling or roasting of cereals or cereal…) at 14%.
Headings
| Heading | Description | Lines | Free | Median rate |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1901 | Malt extract; food preparations of flour, groats, meal, starch or malt extract, not containing cocoa or containing less than 40 percent by weight of cocoa… | 59 | 1 | 10% |
| 1902 | Pasta, whether or not cooked or stuffed (with meat or other substances) or otherwise prepared, such as spaghetti, macaroni, noodles, lasagna, gnocchi, ravioli,… | 7 | 2 | 6.4% |
| 1903 | Tapioca and substitutes therefor prepared from starch, in the form of flakes, grains, pearls, siftings or in similar forms | 2 | 1 | duty-free |
| 1904 | Prepared foods obtained by the swelling or roasting of cereals or cereal products (for example, cornflakes); cereals (other than corn (maize)) in grain form or… | 5 | 0 | 14% |
| 1905 | Bread, pastry, cakes, biscuits and other bakers' wares, whether or not containing cocoa; communion wafers, empty capsules of a kind suitable for pharmaceutical… | 7 | 6 | duty-free |