HS code by category

HS code for plastics: Chapter 39 HTS codes, plastic bags, bottles and containers

Plastics live in Chapter 39, split down the middle: raw resin in one half, finished articles in the other. Base duty sits in a narrow 3 to 6.5 percent band, so the money is decided by which half you are in and whether Section 301 applies. Describe your product on the right and the AI returns the HS/HTS code with its reasoning.

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FORM TW-01

01 · Product description

02 · Origin

03 · Destination

04 · Value (USD)

The short answer

There is no single HS code for plastics. Chapter 39 is formally split in two. Headings 3901 to 3914 cover polymers in primary form, meaning pellets, granules, powders, flakes and liquids: polyethylene is 3901, polypropylene 3902, PVC 3904 and PET resin 3907. Headings 3915 to 3926 cover finished articles: tubes and pipes 3917, sheet and film 3920, packaging and bottles 3923, tableware and kitchenware 3924, builders' ware 3925, and 3926 as the catch-all of last resort. US Column 1 base rates cluster tightly between 3 and 6.5 percent, which means the base rate is rarely the expensive part. For China-origin plastics, Section 301 adds 25 percent on most resins and packaging or 7.5 percent on parts of the household and catch-all lines, and several plastics categories also carry antidumping duties that dwarf the tariff. Classify the article first, then check origin.

Last updated July 2026. Rates below are US Column 1 General (MFN) rates read from the USITC Harmonized Tariff Schedule, 2026 Revision 11.

Anatomy of a code: a plastic bottle

3923.30

39: Chapter: plastics and articles thereof, sitting in Section VII alongside rubber.
3923: Heading: articles for the conveyance or packing of goods; stoppers, lids, caps and other closures.
3923.30: Subheading: carboys, bottles, flasks and similar articles. This six-digit level is identical in every country that uses the Harmonized System.
.00: US digits: the Harmonized Tariff Schedule sets duty at the eight-digit line (3923.30.00, 3 percent). Two more digits follow for statistics: .10 for capacity of 50 ml or less, reported in thousands, and .90 for other, reported in kilograms.

The statistical suffix carries no duty, but it is still mandatory on the entry summary and it changes the unit of quantity you report. Filing the right suffix against the wrong unit is one of the most common errors on plastics entries.

Where common plastics classify

A starting map, not a ruling. Rates are US Column 1 General (MFN) base rates verified against the 2026 tariff schedule and vary by exact subheading. They exclude Section 301, antidumping and countervailing duties, which for plastics are frequently larger than the duty itself. Confirm your product with the classifier above before you file.

3901

Polyethylene, primary form

Resin pellets and granules. 3901.10.50 carries 6.5%.

3904

PVC, primary form

Not mixed with other substances, 3904.10.00, at 6.5%.

3907

PET resin

Bottle-grade polyester resin in 3907.61 and 3907.69, both 6.5%.

3917

Tubes, pipes and hoses

Rigid PE, PP and PVC pipe at 3.1%. Fittings (3917.40) at 5.3%.

3919

Self-adhesive film and tape

In rolls of 20 cm or less, 3919.10.20, at 5.8%.

3920

Sheet and film, non-cellular

Polyethylene, polypropylene and PET film all at 4.2%.

3923

Packaging, bottles and closures

Bottles, boxes, sacks and bags at 3%. Closures (3923.50) at 5.3%.

3924

Tableware and kitchenware

Plates, cups and bowls at 6.5%; trays 5.3%; other tableware 3.4%.

3926

Primary form or article? The test that settles half the work

The single most useful rule in Chapter 39 is Note 6, which defines what "primary forms" actually means. It covers liquids and pastes, including dispersions and solutions, plus blocks of irregular shape, lumps, powders, granules, flakes and similar bulk forms. That is the whole list. If your product is resin in a sack or a drum, you are in headings 3901 to 3914 and you classify it as a material, by polymer chemistry. The moment it has a regular geometric shape or a defined function, a sheet, a pipe, a bottle, a spoon, it has left the primary-forms half and belongs somewhere in 3915 to 3926, where you classify it by what the article is and does. One useful wrinkle: under Note 7, scrap of a single thermoplastic material that has been reprocessed back into primary forms returns to 3901 to 3914 rather than staying in 3915.

Run the exclusions before you classify anything

Chapter 39 Note 2 is a long exclusion list, and it is the reason so many plastic goods are not classified in Chapter 39 at all. The chapter loses to function almost every time. Plastic furniture, lamps and prefabricated buildings go to Chapter 94. Plastic toys, games and sports equipment go to Chapter 95. Plastic footwear, headgear and umbrellas leave for Section XII. Handbags, suitcases and similar containers go to heading 4202. Machine and appliance parts, including electrical ones, go to Section XVI. Spectacle frames and optical elements go to Chapter 90, and brushes, buttons, zippers, combs and pens go to Chapter 96. This is not a preference, it is a legal note, so it overrides the fact that the item is obviously made of plastic. Checking the exclusion list first saves you from a confident, wrong answer. For the general method that works on any product, see the Harmonized System code guide.

The 3923 versus 4202 bag trap

This is the most litigated boundary in the chapter, and it turns on what the bag is for rather than what it is made of. A polyethylene retail carrier bag or a shipping sack, something whose job is to convey or pack goods, sits in 3923.21 or 3923.29 at 3 percent. A shopping tote, a cosmetic case, a backpack, anything of a kind carried on the person or built for prolonged repeated use, is a heading 4202 container instead, where the duty picture is completely different and generally worse. Note 2(m) makes 4202 win as a matter of law. The same either-or logic drives the rest of sub-chapter II: ask what the article is before reaching for a basket. Heading 3926 is a residual provision, reachable only when nothing more specific in the chapter describes the good, and it has many specific eight-digit lines of its own, including gaskets and seals, V-belts, handles and knobs, and gloves, that you should work through before landing on 3926.90.99. For the neighboring category, see HS codes for bags and luggage.

Mixed materials, and the plastic versus rubber line

When a product combines plastic with another material and no single heading describes the whole thing, you fall to GRI 3(b) and classify by the component that gives the good its essential character, judged on bulk, quantity, weight, value or the role the material plays in how the product is used. Chapter 39 also has its own version of that logic for polymers: under Note 4, a copolymer is any polymer in which no single monomer contributes 95 percent or more by weight, and it is classified in the heading covering the predominant comonomer unit by weight, falling to the heading last in numerical order if none predominates. The other boundary worth knowing is plastic versus rubber. Note 2(l) excludes synthetic rubber and articles of it from Chapter 39, and the distinction is technical rather than intuitive: it rests on Chapter 40's own definition, which is grounded in elastomeric behavior. A material that merely feels rubbery, such as flexible PVC or a polyurethane, can still be a Chapter 39 plastic. The duty consequence is real, because a flexible hose classified as plastic sits under an entirely different trade-remedy footprint than a rubber one.

What actually decides plastics duty in 2026

With base rates capped around 6.5 percent, the layers on top are what move the bill. Section 301 exposure for China-origin plastics is broad: essentially the entire primary-forms half, 3901 through 3914, carries an additional 25 percent, and packaging in 3923, builders' ware in 3925 and much of the 3926 catch-all also carry 25 percent, while parts of the household and catch-all lines sit at an additional 7.5 percent. A China-origin PET resin entry at 6.5 percent base plus 25 percent is over 31 percent before anything else. There is a US Trade Representative exclusion provision covering a handful of Chapter 39 headings, but it is scheduled to expire in November 2026, so confirm it still applies to the week you file rather than assuming relief. The bigger risk is antidumping and countervailing duty. Chapter 39 is one of the most trade-remedy-dense chapters in the tariff, covering resins such as PET and finished goods such as polypropylene corrugated boxes, and rates there can run into triple digits. Two things make AD/CVD dangerous: scope is set by a written product description rather than by the HTS code, so a product can be in scope under a code the order never lists, and rates are exporter-specific and change at every administrative review. Never quote a landed cost off a tariff table alone. Check current case status before entry, then build the layers in the import duty calculator, and read how Section 301 lists and rates work if China is in your supply chain.

Plastic HS code questions, answered

What is the HS code for plastic products?

There is no single code. Chapter 39 covers plastics across 26 headings. Raw resin in pellet, granule or liquid form goes to 3901 through 3914, with polyethylene 3901, PVC 3904 and PET 3907. Finished articles go to 3915 through 3926: packaging 3923, tableware 3924, builders ware 3925. Use 3926 only when nothing more specific applies.

What is HS code 3926.90.99?

It is the residual US line for other articles of plastics not covered by any earlier Chapter 39 heading, dutiable at 5.3 percent Column 1 General. Its statistical suffixes cover items as varied as elastic bands, laboratory ware, ladders, manhole covers, face masks and electrical conduit. Treat it as a last resort rather than a default classification.

What is the import duty on plastic products in the USA?

Chapter 39 base rates mostly fall between 3 and 6.5 percent: plastic bottles in 3923.30.00 at 3 percent, sheet and film in 3920.10 at 4.2 percent, PVC resin in 3904.10.00 at 6.5 percent. China-origin plastics carry an additional Section 301 duty of 7.5 or 25 percent, and some face antidumping duties. Verify origin-specific rates.

What is the difference between HS code 3923 and 3924?

Heading 3923 covers articles for conveying or packing goods: boxes, sacks, bottles, spools, caps and closures, generally trade packaging, at roughly 3 to 5.3 percent. Heading 3924 covers tableware, kitchenware, other household articles and hygienic articles for consumer use, at roughly 3.4 to 6.5 percent. The test is who uses the article and why.

Are plastic bags classified under 3923 or 4202?

It depends on the bag. Sacks and bags for conveying or packing goods fall in 3923.21 or 3923.29 at 3 percent. But Chapter 39 Note 2(m) expressly excludes trunks, suitcases, handbags and other containers of heading 4202, so totes, cosmetic cases and backpacks classify in 4202 at materially different rates.

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