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HS 38 Chapter · Chemicals & Allied Industries

Chemical products n.e.c.

Chapter 38 of the Harmonised System covers Chemical products n.e.c.. It groups 27 four-digit headings used worldwide to classify these goods for customs and duty.

Sourcing this category from India

Products classified under HS 38 can be sourced from India across a range of clusters and price points. Use this page to understand where Chemical products n.e.c. sits in the tariff schedule, then explore the Indian sectors and products that supply it.

How to read this code

38 is the two-digit HS chapter. Your destination country extends it to 8–10 digits and assigns the duty rate. India's preferential trade agreements (UAE CEPA, Australia ECTA, and others) can reduce or zero out that duty for many goods — check our import guides for your market.

Headings under HS 38

The Harmonised System breaks Chemical products n.e.c. into these 27 headings. Drill down to the exact classification for your goods.

38.01 4 subheadings

Artificial graphite; colloidal or semi-colloidal graphite; preparations based on graphite or other carbon in the form of pastes, blocks, plates or other semi-manufactures

38.02 2 subheadings

Activated carbon; activated natural mineral products; animal black, including spent animal black

38.03 1 subheadings

Tall oil, whether or not refined

38.04 1 subheadings

Residual lyes from the manufacture of wood pulp, whether or not concentrated, desugared or chemically treated, including lignin sulphonates, but excluding tall oil of heading no. 3803

38.05 2 subheadings

Gum, wood or sulphate turpentine, other terpenic oils; crude dipentene; sulphite turpentine, other crude para-cymene; pine oil containing alpha-terpineol as the main constituent

38.06 4 subheadings

Rosin and resin acids and derivatives thereof; rosin spirit and rosin oils; run gums

38.07 1 subheadings

Wood tar; wood tar oils; wood creosote; wood naphtha; vegetable pitch; brewers' pitch and similar preparations based on rosin, resin acids or on vegetable pitch

38.08 10 subheadings

Insecticides, rodenticides, fungicides, herbicides, anti-sprouting products, plant growth regulators, disinfectants and the like, put up in forms or packings for retail sale or as preparations or articles

38.09 4 subheadings

Finishing agents, dye carriers to accelerate the dyeing, fixing of dyestuffs, other products and preparations, of a kind used in the textile, paper, leather or like industries, n.e.c. or included

38.10 2 subheadings

Metal-pickling preparations; fluxes etc for soldering, brazing; welding powders, pastes of metal and other materials; preparations used as cores or coatings for welding electrodes or rods

38.11 5 subheadings

Anti-knock preparations, oxidation and gum inhibitors, viscosity improvers, anti-corrosive preparations and the like, for mineral oils (including gasoline) or other liquids used for the same purposes

38.12 4 subheadings

Prepared rubber accelerators; compound plasticisers for rubber or plastics, n.e.c. or included; anti-oxidising preparations and other compound stabilisers for rubber or plastics

38.13 1 subheadings

Preparations and charges for fire extinguishers; charged fire-extinguishing grenades

38.14 1 subheadings

Organic composite solvents and thinners, not elsewhere specified or included; prepared paint or varnish removers

38.15 4 subheadings

Reaction initiators, reaction accelerators and catalytic preparations n.e.c. or included

38.16 1 subheadings

Refractory cements, mortars, concretes and similar compositions, including dolomite ramming mix, other than products of heading 38.01

38.17 1 subheadings

Mixed alkylbenzenes and mixed alkylnaphthalenes, other than those of heading no. 2707 or 2902

38.18 1 subheadings

Chemical elements doped for use in electronics, in the form of discs, wafers or similar forms; chemical compounds doped for use in electronics

38.19 1 subheadings

Hydraulic brake fluids and other prepared liquids for hydraulic transmission, not containing or containing less than 70% by weight of petroleum oils or oils obtained from bituminous minerals

38.20 1 subheadings

Anti-freezing preparations and prepared de-icing fluids

38.21 1 subheadings

Prepared culture media for the development or maintenance of micro-organisms (including viruses and the like) or of plant, human or animal cells

38.22 5 subheadings

Reagents; 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 30.06; certified reference materials

38.23 5 subheadings

Industrial monocarboxylic fatty acids; acid oils from refining; industrial fatty alcohols

38.24 17 subheadings

Prepared binders for foundry moulds 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

38.25 9 subheadings

Residual products of the chemical or allied industries, not elsewhere specified or included; municipal waste; sewage sludge; other residual products.

38.26 1 subheadings

Biodiesel and mixtures thereof; not containing or containing less than 70% by weight of petroleum oils or oils obtained from bituminous minerals

38.27 19 subheadings

Mixtures containing halogenated derivatives of methane, ethane or propane, not elsewhere specified or included

Import duty guides by destination

India to Australia India to Canada India to France India to Germany India to Italy India to Japan India to Netherlands India to Saudi Arabia India to Singapore India to Spain India to United Arab Emirates India to United Kingdom India to United States

See full duty context and India-vs-rivals comparisons in our India comparison guides and export resource hub.

Last updated 28 Jun 2026 Figures are indicative sourcing benchmarks compiled from exporter quotes, India trade-scheme notifications and public customs tariffs. Confirm live pricing and HS classification before contracting.
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