HS Code for Aluminum

Aluminum is classified across several headings in chapter 76 of the HTSUS, where the physical form of the metal is the main factor. Unwrought aluminum points toward heading 7601, bars and rods toward 7604, plates and sheets toward 7606, foil toward 7607, and tubes and pipes toward 7608. A second factor within most of these headings is whether the metal is alloyed or not alloyed. General duty rates are modest, running from around 2.6% for unwrought non-alloyed aluminum up to about 5.8% for foil. Identifying the form first, and then whether the aluminum is alloyed, is the first step in exploring the most appropriate heading.

Aluminum and its semi-fabricated forms sit together in chapter 76 of the HTSUS, but the chapter is organized by the form of the metal, so the physical form is the natural starting point rather than a single catch-all heading. Primary, unwrought aluminum points toward heading 7601; bars, rods and profiles toward 7604; plates, sheets and strip toward 7606; foil toward 7607; and tubes and pipes toward 7608.

The first branch is therefore the form. Unwrought aluminum (ingots, blocks, billets and similar primary shapes that have not been worked into a semi-finished product) points toward heading 7601. Once the metal has been rolled or extruded into a semi-fabricated form, the heading follows that shape: flat products over 0.2 mm thick point toward the plates-and-sheets heading 7606, while thinner flat product not exceeding 0.2 mm points toward the foil heading 7607. Bars, rods and profiles point toward 7604, and hollow tubes and pipes toward 7608.

Within most of these headings the next branch is whether the aluminum is alloyed or not alloyed, and that distinction changes the subheading. Non-alloyed unwrought aluminum points toward 7601.10, for example, while alloy bars and rods point toward the alloy subheading of 7604. Confirming the alloy status, along with the form, usually narrows the choice to a single subheading to explore.

A practical way to approach it is to identify the form of the aluminum first (unwrought, bar or rod, plate or sheet, foil, or tube), then confirm whether it is alloyed or not alloyed, and check thickness where flat product is involved. That sequence usually points toward a single most-appropriate heading and subheading. Because chapter 76 provides for aluminum in these forms specifically, it is generally better to stay within it than to reach for the finished-article headings such as 7615 (table, kitchen and household articles) or 7616 (other articles of aluminum), or the waste-and-scrap heading 7602, which cover different goods.

General duty rates for aluminum in these forms are modest and vary by form and alloy status. Unwrought non-alloyed aluminum is around 2.6%, non-alloyed plates and sheets around 3%, alloy bars and rods around 5%, alloy tubes and pipes around 5.7%, and foil around 5.8%. The pattern is that flat and drawn semi-fabricated forms tend to carry somewhat higher rates than primary unwrought metal. Preferential rates under free trade agreements may reduce or eliminate these duties for qualifying origins. Note that these figures are the general (MFN) rates; additional trade-remedy measures that can apply to aluminum are separate from this base rate and are not reflected here. These figures are estimates for general planning purposes only.