HTS Section III
Animal or Vegetable Fats and Oils
Section III groups 1 HTS chapters covering 181 tariff classifications, averaging about 3.8% general (MFN) duty, peaking in Chapter 15 at 3.8%.
- 3.8%
- avg chapter duty
- 1
- HTS chapters
- 181
- tariff classifications
- 3.8%
- peak (Ch 15)
About HTS Section III
Section III - Animal or Vegetable Fats and Oils - is one of 22 top-level groupings in the US Harmonized Tariff Schedule. It aggregates 1 HTS chapters into a single commercial category, covering a total of 181 individual tariff classifications. Sections are the broadest layer of the HTS hierarchy: they tell an importer which family of products a good belongs to before drilling into a specific chapter, heading, subheading, and tariff line.
The chapters listed below each carry their own average and maximum duty rates, which vary widely depending on whether a product is raw, processed, or finished. Reviewing a section-wide view is useful when scoping a new import program, you can quickly see which chapters within animal or vegetable fats and oils are duty-free, which sit in the moderate 3–10% range, and which carry sensitive high-duty lines that may warrant alternative sourcing or FTA-origin strategies.
Click any chapter in the table to see every tariff line it contains, complete with General (MFN), Special (FTA), and Column 2 rates. For precise classification, work from section to chapter to heading to tariff line, never assume a product's rate based on the section average alone. All data is sourced from the USITC Harmonized Tariff Schedule 2026 Basic Edition, the official US import duty schedule.
Section averages are a rough orientation only, duty is set at the individual tariff-line level, so always check the specific HTS code.
| Chapter | Title | Items | With Rates | Avg Rate | Max Rate |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 15 | Animal, vegetable or microbial fats and oils and their cleavage products; prepared edible fats; animal or vegetable waxes | 181 | 78 | 3.8% | 19.1% |
Frequently Asked Questions
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Learn More About Tariffs
Next steps
Drill from this section down to the exact rate for your product.
- Open any of Section III's 1 chapters to see its tariff lines. Chapter table above
- Estimate the duty on a shipment in this category. Tariff calculator
- Search for a specific product by code or description. Search HTS
The section average is a rough guide; actual duty depends on the precise HTS classification and country of origin.
Related
Sources: U.S. International Trade Commission Harmonized Tariff Schedule (2026 Basic Edition) and FAO FAOSTAT Trade: Crops and Livestock. See our methodology for how figures are computed.
Every figure on PlainTariff is rendered directly from federal source data, no number is typed in by an editor. This page draws directly on federal source data, no figure is typed in by an editor. See our editorial standards & corrections policy, the methodology behind these numbers, or report a data error.