Chapter 38 · Miscellaneous chemical products

HS 380893 · Herbicides and plant-growth regulators

Get the code right at quotation time, not at customs.

Misclassifying HS 380893 on the commercial invoice walks the cargo into the wrong duty rate, the wrong rebate column, and a customs hold that costs days of demurrage to clear. This page gives you the WCO heading, the product it most often covers, the China VAT export rebate rate, the US Section 301 status, the supplier provinces that ship it, and practitioner buying notes for first-time importers.

For an explanation of how the WCO Harmonized System is structured, what each digit means, and why misclassification is the most common landed-cost error first-time buyers make, see the HS code glossary entry.

Key facts

The numbers a buyer needs at the quotation stage. Verify each against the live source before invoicing; rates and rebate columns move.

WCO heading Herbicides, anti-sprouting products and plant-growth regulators
Chapter 38, Miscellaneous chemical products
Industry segment Industrial chemicals
Chinese name 除草剂
China VAT export rebate 9% Source: China State Taxation Administration (国家税务总局), 2025 schedule. Subject to change.
US Section 301 25% Source: USTR Section 301 List 1 / 2 / 3 / 4. Verify against the current schedule.
Major Chinese supplier provinces Jiangsu, Shandong, Zhejiang, Hubei

Buying notes

Glyphosate, glufosinate, paraquat, atrazine, 2,4-D, dicamba, and the broad herbicide-active-ingredient catalog. China runs roughly 60% of global glyphosate technical-active production (Anhui Sinochem, Wynca, Hubei Xingfa). Section 301 25%. Each destination market regulates the active ingredient separately (US EPA, EU REACH, Australia APVMA, Brazil ANVISA); the registration takes 1 to 5 years for a new market entry, so existing-registration label-extensions dominate the spot trade. Glufosinate has gained share as glyphosate-resistance weeds spread; paraquat is heavily restricted in EU but still common in Asia, Africa, Latin America.

Common end uses

The applications that drive most of the global tonnage under this code.

  • Broad-spectrum agricultural weed control
  • Pre-emergence and post-emergence cropping systems
  • Industrial vegetation management (rail, utility right-of-way)
  • Forestry and silviculture site preparation
  • Aquatic weed control (specific approvals)

Where to read next

For the structure of the HS / Harmonized System, what each digit means, and why misclassification costs landed-cost margin, see the HS code glossary entry.

Need a quote on this code? Send us the HS code, the destination port, and the tonnage and we will quote FOB China and CIF / DDP landed including the current Section 301 and rebate position.

Free download

Free PDF: thirty-point factory audit checklist used on every chemical-park site visit, mapped against the HS-code-leading Chinese producers.