Directory / Chapter 84
Chapter 84: Machinery and mechanical appliances
Nuclear reactors, boilers, machinery and mechanical appliances, and the parts of them, which is the chapter most industrial equipment reaches.
The 7 codes this site holds in chapter 84
| Code | What it covers | Markets priced | Duty range |
|---|---|---|---|
| 841981 | Commercial machinery for making hot drinks | 4 of 8 | 0% to 5% |
| 847130 | Laptop computers / portable ADP machines | 8 of 8 | 0% to 16% |
| 847141 | Desktop computers (ADP processing units) | 6 of 8 | 0% |
| 847150 | Computer processing units / servers | 6 of 8 | 0% |
| 847160 | Input units: keyboards, mice | 6 of 8 | 0% |
| 847170 | Computer storage units / hard drives / SSDs | 6 of 8 | 0% |
| 847330 | Parts and accessories for computers | 6 of 8 | 0% |
Where this chapter ends
The division from chapter 85 runs on whether the machine does its work mechanically or electrically, not on whether it happens to be powered by electricity. A great deal of what is confused between the two chapters is settled instead by the rules on parts, and by asking what the machine principally does when it does several things.
The guides in chapter 84 name 9 codes outside it that goods reach when they turn out not to belong here.
- 850440 (chapter 85): Static converters and power adapters classified in Chapter 85
- 850940 (chapter 85): Domestic electro mechanical food preparation appliances
- 851660 (chapter 85): Domestic electric ovens, cookers and hobs
- 851671 (chapter 85): Coffee or tea making appliances for domestic use
- 851713 (chapter 85): Smartphones (a phone is not an ADP machine)
- 851762 (chapter 85): NAS appliances whose principal function is networking rather than storage
- 852351 (chapter 85): USB flash drives and memory cards, which are semiconductor media
- 852852 (chapter 85): Monitors for connection to an ADP machine
- 854232 (chapter 85): Integrated circuits and memory chips as such
What the notes to section XVI say
Chapter 84 sits in section XVI, machinery and mechanical appliances; electrical equipment; parts thereof, sound recorders and reproducers, television image and sound recorders and reproducers, and parts and accessories of such articles, which runs from chapter 84 to chapter 85. A section note governs every chapter in its section, so it stands one layer above the note to chapter 84 below and applies before it.
The nomenclature publishes 6 notes to section XVI, and 6 of them reach chapter 84. They are quoted here in full, as published, in the order the nomenclature gives them.
Note 1 to section XVI
This section does not cover:
a. transmission or conveyor belts or belting, of plastics of Chapter 39, or of vulcanised rubber (heading 4010); or other articles of a kind used in machinery or mechanical or electrical appliances or for other technical uses, of vulcanised rubber other than hard rubber (heading 4016);
b. articles of leather or of composition leather (heading 4205) or of furskin (heading 4303), of a kind used in machinery or mechanical appliances or for other technical uses;
c. bobbins, spools, cops, cones, cores, reels or similar supports, of any material (for example, Chapter 39, 40, 44 or 48 or Section XV);
d. perforated cards for jacquard or similar machines (for example, Chapter 39 or 48 or Section XV);
e. transmission or conveyor belts or belting, of textile material (heading 5910) or other articles of textile material for technical uses (heading 5911);
f. precious or semi-precious stones (natural, synthetic or reconstructed) of heading 7102 to 7104, or articles wholly of such stones of heading 7116, except unmounted worked sapphires and diamonds for styli (heading 8522);
g. parts of general use, as defined in note 2 to Section XV, of base metal (Section XV), or similar goods of plastics (Chapter 39);
h. drill pipe (heading 7304);
ij endless belts of metal wire or strip (Section XV);
k. articles of Chapter 82 or 83;
l. articles of Section XVII;
m. articles of Chapter 90;
n. clocks, watches or other articles of Chapter 91;
o. interchangeable tools of heading 8207 or brushes of a kind used as parts of machines (heading 9603); similar interchangeable tools are to be classified according to the constituent material of their working part (for example, in Chapter 40, 42, 43, 45 or 59 or heading 6804 or 6909);
p. articles of Chapter 95; or
q. typewriter or similar ribbons, whether or not on spools or in cartridges (classified according to their constituent material, or in heading 9612 if inked or otherwise prepared for giving impressions), or monopods, bipods, tripods and similar articles, of heading 9620.
This note names chapter 90, chapter 91, chapter 95, which this site also covers.
Note 2 to section XVI
Subject to note 1 to this section, note 1 to Chapter 84 and to note 1 to Chapter 85, parts of machines (not being parts of the articles of heading 8484, 8544, 8545, 8546 or 8547) are to be classified according to the following rules:
a. Parts which are goods included in any of the headings of Chapter 84 or 85 (other than heading 8409, 8431, 8448, 8466, 8473, 8487, 8503, 8522, 8529, 8538 and 8548) are in all cases to be classified in their respective headings.
b. Other parts, if suitable for use solely or principally with a particular kind of machine, or with a number of machines of the same heading (including a machine of heading 8479 or 8543) are to be classified with the machines of that kind or in heading 8409, 8431, 8448, 8466, 8473, 8503, 8522, 8529 or 8538 as appropriate. However, parts which are equally suitable for use principally with the goods of heading 8517 and 8525 to 8528 are to be classified in heading 8517, and parts which are suitable for use solely or principally with the goods of heading 8524 are to be classified in heading 8529;
c. All other parts are to be classified in heading 8409, 8431, 8448, 8466, 8473, 8503, 8522, 8529 or 8538 as appropriate or, failing that, in heading 8487 or 8548.
This note names chapter 85, which this site also covers.
Note 3 to section XVI
Unless the context otherwise requires, composite machines consisting of two or more machines fitted together to form a whole and other machines designed for the purpose of performing two or more complementary or alternative functions are to be classified as if consisting only of that component or as being that machine which performs the principal function.
Note 4 to section XVI
Where a machine (including a combination of machines) consists of individual components (whether separate or interconnected by piping, by transmission devices, by electric cables or by other devices) intended to contribute together to a clearly defined function covered by one of the headings in Chapter 84 or 85, then the whole falls to be classified in the heading appropriate to that function.
This note names chapter 85, which this site also covers.
Note 5 to section XVI
For the purposes of these notes, the expression ‘machine’ means any machine, machinery, plant, equipment, apparatus or appliance cited in the headings of Chapter 84 or 85.
This note names chapter 85, which this site also covers.
Note 6 to section XVI
(A) Throughout the Nomenclature, the expression “electrical and electronic waste and scrap” means electrical and electronic assemblies, printed circuit boards, and electrical or electronic articles that :
(i) have been rendered unusable for their original purposes by breakage, cutting-up or other processes or are economically unsuitable for repair, refurbishment or renovation to render them fit for their original purposes; and
(ii) are packaged or shipped in a manner not intended to protect individual articles from damage during transportation, loading and unloading operations
(B) Mixed consignments of “electrical and electronic waste and scrap” and other waste and scrap are to be classified in heading 8549.
(C) This Section does not cover municipal waste, as defined in Note 4 to Chapter 38.
The publisher carries 2 further notes to this section under the heading Additional section notes. Those are national notes rather than part of the international text, so they are not quoted here: everything above is the same rule whichever destination a shipment is going to, and an additional note is not.
Read from the section notes published in the UK Trade Tariff by HM Revenue and Customs, at https://www.trade-tariff.service.gov.uk/api/v2/sections/16, on 2026-09-08, and read a second time from the chapter endpoint quoted below, which carries the same section note and has to agree with it. Like the chapter and heading notes, a section note is part of the international text of the Harmonized System, so it decides classification and never a rate.
What the nomenclature excludes
The sentence above is this site's summary. This one is not. Note 1 to chapter 84 sets out what this chapter does not cover, and these are its 8 items as published, with the heading each one sends the goods to. Where a note names a chapter this site also covers, the chapter number is a link.
- (a) millstones, grindstones or other articles of Chapter 68
- (b) machinery or appliances (for example, pumps) of ceramic material and ceramic parts of machinery or appliances of any material (Chapter 69)
- (c) laboratory glassware (heading 7017); machinery, appliances or other articles for technical uses or parts thereof, of glass (heading 7019 or 7020)
- (d) articles of heading 7321 or 7322 or similar articles of other base metals (Chapter 74 to Chapter 76 or Chapter 78 to Chapter 81)
- (e) vacuum cleaners of heading 8508
- (f) electromechanical domestic appliances of heading 8509; digital cameras of heading 8525
- (g) radiators for the articles of Section XVII
- (h) hand-operated mechanical floor sweepers, not motorised (heading 9603)
Read from the chapter notes published in the UK Trade Tariff by HM Revenue and Customs, at https://www.trade-tariff.service.gov.uk/api/v2/chapters/84, on 2026-09-07. The first six digits of that nomenclature are the Harmonized System itself and the notes to a chapter are part of its international text, so this is the same note whichever of this site's destinations a shipment is going to. It decides classification and never a rate.
What the notes say about each heading
The note above governs chapter 84 as a whole. Underneath it the same published notes speak about individual four digit headings, and that is the layer a classification usually turns on. This site holds codes under 3 headings in this chapter. One of them is the subject of a numbered note. The notes say nothing about the other one, which is the published position rather than a gap here.
| Heading | What the nomenclature calls it | Codes here | What the notes say about it |
|---|---|---|---|
| 8419 | Machinery, plant or laboratory equipment, whether or not electrically heated (excluding furnaces, ovens and other equipment of heading 8514), for the treatment of materials by a process involving a change of temperature such as heating, cooking, roasting, distilling, rectifying, sterilising, pasteurising, steaming, drying, evaporating, vaporising, condensing or cooling, other than machinery or plant of a kind used for domestic purposes; instantaneous or storage water heaters, non-electric | 841981 | Named in passing by note 2 |
| 8471 | Automatic data-processing machines and units thereof; magnetic or optical readers, machines for transcribing data onto data media in coded form and machines for processing such data, not elsewhere specified or included | 847130 , 847141 , 847150 , 847160 , 847170 | Subject of note 6 |
| 8473 | Parts and accessories (other than covers, carrying cases and the like) suitable for use solely or principally with machines of headings 8470 to 8472 | 847330 | Not named in the chapter notes |
How each of those notes opens, in the words the nomenclature uses. The note in full is on every code page under the heading it governs, which is where a reader deciding a classification is standing.
Note 6 to chapter 84, which takes heading 8471 as its subject
Opening, as published
(A) For the purposes of heading 8471, the expression 'automatic data-processing machines' means machines, capable of (1)...
Note 6 in full on 847130 , and on every other code this site holds under that heading.
One heading is named by a note whose subject is something else, which is a cross reference rather than a rule about the heading: 8419 (note 2) . The sentence that names each one is quoted on the code pages under it.
Read from the same chapter notes quoted above, at https://www.trade-tariff.service.gov.uk/api/v2/chapters/84, on 2026-09-07, with each heading title read from its own endpoint. The Harmonized System publishes no separate heading notes: its legal text is section notes, chapter notes and subheading notes, and what governs a heading is a chapter note whose subject clause names it. The section notes are quoted at the top of this page, which is the layer above.
What chapter 84 costs to import
The dearest line this site holds in chapter 84 is 847130, laptop computers / portable adp machines, at 16% into Brazil. 40 of the 42 rates charged on value in this chapter are zero. The widest gap between destinations is on 847130, laptop computers / portable adp machines, which runs from 0% to 16% depending on where it lands.
A destination that prices part of a chapter answers for part of it, so this is how much of chapter 84 each one covers, out of 7 codes.
| Destination | Codes priced | Duty range in this chapter |
|---|---|---|
| Australia | 7 of 7 | 0% to 5% |
| Canada | 7 of 7 | 0% |
| United Kingdom | 7 of 7 | 0% |
| United States | 7 of 7 | 0% |
| Germany | 6 of 7 | 0% |
| Portugal | 6 of 7 | 0% |
| Brazil | 1 of 7 | 16% |
| India | 1 of 7 | 0% |
Third country rates, which is what applies with no trade agreement claimed. Destination tax is charged on top. Each code page carries the reading behind its own figures and the day they were read.