Pepper HS Code 0904: Which Code Applies to Your Pepper Product?
Heading 0904 is not only pepper. It also covers dried chilli and paprika — and the two branches carry different US duty. Peppercorns enter the United States at 0%; dried chilli does not. Two questions settle which of the four codes is yours: is the product true pepper or a chilli-family fruit, and is it whole or crushed and ground?
Page last reviewed . Duty figures are US MFN base rates, HTS 2026.
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Pepper HS Code 0904: Quick Classification Table
| Code | Product family | Form | What it covers |
|---|---|---|---|
| 090411 | Pepper — genus Piper | Neither crushed nor ground | Whole peppercorns — black, white, or dried green |
| 090412 | Pepper — genus Piper | Crushed or ground | Ground pepper, cracked pepper |
| 090421 | Fruit of genus Capsicum or Pimenta | Dried, neither crushed nor ground | Whole dried chillies, whole allspice |
| 090422 | Fruit of genus Capsicum or Pimenta | Crushed or ground | Chilli powder, paprika, crushed red pepper |
Full legal text of the heading: Pepper of the genus Piper; dried or crushed or ground fruit of the genus Capsicum or of the genus Pimenta. Heading 0904 sits in Chapter 09 (coffee, tea, maté and spices), Section II (vegetable products).
How Do You Choose the Right HS Code for Pepper?
Work through two questions, in this order. The first decides the pair; the second decides which of the two.
Question 1 — Is it true pepper, or a chilli-family fruit? True pepper is the genus Piper — that is the peppercorn, whatever its colour. It sends you to 090411 or 090412. Chillies, paprika and allspice are the genus Capsicum or Pimenta, and send you to 090421 or 090422. This is the fork that costs money if you get it wrong, because the two branches are dutied differently in the United States.
Question 2 — Is it whole, or crushed and ground? Whole takes the first code in the pair, crushed or ground takes the second. Cracked pepper counts as crushed. Within a pair, breaking the product is what moves the code — cleaning, grading and sorting do not.
Drying behaves differently on the two branches, which is easy to miss. A peppercorn is in 0904 whether or not it has been dried. A chilli is in 0904 only once it has been dried, crushed or ground — see the next paragraph.
One thing the second question does not decide: fresh chillies are not in 0904 at all. The heading's own wording covers Capsicum and Pimenta fruit only when dried or crushed or ground. Fresh chillies belong to Chapter 07, under 070960 — "Other vegetables, fresh or chilled: Fruits of the genus Capsicum or of the genus Pimenta." The same two genus names, a different chapter, because the fruit is fresh rather than dried.
What Is the HS Code for Black Pepper?
Whole black peppercorns are 090411. Ground black pepper is 090412.
Black pepper is the genus Piper, so it always lands on the first branch. The only question left is form: whole peppercorns take 090411, and anything cracked, crushed or ground takes 090412.
The heading's test is the genus, not the colour. Its wording is "Pepper of the genus Piper" — it says nothing about black, white or green. So once you know the product is a peppercorn of that genus, the only remaining question is whether it is whole or ground.
What Is the HS Code for White Pepper?
White pepper follows exactly the same rule as black: 090411 whole, 090412 ground.
Heading 0904 gives no separate line for white pepper, and neither do its four six-digit codes. Removing the outer layer of a peppercorn changes neither of the two things the heading actually tests — the genus, and whether the product is crushed or ground — so white pepper is classified on form alone, exactly like black.
This is worth stating because white pepper hs code is searched as if it were a code of its own. It is not a separate code.
Whole Peppercorn vs Ground Pepper: Which Code Applies?
Whole is 090411. Crushed or ground is 090412. This is the whole of the second decision for Piper products, and it is where most avoidable 0904 errors happen.
What counts as crushed or ground:
- Ground pepper, fine or coarse — 090412
- Cracked or coarsely crushed peppercorns — 090412
- Whole peppercorns, cleaned, dried, graded or sorted — still 090411
Processing that does not break the corn does not move the code. Once it is broken, it does.
The same fork exists on the chilli branch, with the same logic: whole dried chillies are 090421, chilli powder is 090422.
What Is the HS Code for Dried Chili and Chili Powder?
Whole dried chillies are 090421. Chilli powder and paprika are 090422.
Chillies belong to the genus Capsicum; allspice belongs to Pimenta. Both sit on the second branch of heading 0904, and both are only in 0904 when the fruit is dried, or crushed, or ground — the heading says so in its own text.
Two consequences worth knowing before you file:
- Fresh chillies are not classified here — they are 070960, in Chapter 07 with the fresh vegetables. Drying is the condition of entry to heading 0904 for the Capsicum branch, not an optional processing step.
- This branch is dutied and the pepper branch is not — see the duty section below. A chilli product filed as pepper is not a paperwork error, it is an underpayment.
Pepper HS Code Mistakes That Lead to the Wrong Classification
1. Treating chilli as pepper because the heading is called "pepper". Heading 0904 covers both families, and they are dutied differently in the US. This is the most expensive mistake on the page.
2. Assuming white pepper has its own code. It does not — it is Piper, classified on form like any other peppercorn.
3. Filing fresh chillies under 090421. The Capsicum branch requires the fruit to be dried, crushed or ground. Fresh is 070960, a different chapter entirely — same genus names, different code.
4. Reading the four codes off a collapsed code list. Many code lists render 090412 and 090422 with identical labels — both simply "Crushed or ground". Two different products, two different duty treatments, one string. Use the classification table above, or the code's own page, which carries the full path.
5. Assuming the duty is the same across a branch. The US rates below vary by subheading within the Capsicum branch. Check the code you are actually filing.
Already Know the Code? Check the Import Duty
US MFN base rates, HTS 2026 Column-1 General, as of 1 January 2026. Verified on the live code pages 23 Aug 2026.
| Code | US MFN rate |
|---|---|
| 090411 — whole peppercorns | 0% |
| 090412 — ground pepper | 0% |
| 090421 — whole dried chilli | 2.5¢/kg (varies by US subheading) |
| 090422 — chilli powder, paprika | 3¢/kg (varies by US subheading) |
Pepper of the genus Piper enters the United States duty-free. Chilli-family products do not. That is the practical reason the first question on this page matters more than the second.
These figures exclude Section 301 and IEEPA add-ons, and they are the base rate only — the per-kilo rates vary by the US subheading beneath the six-digit code. This is not legal advice, and it is United States data only; rates for other destination markets are not covered here.
Turn HS Code 0904 Into a List of Pepper Importers
You have the code. The next question is who already buys it.
Each six-digit code has a companies page built from customs filings, ranked by shipments over the last 12 months. Verified live 23 Aug 2026:
| Code | Product | Companies on record |
|---|---|---|
| 090411 | Whole peppercorns | 27 companies |
| 090412 | Ground pepper | 34 companies |
| 090421 | Whole dried chilli | 34 companies |
| 090422 | Chilli powder, paprika | 85 companies |
One limit stated plainly: this company data is United States filings only — the same single-country limit that applies to the duty figures above.
Subheadings as written in the nomenclature
Frequently asked questions
- What is HS code 0904?
- Heading 0904 covers pepper of the genus Piper, and dried, crushed or ground fruit of the genus Capsicum or Pimenta. It splits into four six-digit codes: 090411, 090412, 090421 and 090422.
- What is the HS code for black pepper?
- 090411 for whole peppercorns, 090412 for ground.
- What is the HS code for white pepper?
- The same as black — 090411 whole, 090412 ground. White pepper is not a separate code.
- What is the HS code for chilli powder?
- 090422. Whole dried chillies are 090421.
- Is fresh chilli covered by 0904?
- No. The Capsicum and Pimenta branch only covers fruit that is dried, crushed or ground. Fresh chillies are 070960, in Chapter 07.
- Does grinding change the HS code?
- Yes. Grinding or crushing moves the product from the first code of a pair to the second — 090411 to 090412, or 090421 to 090422.
- What is the US import duty on pepper?
- Peppercorns are 0% MFN. Chilli-family products carry a per-kilo rate — 2.5¢/kg on 090421 and 3¢/kg on 090422, varying by US subheading, as of 1 January 2026.
Browse all of Chapter 09: Coffee, tea, maté and spices →
Go beyond the code
Find the companies shipping under 0904 — ranked by shipments recorded in US customs filings over the last 12 months.