Importing supplements & vitamins
Verified 1 official source
Short answer
Supplements are the category where a second agency most often matters more than the duty. Classification is usually straightforward; admissibility, labelling, and prior notice requirements are where shipments actually get held.
What determines the rate
- Whether the product is a food preparation, a medicament, or a beverage
- The composition and whether any single ingredient predominates
- Whether it is put up in measured doses or for retail sale
- Whether it contains ingredients subject to other-agency restrictions
Subheadings commonly involved
Illustrative only — these show how the schedule divides this category. ImportCost does not publish a rate here because the legal rate attaches to a specific 8-digit subheading and must be read from the current official schedule.
- 2106.90Food preparations not elsewhere specified — where many supplements sit
- 3004.50Medicaments containing vitamins, put up in measured doses
- 2936.90Provitamins and vitamins, intermixed
Country considerations
- Supplements frequently require prior notice and can be subject to review by an agency other than CBP. That review, not the duty, is the usual cause of a held shipment.
- Products making therapeutic claims may be treated as medicaments, which changes both classification and the admissibility path.
- Ingredients legal in the country of origin are not necessarily admissible into the United States.
Common questions
Sources
- retrieved
- 2026-08-09
Primary source of truth for Column 1 general rates, special rates, and Chapter 99 subheadings.