Import duty · Dyes
What a dyestuff shipment pays at the border, class by class.
Shafiq Traders · Updated 14 September 2026
There is no single dyestuff import duty. Chapter 32 of the tariff splits colouring matter into eight-digit headings by dye class — reactive, disperse, vat, direct, acid — and by physical form, and the two together fix the rate, which runs from zero to twenty percent before the standard sales tax is added on top. Pigments, organic and inorganic, sit under their own subheadings again and split further by mineral content. We have not found a valuation ruling currently in force on a finished dyestuff or pigment, which means the argument on a dye shipment is almost never about value. It is about which of these headings the drum actually belongs in.
One drum, half a dozen classifications
Dyes are a named speciality on this register, and most of the account is textile mills — a print run needs a reactive or a disperse dye depending on the fibre, a dye house running vat dyes for denim, a pigment print line ordering an organic pigment paste. The same drum can be invoiced as "dyestuff" on a packing list and mean five different things to customs, because Chapter 32 does not classify colouring matter the way a purchase order does. It classifies by chemical class first, and by form — powder, liquid, prepared solution — second.
The broader chemicals trade this firm clears for, including the regulator that sits over some of it, is covered on the chemicals and dyes industry page, and finishing agents and dye intermediates sit on our wider chemicals and dyes duty page. This page stays inside Chapter 32: the finished dyestuffs and pigments themselves, and the headings that decide what each one pays.
Dye and pigment classes, and what fixes each one
| Class | PCT heading | What decides it | What we check first |
|---|---|---|---|
| Disperse dyes | 3204.11 | The dye class itself, then whether it lands as a powder or a liquid | Powder and liquid carry different eight-digit codes for the same colour |
| Acid dyes | 3204.12 | Whether the chemical is acid dye or mordant dye, whichever the certificate of analysis names | A dye sold as "acid" that is chemically a direct dye — the two are taxed differently |
| Direct dyes | 3204.14 | The dye class, independent of form | Confused with acid dyes on a commercial invoice more often than any other pair |
| Vat dyes | 3204.15 | Whether it is indigo blue specifically, or any other vat dye | Indigo blue is priced apart from every other vat dye in the same heading |
| Reactive dyes | 3204.16 | The dye class, independent of form | The class most often blended with another for a specific print or dyeing process |
| Organic pigments | 3204.17 | Powder, liquid or other prepared form | A pigment paste is a different code from the pigment powder it was made from |
| Inorganic pigments | 32.06 | The mineral base — titanium dioxide, ultramarine, chrome or cadmium compounds each sit apart | Titanium-dioxide content above 80% by weight is its own line, taxed differently from the rest |
Customs duty and sales tax, by heading
The spread inside one chapter is the actual point of this page: the class and the form move the rate before anything else about the shipment is considered.
- Disperse dyes, powdered0%on assessed value · Pakistan Customs Tariff FY2026-27, PCT 3204.1110
- Disperse dyes, liquid10%on assessed value · Pakistan Customs Tariff FY2026-27, PCT 3204.1120
- Acid dyes15%on assessed value · Pakistan Customs Tariff FY2026-27, PCT 3204.1200
- Direct dyes15%on assessed value · Pakistan Customs Tariff FY2026-27, PCT 3204.1400
- Vat dyes, indigo blue5%on assessed value · Pakistan Customs Tariff FY2026-27, PCT 3204.1510
- Vat dyes, other than indigo blue10%on assessed value · Pakistan Customs Tariff FY2026-27, PCT 3204.1590
- Reactive dyes15%on assessed value · Pakistan Customs Tariff FY2026-27, PCT 3204.1600
- Organic pigments, other than powdered10%on assessed value · Pakistan Customs Tariff FY2026-27, PCT 3204.1790
- Inorganic pigments, titanium-dioxide based (80%+ by weight)0%on assessed value · Pakistan Customs Tariff FY2026-27, PCT 3206.1100
- Inorganic pigments, ultramarine10%on assessed value · Pakistan Customs Tariff FY2026-27, PCT 3206.4100
- Sales tax18%on value inclusive of customs duty · Sales Tax Act, 1990, Section 3(1) — the standard rate applied to imports generally
Checked 14 September 2026 against Federal Board of Revenue — Pakistan Customs Tariff FY2026-27. Rates move at the budget and by SRO in between, so confirm the current figure with us before you price a consignment on it.
Why this is a classification fight, not a valuation one
We checked the Directorate General of Customs Valuation's published rulings for anything specific to a finished dyestuff or pigment and found none currently in force. That is unusual on this site — solar panels, lithium batteries and at least one dye intermediate all carry a benchmark value in dollars per unit that customs assesses against regardless of the invoice. Finished dyes and pigments do not, today. Declared value is scrutinised the ordinary way, but there is no per-kilogram floor sitting behind it.
What replaces that argument is the heading itself. A reactive dye and a direct dye can sit in the same drum shape, the same colour family, and the same price bracket, and still pay different duty, because the tariff asks what the chemical is, not what the invoice calls it. Under faceless assessment, that question now goes to the Central Appraising Unit with no direct back-and-forth between the agent and an assessing officer — the certificate of analysis has to support the declared heading on the first submission, because there is no informal conversation left to fix it afterward.
If a dye preparation genuinely blends two classes — a reactive-disperse mix built for a specific printing process is not unusual — we cannot declare it under whichever of the two carries the lower rate. The tariff already has a heading built for mixtures, at its own rate, and that is where it goes regardless of which ingredient would have been cheaper to admit to alone.
Dye, pigment and chemical importers we have cleared for
Dyes are a named speciality on this register, and the account runs from dye houses and print mills to the chemical traders who supply them.
Glowchem International · NAD Chemicals
Questions
What dye and pigment importers ask us
Contact
Tell us what is coming.
Give us the product, the port and roughly when the vessel is due, and we will tell you what the clearance involves and what it will cost.