HTSUS classification walkthrough: raw versus roasted almonds (Chapter 8 to Chapter 20)

Food and agricultural classification questions on the exam often test one thing: whether a single processing step, roasting, cooking, freezing, or adding an ingredient, moves a good out of the raw-product chapters into the prepared-foods chapters. Almonds are the cleanest example of that jump. See the textiles walkthrough and machinery walkthrough for the composite-goods side of GRI; this one is a pure GRI 1, heading-text case with a Section change baked in. The glossary defines HTSUS and tariff classification, and the GRI guide covers the rule order.

Step 1: find the Section and Chapter for the raw good

Raw almonds, whether in the shell or shelled, fresh or dried but not otherwise processed, are an edible nut. Chapter 8, “Edible fruit and nuts; peel of citrus fruit or melons,” sits in Section II, “Vegetable Products,” Chapters 6 to 14. Chapter 8 is written to cover fruit and nuts in essentially their natural, fresh or dried state, which is the key fact this whole walkthrough turns on.

Step 2: find the heading and subheading for the raw good

Heading 0802 covers “Other nuts, fresh or dried, whether or not shelled or peeled,” a residual heading for nuts not separately named earlier in the chapter (coconuts, Brazil nuts, and cashews have their own headings ahead of it). Beneath 0802, almonds have their own named breakout:

Subheading	Description
0802.11	Almonds, in shell
0802.12	Almonds, shelled

Shelled almonds, fresh or dried and not further processed, are classified at 0802.12.00. In-shell almonds are 0802.11.00. Under GRI 1 the heading text plus the almonds breakout resolves this directly: no essential-character or set analysis is needed for a single, unprocessed agricultural product.

Step 3: the processing step that changes everything

Now change one fact: the almonds are dry-roasted before import, sold as a snack-ready product, not a raw agricultural input. Chapter 8’s own scope, “fresh or dried,” does not extend to nuts that have been roasted or otherwise cooked or prepared; roasting is a form of preparation, not simple drying. That single fact removes the good from Chapter 8 entirely under GRI 1, because the heading text of 0802 no longer describes it.

Roasted, or otherwise prepared or preserved, nuts are provided for in Chapter 20, “Preparations of vegetables, fruit, nuts or other parts of plants,” which sits in Section IV, “Prepared Foodstuffs; Beverages, Spirits, and Vinegar; Tobacco and Manufactured Tobacco Substitutes,” Chapters 16 to 24. Within Chapter 20, heading 2008 covers “Fruit, nuts and other edible parts of plants, otherwise prepared or preserved,” with subheading 2008.19 covering other nuts, including mixtures, that do not have their own more specific breakout. Roasted almonds, and roasted nut mixtures such as a mixed-nut snack pack, are classified there, at 2008.19, rather than anywhere in Chapter 8.

Why this is a GRI 1 question, not a GRI 2 or 3 question

It is tempting to treat “raw almond becomes roasted almond” as a transformation question that needs GRI 2(a), incomplete or unfinished articles, or GRI 3, competing headings. Neither applies. GRI 2(a) is for an article that is unfinished but already has the essential character of the finished article, a bicycle missing its pedals. Roasting is not an unfinished stage of “almond,” it is a distinct preparation that a different chapter is specifically written to cover, so there is no genuine competition between two headings once you read Chapter 8’s own scope correctly. The whole question resolves at GRI 1: read what Chapter 8 covers, notice roasted nuts fall outside it, and go find the chapter that does cover prepared nuts.

The pattern beyond almonds

The same jump governs a long list of food classification questions: fresh grapes (Chapter 8) versus raisins, which are dried and processed grapes classified in Chapter 8 under their own heading for dried fruit, illustrating that “dried” alone can still keep a good in Chapter 8, while cooking, roasting, or adding sugar or other ingredients generally pushes a good into Chapter 20 or another Chapter 16 to 24 heading. Fresh vegetables (Chapter 7) versus canned or otherwise prepared vegetables (Chapter 20, heading 2001 to 2005) follow the identical logic. The exam-taking habit to build is: read exactly what state the chapter’s heading text requires the good to be in, fresh, dried, chilled, frozen, or otherwise prepared, and match the good’s actual condition at the time of entry to that language before picking a chapter.

Practicing this pattern

Drill the Section-to-Chapter jump generally in the chapter locator, and use the free practice test to see the raw-versus-prepared distinction tested against other product families.

Sources: Chapter 8 and Chapter 20 titles, and Section II and Section IV titles, verified against the hts.usitc.gov chapter index; heading 0802 text, the almonds subheading breakout (0802.11, 0802.12), and heading 2008 with subheading 2008.19 verified against the U.S. International Trade Commission's Harmonized Tariff Schedule search and export tools at hts.usitc.gov, both checked 2026-07-29. This is a plain-English walkthrough; the official HTSUS text and chapter notes govern the exact boundary between "dried" and "otherwise prepared," and that boundary is fact-specific, so confirm the current text and any applicable CBP ruling before relying on it for an actual entry.