U.S. imports of Machinery for Sorting, Screening, Separating or Washing Ores & Mineral Substances (SITC 72831) totaled $33.9M in August 2026, imported from 33 countries.
Importers of Machinery for Sorting, Screening, Separating or Washing Ores & Mineral Substances paid $2.4M in duties in August 2026, an average duty rate of 6.94% — duty actually collected as a share of the imports that cleared customs, not the published tariff schedule. Machinery for Sorting, Screening, Separating or Washing Ores & Mineral Substances imports of $33.9M in August 2026 ran 20% above the year-to-date monthly average of $28.4M.
Last updated: August 2026 dataVibrating screens, jigs, spirals, dense-medium separators, and hydrocyclones used in mineral processing operations are the commercial core of SITC 72831, serving mining, quarrying, and aggregate production industries worldwide. Equipment in this heading handles solid mineral substances in forms ranging from coarse rock to fine powder or paste, and its classification depends on the primary mechanical action — separation or washing — rather than the specific mineral being processed. Sizing and throughput capacity are the principal commercial specifications that differentiate product tiers within this heading.
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284 import shipments a month
Yes. A trommel screen performs a screening and separating function on solid mineral substances, which is precisely the scope of SITC 72831. The specific mineral being processed — gold-bearing gravel, coal, iron ore — does not change the classification; the mechanical function governs.
SITC 72831 covers size-classification and washing operations that sort or separate already-sized material, while SITC 72832 covers size-reduction operations — crushing and grinding. In a typical mineral processing circuit, crushing and grinding equipment (72832) precedes the sorting and screening equipment (72831), and the two headings are mutually exclusive based on the primary mechanical action performed.
Basic heading 271 of 642 in section 7
Basic heading 72831 · $33.9M of $172.0B
Imports · August 2026
origin
United Kingdom and Canada together supply 71% of it. China pays 23.2% duty; Canada 0.1%.
customs district
Census does not publish district detail for this classification system.
destination
Census does not publish state detail for this classification system.
entry
Census does not publish port detail for this classification system.
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ImportsExports
Imports
$33.9MYoY · free account
Exports
$22.4MYoY · free account
12-mo low · imports
Low · free accountOver the twelve months to August 2026, the U.S. imported $320.9M of Machinery for Sorting, Screening, Separating or Washing Ores & Mineral Substances.
Through August 2026 · exports 10 of 12 months reported. Source: U.S. Census Bureau.