The description of chemical reaction rates, in terms of the language of nonequilibrium thermodynamics, is compared with the conventional language of chemical kinetics. It is concluded that the formalism of nonequilibrium thermodynamics possesses considerable disadvantages, even in the regime where the rate is a linear function of affinity; this conclusion also holds for cases where chemical rates are coupled to diffusion processes. Some of the difficulties involved are illustrated using the experimental data of Nebeker and Pings (28).