HS tariff codes: how to find the right one
Six digits that set the duty rate, and how to find yours without paying anyone.
A CN22 has a box for an HS code and most senders leave it blank. It is optional on a small declaration in the sense that the form will be accepted without it, and it is the single field that most reliably decides what happens next: the code sets the duty rate, and on some goods it decides whether the parcel may enter at all.
What the number actually is
HS stands for Harmonised System, a classification maintained by the World Customs Organization and used by nearly every customs authority on earth. The first six digits mean the same thing in every member country. That is the whole point of it: a code assigned in Manchester is read identically in Osaka.
The six digits are three pairs, and they narrow as they go.
- The first two are the chapter, the broad family of goods. Chapter 61 is knitted clothing, chapter 62 is the same garments woven rather than knitted.
- The next two are the heading, the type of article within that family.
- The last two are the subheading, usually the material or a further split.
So 6109.10 is a T-shirt, knitted, of cotton. Change the fibre to synthetic and
the last two digits change with it. Change knitted to woven and the chapter
changes.
Countries then add their own digits on the end, commonly to eight or ten, for their national tariff and statistics. Those extra digits are not international. A ten-digit code copied from a US schedule is not a valid EU code and vice versa. For a customs declaration on a parcel, the first six are what travel.
Where to look one up, free
Every major customs authority publishes a searchable tariff, and they cost nothing to use:
- The EU’s TARIC database, for anything entering the union.
- The UK’s Trade Tariff tool.
- The US Harmonized Tariff Schedule, published by the USITC.
Search by what the thing is, in plain words, then read the section and chapter notes rather than stopping at the first plausible line. The notes are where the exclusions live, and an exclusion is usually what makes a confident guess wrong.
If your goods are consistent, look the code up once and keep it. Most small sellers ship within two or three codes forever.
Why the material matters more than the name
Tariff classification follows what a thing is made of and how it was made far more often than what it is called or what it is for. This is the part that catches people out.
Two nearly identical scarves can sit in different chapters because one is silk and one is polyester. A wooden toy and a plastic toy can diverge. A leather notebook cover may classify as leather goods rather than stationery.
So when you search, describe the material and the construction, not the brand or the marketing category. “Cotton knitted T-shirt” finds the code. “Premium unisex tee” does not.
Composite items and sets
A parcel containing several different things is not one code. Strictly, each distinct item is classified on its own, which is the same reasoning behind declaring multiple lines on a customs form rather than one vague total.
Sets sold together for retail have their own rule: they usually take the code of the component that gives the set its essential character. A gift box of tea and a mug classifies on whichever dominates, not on both. Where it is genuinely unclear, list the items separately and let customs assign it.
A wrong code is not neutral
Undervaluing is the fraud everyone knows about. Misclassification is quieter and gets treated seriously too, because the code is what the duty is calculated from, and picking a low-duty code for a high-duty product is a revenue loss to the destination country whether or not you meant it.
Realistically, on a small parcel, an honest classification error is corrected rather than punished. What causes real trouble is a pattern: the same wrong code on a hundred parcels reads as a system, not a slip.
There is a second consequence people miss. Some codes carry controls rather than duty: licences, quotas, safety certification, restrictions on origin. A product that needs an import licence under its correct code does not stop needing one because a different code was written on the form. The parcel is simply stopped later, with less explanation.
What to do when you genuinely cannot tell
Three honest options, in order of cost.
- Read the chapter notes properly. Most ambiguity is resolved there, and it is free.
- Ask your carrier. The larger couriers have classification teams and will usually answer for an account holder.
- Apply for a binding ruling. The EU calls it a Binding Tariff Information, the US calls it a ruling from CBP. It is free or cheap, takes weeks, and the answer is legally binding on the authority that issued it, which is worth it if you are about to ship the same product thousands of times.
What not to do is copy a code off a competitor’s listing. You do not know whether theirs is right, and inheriting someone else’s error does not transfer the blame with it.
The short version
Find the six-digit code once, based on what the item is made of, using the destination’s own tariff tool. Write those six digits on the declaration. Keep a note of which code goes with which product so the next hundred parcels take ten seconds each.
A blank HS box gets the parcel classified by someone who has never seen the contents and is working from your description alone. That is the actual choice: your six digits, or their guess.