What Is an HTS Code?

The Harmonized System is a standardized numerical method of classifying traded products. The World Customs Organization (WCO) administers it and updates it every five years. It assigns six-digit codes, and countries may add longer codes after those six digits for further classification. The United States expands to a 10-digit number.

The schedule itself is law. Under 19 U.S.C. 3004, the provisions of the Harmonized Tariff Schedule are statutory provisions of law for all purposes, and the schedule took effect on January 1, 1989. The U.S. International Trade Commission (USITC) maintains and publishes the current version, and the statute directs it to keep the schedule under continuous review.

The statute puts the filing on the importer of record. Under 19 U.S.C. 1484, the importer of record, using reasonable care, files the declared value, classification and rate of duty for the merchandise with customs.

Three related numbers, each with its own job:

• HS code: the 6-digit international subheading. It is the same whether you import or export, in any WCO member country.
• HTS code: the US import classification, 10 digits, built on the HS subheading.
• Schedule B number: the US export classification, administered by the U.S. Census Bureau. A product's 10-digit Schedule B and HTS numbers may differ, but the first 6 digits are the same.

Sets can be harder to classify. In trade.gov's Schedule B example, an unassembled bicycle sold in one box with the frame, handlebars, pedals and seat is classified as a bicycle, because it is sold as one unit, not as several components. Rule 3 of the General Rules of Interpretation of the Harmonized Tariff Schedule covers composite goods, mixtures and items sold in a set.

Illustrative figures, not a real duty rate. A distributor imports 400 units valued at $20,000. Their HTS line carries an ad valorem duty, which is a fixed percentage of the import's value. At an illustrative 5%, the duty is $20,000 x 0.05 = $1,000, which adds $1,000 / 400 = $2.50 to the landed cost of each unit before freight and fees.

Each physical product has a Customs information section on its product details page, shown only when the Physical product setting is on. It holds two fields:

• Country/Region of origin: where the product was manufactured or assembled. For materials from several countries, it is where the product takes its final form.
• Harmonized System (HS) code: the tariff code customs uses to apply the correct tariffs. You can search for it by keyword in the field itself.

Shopify's guidance is to add the six-digit HS code to your products along with the country of origin, and to use HS codes on commercial invoices when importing into the US. When you collect duties and import taxes at checkout, Shopify calculates them from each product's HS code and country or region of origin, and HS codes are required for all international orders.

In the GraphQL Admin API, an inventory item's harmonizedSystemCode must be a number between 6 and 13 digits, and countryHarmonizedSystemCodes holds country-specific codes.

On Uncap's Acumatica integration page, HS codes travel with the product catalog: real-time product information, descriptions, pricing, UoMs and HS codes, pulled directly from Acumatica.

• Landed cost
• Incoterms
• Item master
• Shopify Markets
• PIM (product information management)

• International Trade Administration: Understanding HS Codes and the Schedule B
• Cornell LII: 19 U.S. Code § 1484, Entry of merchandise
• Shopify Help Center: Product details page