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Customs & Tariff Classification

Harmonized System

Also known as: HS, HS Code

The Harmonized System is an internationally standardized nomenclature for classifying traded products, developed and maintained by the World Customs Organization and used by more than two hundred countries and economies. It arranges goods into 21 sections and 99 chapters, and assigns each product a six-digit code that is identical worldwide, giving customs authorities, statisticians, and traders a shared vocabulary. Individual countries extend the six-digit HS code with further digits for their own tariff and statistical purposes, but the first six digits always mean the same thing everywhere, which is what makes global trade data comparable and preferential origin rules workable.

The JFS takeLicensed customs broker · Filer 82G

The first six digits are the same everywhere, and that is the source of endless trouble: importers see their supplier's six-digit code, assume it is the answer, and take the U.S. eight-and-ten-digit extension on faith. The tariff you actually pay lives in the digits the exporting country never wrote down.

Where it matters for compliance

  • The foreign declaration is a starting hypothesis, not a classification. The importer is responsible for the code filed on their entry.

Related terms

HTSThe Harmonized Tariff Schedule is the United States' implementation of the international Harmonized System, extending the common six-digit HS code to ten digits: the first six mirror the global HS, digits seven and eight set the legal duty rate, and digits nine and ten capture statistical detail for trade reporting.Tariff ClassificationTariff classification is the disciplined process of assigning an imported product its correct code within the Harmonized System and the national tariff schedule, following the legally binding General Rules of Interpretation, the section and chapter notes, and, where helpful, the explanatory notes and prior rulings.

Reviewed by a licensed customs broker. Definitions are general information, not legal or customs advice for a particular shipment. Duty rates, tariff programs and agency requirements change frequently.