How many digits is an HS code?

The internationally shared part is six digits. The United States extends it to ten digits (HTSUS), the European Union to eight or ten (TARIC), and most other countries to eight (CN8). The first six digits are always the same across borders.

Who maintains the Harmonized System?

The World Customs Organization (WCO) in Brussels maintains the Harmonized System. It is revised roughly every five years. The current edition is HS 2022; the next revision is HS 2027.

How do I find the Harmonized System code for my product?

Describe the product in plain language, then match it against the nomenclature chapter by chapter. HS Mate does this for you: type what you are importing and it returns the 6-digit code with an audit trail explaining which chapter and heading it falls under.

Harmonized System Code: What It Is and How to Read It

Q: What is a Harmonized System code?

The Harmonized System code is a numbering system that classifies every traded product. The World Customs Organization maintains it and more than 200 countries use it to assess import duties. The first six digits are identical worldwide; each country adds two to four more digits for its own tariff schedule.

What is a Harmonized System code?

The Harmonized System (HS) is a global product classification managed by the World Customs Organization in Brussels. More than 200 countries use it to decide how much duty an imported product owes. Every traded good, from raw cotton to a finished laptop, maps to a numeric HS code.

The shared part of the code is six digits. Those six digits mean the same thing in Los Angeles, Rotterdam, and Shenzhen. Individual countries then bolt on two to four more digits for their own tariff schedules: the US extends to ten digits (HTSUS), the EU to eight or ten (TARIC), and most others to eight (CN8).

How to read an HS code

An HS code is not a random number. It is a hierarchy that narrows from a broad category to a specific product, two digits at a time. Read left to right, each pair tells you more:

61 Chapter Articles of apparel and clothing accessories, knitted or crocheted

6109 Heading T-shirts, singlets and other vests, knitted or crocheted

6109.10 Subheading Of cotton

So 6109.10 is a cotton T-shirt: chapter 61 (knitted apparel), heading 6109 (T-shirts and singlets), subheading 10 (of cotton). The first two digits are the chapter, the first four are the heading, and all six are the subheading. Every country in the system reads those six digits the same way.

The structure, top to bottom

21 sections. The broadest grouping, by industry. Textiles, machinery, foodstuffs, chemicals, and so on.
99 chapters (the first 2 digits). For example chapter 09 is coffee, tea, and spices; chapter 85 is electrical machinery.
About 1,200 headings (4 digits). A specific family of products inside a chapter.
Over 5,300 subheadings (6 digits). The most specific level shared internationally. This is what HS Mate returns.
National extensions (8 to 10 digits). Added per country for statistics and country-specific duty rates.

Who maintains it, and how often it changes

The World Customs Organization revises the Harmonized System roughly every five years to keep up with new products and trade patterns. The current edition is HS 2022. The next revision, HS 2027, is already drafted. When an edition changes, codes get split, merged, or renumbered, so a code that was correct in 2017 may not exist in 2022. HS Mate is built on the HS 2022 nomenclature.

Why the right code matters in 2026

For years, HS classification was a back-office detail. Two changes in 2024 and 2025 made it a line item that can sink a small importer:

The de minimis exemption ended. US imports under $800 used to clear duty-free. That exemption is gone, so every parcel, including drop-shipped Shopify orders and Amazon FBA replenishment, now needs a declared HS code.
Tariffs spiked. Effective rates on common categories climbed from 31.5% in late 2023 to 176.5% by April 2025. A wrong code at the higher rate is no longer a rounding error.
Some tariffs were voided. Recent court rulings struck down certain Section 301 and IEEPA tariffs. Importers who paid them in 2024 and 2025 can file for refunds. See our duty refund audit.

How to find the code for your product

You can read the WCO nomenclature by hand, working from section to chapter to heading. It is accurate, but slow, and the General Rules of Interpretation take practice. The faster path: describe the product and let the classifier walk the hierarchy for you.

Describe what you import. Material, function, and intended use. "Knitted cotton T-shirt for adults" beats "shirt".
Get the 6-digit code. HS Mate matches your description against the HS 2022 nomenclature and returns the subheading with the chapter and heading it sits under.
Check the duty rate and audit trail. Each result explains why this code over the alternatives, so your customs broker can review and accept it.

Ready to classify something? Run a free HS code lookup →

HS code vs HTS, TARIC, and commodity code

These names trip people up, but they describe the same system at different zoom levels:

HS code is the 6-digit international base, set by the WCO.
HTS / HTSUS is the US 10-digit extension.
TARIC is the EU 10-digit extension.
Commodity code is the generic UK and EU term for the full national code.

Get the first six digits right and the rest follows from your destination country's schedule.

Pricing

Free. Basic 6-digit lookup. No signup.
€4.99 per shipment. Written classification report with audit trail.
€29/mo unlimited. Unlimited lookups, monthly audit of your imports.
€99/mo business. Team workspace, API access, batch classification.
15% contingency on refunds. We file. You only pay when CBP pays you.

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