Adding HS codes to your products

Note

Harmonized System (HS) codes are required for international shipments.

If you ship internationally, then each of your products must include an HS code.

An HS code is an international trade code, usually six digits long, that's used to describe what a product is. Adding HS codes to your products helps to avoid non-compliance penalties, border delays, seizure of the products, or denial of import. You can learn more about the HS codes system from the following resources:

• Learn more about HS codes
• Find HS codes for your products

Country of origin and country-specific HS codes

The country or region of origin (COO) is where a product is created or assembled into the form in which you sell it, and where it takes on its HS code classification. For example, you sell a table. The table is made of wood from Canada, glue from Mexico, and screws from China. The table is assembled from these materials in the United States. In this case the country or region of origin is the United States, because that's where the materials are used to create the table.

Individual countries can add digits after the first six of an HS code, for further classification. When a country-specific HS code exists, that code is used to calculate duties. If a country-specific HS code doesn't exist, then the six-digit global code is used instead. For example, your product has an HS code of 3210.00, and you sell to Canada and to the United Kingdom. You don't have a country-specific code for Canada, but you have 3210.00.123 for the United Kingdom. UK orders use 3210.00.123, and Canadian orders use 3210.00.

You can add a COO to your products individually, with a CSV file, or by using the bulk editor. You can also set a default COO that's used when a product doesn't have one assigned.

Add HS codes when buying shipping labels

If you haven't yet added HS codes to your products, then you can add them during label purchase.

Staff members who fulfill international orders must have the View products permission to view and use the product's HS code during order fulfillment.

Steps:

1. From your Shopify admin, go to Orders.

2. Click an order that contains unfulfilled items.

3. In the Unfulfilled section, click Create shipping label.

4. In the Items section, click Edit customs information.

5. Add an HS code for each item.

6. Optional: Select Save shipping info to product details to update your products with the HS code.

7. Under Update customs declaration form, select one of the following options:

   • Update multiple orders
   • Only this order

8. Click Save.

Add HS codes on the product page

If you don't have many products to update and you don't know your product HS codes, then you can add the HS code directly on a product's page.

Steps:

1. From your Shopify admin, go to Products.

2. Click the product that you want to edit.

3. In the Shipping section, make sure that the Physical product setting is activated.

4. Add customs information to your product details:

   1. Click Country of origin, and then select a country or region of origin from the drop-down menu.
   2. In the Harmonized System (HS) code, enter an HS code. If you don't have an HS code for your product, then start typing a description of your product to search for the appropriate code.

5. Optional: If you require more detail for the countries and regions that you sell to, then you can further classify your product by region:

   1. Add additional digits to the country-specific HS code. Alternatively, click , and then click Add HS codes by country/region.
   2. In the Add HS codes by country/region modal window, click Select, and then select the country or region for the classification. You can only select countries or regions from your markets.
   3. In the HS code section, enter the HS code specific to that region. Typically, this is the standard six-digit code with additional digits or letters added to the end.
   4. To add additional HS codes, click Add country/region.

6. Click Add.

Add HS codes using the bulk editor

If you don't have many products to update and you already know your product HS codes, then you can add the HS code and country or region of origin using the bulk editor.

Steps:

1. From your Shopify admin, go to Products.

2. Check the products that you want to modify.

3. Click Bulk edit.

4. Click Columns.

5. In the Shipping section, click Harmonized system code and Country of origin.

6. Edit your products as necessary, and then click Save.

Add HS codes and the country of origin by importing a CSV file

If you have a lot of products to update and you already know your product HS codes, or if you aren't sure which of your products are missing codes, then you can use a CSV file to update your products.

Note

The intended use for the duties and import taxes CSV file is to update HS codes and the country of origin for your products. If you want to change other values, then update your products with the inventory CSV instead.

You can also reach these settings from the Shopify admin at Markets, by clicking Manage > Duties and import taxes for the market that you want to update.

Steps:

1. From your Shopify admin, go to Settings > Taxes and duties.

2. In the Duties and import taxes section, click Manage.

3. Export a CSV file of products with missing information.

   1. In the Product information section, click Update with CSV.
   2. Click Export.
   3. Select your preferred file format and click Export products. A CSV file is sent to you in an email.

4. Edit your CSV file by using a spreadsheet program such as Google Sheets.

5. Import your edited CSV file.

   1. In the Product information section, click Update with CSV.
   2. Click Import.
   3. Add your file for import, either by clicking Add file or by dragging and dropping your file to the import window.
   4. Click Upload.
   5. Click Import. An email is sent to you when the process is complete.

Columns in the duties and import taxes CSV file

The duties and import taxes CSV file is similar to other CSV files that you use with Shopify, but it has different columns.

Description of the columns in the duties and import taxes CSV file that you use to add HS codes and a country of origin to your products.

Column	Description
Product Handle	Handles are unique names for each product. They can contain letters, dashes and numbers, but no spaces. A handle is used in the URL for each product.
Product title	The Title column is optional, and can be blank.
Variant SKU	The stock keeping unit (SKU) of the product or variant. This value is used to track inventory with inventory tracking services.
Option1 Name	If a product has an option, then its name is displayed in this column. For example, Color. For products with only a single option, this value should be Title.
Option1 Value	If a product has an option, then its value is displayed in this column. For example, Black. For products with only a single option, this value should be Default Title.
Option2 Name	If a product has a second option, then its name is displayed in this column. For example, Size.
Option2 Value	If a product has a second option, then its value is displayed in this column. For example, Large.
Option3 Name	If a product has a third option, then its name is displayed in this column. For example, Material.
Option3 Value	If a product has third option, then its value is displayed in this column. For example, Cotton.
Country of origin	The country of origin is where the product was created or assembled into the form that it is sold in. The value in this column is used to estimate duties and import taxes for international customers.
HS code	The HS code is a number that classifies a product for international trade. The value in this column is used to estimate duties and import taxes for international customers.

Set a default country of origin

You can set a default country of origin to use for products in your store. If the majority of your products are from the same country or region of origin, then you can set a COO to be automatically used for the calculation of duties and import taxes. The default COO is used only when a product doesn't have a COO assigned to it. If a product has a COO assigned, then the COO that's been manually assigned overrides your default COO.

Steps:

1. From your Shopify admin, go to Settings > Taxes and duties.

2. In the Customs information section, click .

3. Click Default country of origin.

4. Select the country to use as the default COO for your products.

5. Click Save.

HS codes and country of origin in Managed Markets

When you activate Managed Markets, certain changes take place in your store. One of these changes is to your customs information for your products:

• HS codes are automatically assigned to your products. If your products already have HS codes assigned to them, then they're taken into account when determining the HS codes that Managed Markets applies to your products. However, it isn't guaranteed that the exact HS code that you entered for your product is the same that will be used by Managed Markets.
• If you haven't already set a default COO in your store, then Managed Markets assigns a default COO based on where most of your products are made. If you already have a default COO, then there are no changes.

If you've manually assigned HS codes and COO to your products, then you can review and compare them to the HS codes that Managed Markets assigns to them.

Steps:

1. From your Shopify admin, go to Products.

2. Click the product that you want to review.

3. In the Shipping section, click next to Harmonized System (HS) code.

4. Click Managed Markets codes.