Import vs Export Classification: HTS & Schedule B

Import and export classification start from the same six-digit international code, then split: imports into the United States use a 10-digit HTS number, while exports out of the United States use a 10-digit Schedule B number — and both are built on the World Customs Organization’s Harmonized System. Understanding how the two systems share a root and then diverge keeps a product described consistently whether it is coming in or going out, and keeps you compliant in both directions.

The shared foundation: the Harmonized System

Both systems begin with the Harmonized System (HS), the six-digit product nomenclature maintained by the World Customs Organization and used by more than 200 countries. Those first six digits are identical everywhere in the world for a given product. That shared core is what lets a U.S. exporter and a foreign importer talk about the same goods using the same code.

The United States then extends that six-digit HS base in two different directions depending on whether goods are entering or leaving the country.

Imports use the HTS

Goods coming into the United States are classified under the Harmonized Tariff Schedule of the United States (HTSUS). It is a 10-digit code: the first six digits are the international HS number, the next two set the U.S. duty rate, and the last two are a statistical suffix.

The HTSUS is published by the U.S. International Trade Commission, while CBP interprets it and collects duties. Because the HTS drives the duty rate, classification accuracy on imports has immediate cost consequences. (For the full breakdown, see our guide to the basics of tariff classification.)

Exports use Schedule B

Goods leaving the United States are classified under Schedule B, a 10-digit export code administered by the U.S. Census Bureau’s Foreign Trade Division. Like the HTS, the first six digits are the international HS number; the last four are a U.S. statistical extension —