Import reference
Furniture HS Codes Explained: Chapter 94 Headings by Product and Material
Furniture is classified in Chapter 94 of the Harmonized System: heading 9401 for seats, 9403 for other furniture such as tables, beds, cabinets and wardrobes, and 9404 for mattresses and bedding, each split into 6-digit subheadings by frame material and intended use. The 6-digit code is the same in every country, while the extra digits (US 10, EU 8–10, UK 10) and the duty rates are national. This page lists every relevant HS 2022 subheading, gives a product lookup table and explains the 2026 duty picture for goods from China; the final classification remains the importer's responsibility and should be confirmed with a customs broker.
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At a glance
- 01
Seats are heading 9401, other furniture 9403, mattresses and bedding 9404; luminaires are 9405 and medical or barber furniture 9402.
- 02
Within 9401 and 9403 the subheading follows frame material (wood, metal, plastics, bamboo, rattan) and, for seats, whether the piece is upholstered.
- 03
The first six digits are international under HS 2022; the US, EU and UK add digits and set their own duty rates.
- 04
Base US duty on most furniture is free, but Chinese-origin goods carried Section 301 and, for some items, Section 232 duties in September 2026.
- 05
EU conventional duty on furniture ranges from 0% to 5.6%; the UK Global Tariff is mostly 0% with 2–4% on some lines.
The Harmonized System (HS) is a six-digit product nomenclature maintained by the World Customs Organization (WCO) and used by more than 200 countries and territories. The current edition is HS 2022, in force since 1 January 2022. The first two digits are the chapter (94), the next two the heading (9401), and the last two the subheading (9401.61). Each country then adds its own digits for duty and statistics.
- United States: the Harmonized Tariff Schedule (HTS) runs to ten digits; the first eight set the duty rate and the last two are statistical (for example 9401.61.4011, upholstered wooden household chairs).
- European Union: the Combined Nomenclature (CN) is eight digits (for example 9403 60 10, wooden dining and living room furniture); TARIC adds two more for measures such as anti-dumping duties. The 2026 CN was published as Commission Implementing Regulation (EU) 2025/1926.
- United Kingdom: the UK Global Tariff uses ten-digit commodity codes that mirror the CN structure at eight digits.
- China: export declarations use ten-digit codes on the same six-digit base, so your supplier’s code and your broker’s code should agree to six digits.
Chapter 94 Note 2 matters for furniture: articles of headings 9401 to 9403 are classified there only if they are designed to be placed on the floor or ground, except cupboards, bookcases, other shelved furniture (including single shelves presented with wall supports), unit furniture, seats and beds, which qualify even when hung, fixed to the wall or stacked. A wall-mounted TV unit is therefore still 9403, and so is a floating shelf sold with its brackets, but a decorative wall panel is not furniture at all.
Chapter 94 has six headings, and for furniture importers three of them matter: 9401, 9403 and 9404. Choose the heading first, then the subheading. A sofa bed is a seat (9401), a bed frame is other furniture (9403), and the mattress on it is bedding (9404), even when all three ship in one carton.
| Heading | Covers | Typical furniture examples |
|---|---|---|
| 9401 | Seats (other than those of 9402), whether or not convertible into beds, and parts thereof | Sofas, armchairs, dining chairs, office chairs, bar stools, benches, sofa beds, seat frames |
| 9402 | Medical, surgical, dental or veterinary furniture; barbers’ chairs and similar chairs with rotating, reclining and elevating movements; parts | Hospital beds with mechanical fittings, examination tables, salon and barber chairs |
| 9403 | Other furniture and parts thereof | Tables, desks, beds, wardrobes, cabinets, shelving, sideboards, kitchen units, headboards |
| 9404 | Mattress supports; articles of bedding and similar furnishing fitted with springs, stuffed or of cellular rubber or plastics | Mattresses, sprung bed bases, pillows, cushions, duvets, pouffes |
| 9405 | Luminaires and lighting fittings; illuminated signs and name-plates; parts | Pendants, floor and table lamps, wall lights, LED fittings |
| 9406 | Prefabricated buildings | Modular units, garden rooms, site offices |
Two frequent errors: classifying a bed with an integrated sprung base entirely in 9403, when the sprung support element belongs in 9404.10, and putting a salon or barber chair in 9401, when its rotating, reclining and elevating movements make it 9402.10. When in doubt, describe the item’s function in plain words on the invoice and let the broker decide.
Work through heading 9401 in order: the special seats first (aircraft, vehicles, height-adjustable swivel, convertible to beds, cane and rattan), then ‘other seats’ by frame material and upholstery, then parts. A fabric sofa on a wooden frame is 9401.61; the same sofa on a steel frame is 9401.71; a bare wooden dining chair is 9401.69.
| Code | Description (HS 2022) | Typical products |
|---|---|---|
| 9401.10 | Seats of a kind used for aircraft | Airline seating |
| 9401.20 | Seats of a kind used for motor vehicles | Car seats |
| 9401.31 | Swivel seats with variable height adjustment, of wood | Wooden-frame height-adjustable stools and chairs |
| 9401.39 | Swivel seats with variable height adjustment, other | Office task chairs, gas-lift bar stools |
| 9401.41 | Seats other than garden seats or camping equipment, convertible into beds, of wood | Wooden-frame sofa beds, futon frames |
| 9401.49 | Seats convertible into beds, other | Metal-frame sofa beds, click-clack sofas |
| 9401.52 | Seats of cane, osier, bamboo or similar materials, of bamboo | Bamboo chairs and loungers |
| 9401.53 | Seats of cane, osier, bamboo or similar materials, of rattan | Natural rattan armchairs and loungers |
| 9401.59 | Seats of cane, osier, bamboo or similar materials, other | Willow, cane and seagrass seats |
| 9401.61 | Other seats, with wooden frames, upholstered | Fabric or leather sofas and armchairs on timber frames, upholstered dining chairs |
| 9401.69 | Other seats, with wooden frames, other | Unupholstered wooden chairs, benches, stools |
| 9401.71 | Other seats, with metal frames, upholstered | Sofas and chairs on steel frames, padded metal dining chairs |
| 9401.79 | Other seats, with metal frames, other | Metal café chairs, stacking chairs, aluminium outdoor chairs without fixed padding |
| 9401.80 | Other seats | Plastic chairs, stone benches, seats with no wooden or metal frame |
| 9401.91 | Parts, of wood | Wooden seat frames, legs, armrests |
| 9401.99 | Parts, other | Metal mechanisms, gas lifts, shaped foam and upholstered seat pads sold as parts |
Upholstered, in the sense the nomenclature uses, means padding covered with fabric, leather or a similar material and fixed to the seat; a wooden chair with a loose tie-on cushion is generally not upholstered. When a seat combines wood and metal, the frame material is the one that gives the seat its structure, not the legs or trim, though authorities may ask for a construction drawing to decide. For the sofa and chair types Foshan produces in volume, and how their frames are built, see the sofa and upholstery showrooms.
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Heading 9403 splits first by material (metal, wood, plastics, bamboo, rattan, other) and, for metal and wooden furniture, by the room it is designed for: office, kitchen, bedroom or other. A solid oak bed is 9403.50; the same oak as a dining table is 9403.60; a steel bed is 9403.20; a fitted kitchen carcass is 9403.40.
| Code | Description (HS 2022) | Typical products |
|---|---|---|
| 9403.10 | Metal furniture of a kind used in offices | Steel desks, filing cabinets, pedestals, office lockers |
| 9403.20 | Other metal furniture | Metal beds, steel shelving, metal dining tables, aluminium outdoor tables, luggage racks |
| 9403.30 | Wooden furniture of a kind used in offices | Wooden desks, credenzas, office bookcases |
| 9403.40 | Wooden furniture of a kind used in the kitchen | Kitchen cabinets and fitted units, kitchen islands, wooden kitchen tables |
| 9403.50 | Wooden furniture of a kind used in the bedroom | Bed frames, headboards, nightstands, wardrobes, dressers, chests of drawers |
| 9403.60 | Other wooden furniture | Dining tables, coffee tables, sideboards, TV units, bookcases, hall stands, shop fittings, vanities |
| 9403.70 | Furniture of plastics | Plastic tables, storage units, acrylic side tables |
| 9403.82 | Furniture of other materials, of bamboo | Bamboo tables and shelving |
| 9403.83 | Furniture of other materials, of rattan | Natural rattan tables and cabinets |
| 9403.89 | Furniture of other materials, other | Stone and glass tables, cane and seagrass units, mixed materials with no wood or metal frame |
| 9403.91 | Parts, of wood | Wooden table tops, doors, drawer fronts, panels cut for furniture |
| 9403.99 | Parts, other | Metal table bases, glass shelves, drawer runners and fittings sold as furniture parts |
Three points cause most disputes. First, ‘of a kind used in’ means designed for that room, judged by the product and how it is marketed, not by where a buyer puts it; a wardrobe is bedroom furniture even in a hallway. Second, a stone-top dining table on a wooden or metal base is classified by essential character, and customs authorities in different countries have decided such cases both ways, so ask for a ruling on high-value stone tables. Third, Chapter 94 Note 3 says that sheets or slabs of glass, marble or other stone presented separately are not ‘parts’, so a marble top shipped on its own falls in Chapter 68 or 70, not in 9403.99. Kitchen units and vanities also attract specific measures in the US; see the duty notes below and the pages on kitchen cabinetry and bathroom vanities for how those products are specified.
Heading 9404 covers anything sprung, stuffed or made of foam that you sleep or sit on: mattresses in 9404.21 (foam and latex) or 9404.29 (spring and other materials), sprung bed bases in 9404.10, and pillows, cushions and pouffes in 9404.90. Duvets and quilts received their own subheading, 9404.40, in HS 2022.
| Code | Description (HS 2022) | Typical products |
|---|---|---|
| 9404.10 | Mattress supports | Sprung divan bases, box springs, sprung slat systems |
| 9404.21 | Mattresses of cellular rubber or plastics, whether or not covered | Memory foam, latex and polyurethane foam mattresses, foam toppers |
| 9404.29 | Mattresses of other materials | Pocket-spring, bonnell-spring and hybrid mattresses, cotton or coir mattresses |
| 9404.30 | Sleeping bags | Sleeping bags |
| 9404.40 | Quilts, bedspreads, eiderdowns and duvets (comforters) | Duvets, comforters, quilted bedspreads |
| 9404.90 | Other | Pillows, scatter cushions, seat pads, pouffes, bean bags, mattress pads |
A sofa’s fixed seat cushions are part of the seat when shipped with it; loose scatter cushions in the same carton are 9404.90 and, in several markets, carry higher duty than the sofa. Outdoor cushion sets sold separately from the frame follow the same logic. Hotel projects that ship mattresses with bed frames should invoice them as separate lines with separate codes; the hotel furniture sourcing guide shows how an FF&E schedule is prepared so that the packing list already has that structure.
The table gives the most likely six-digit code for products that Foshan and Dongguan export in volume. It is a starting point for your invoice and your broker’s classification, not a ruling.
| Product | Likely 6-digit code | Notes |
|---|---|---|
| Fabric sofa, wooden frame | 9401.61 | Upholstered, wooden frame; sofa beds go to 9401.41 |
| Leather sofa, metal frame | 9401.71 | Upholstered, metal frame; metal legs on a timber frame stay 9401.61 |
| Wooden dining chair, no upholstery | 9401.69 | Bentwood and teak chairs have separate US lines |
| Upholstered dining chair, wooden frame | 9401.61 | Padded seat fixed to the frame |
| Office swivel chair, height-adjustable | 9401.39 | Regardless of upholstery; wooden-frame swivel is 9401.31 |
| Metal café chair, stacking | 9401.79 | Aluminium or steel, no fixed padding |
| Outdoor PE-rattan set on aluminium frame | 9401.79 and 9403.20 | Seats and table on metal frames; loose cushions may be 9404.90; rulings vary, confirm |
| Natural rattan armchair | 9401.53 | Rattan, not PE; natural rattan tables are 9403.83 |
| Wooden bed frame | 9403.50 | Bedroom furniture of wood; a metal bed frame is 9403.20 |
| Upholstered headboard, wooden frame | 9403.50 (or 9403.91/99 as a part) | Some authorities treat a headboard alone as a bed part; confirm |
| Wardrobe, MDF or solid wood | 9403.50 | Bedroom; freestanding or built-in |
| Kitchen cabinets, wooden carcass | 9403.40 | Fitted units; US Section 232 measures apply |
| Bathroom vanity, wooden | 9403.60 | Not kitchen, bedroom or office; US Section 232 treats vanities with cabinets; confirm |
| Marble dining table, metal base | 9403.89 or 9403.20 | Essential character (stone or base) decided by national rulings; confirm |
| Solid wood dining table | 9403.60 | Dining and living room furniture of wood |
| TV unit or sideboard, wood or MDF | 9403.60 | Living room furniture of wood |
| Steel shelving, boltless | 9403.20 | US has separate statistical lines and trade measures for boltless steel shelving; confirm |
| Pocket-spring mattress | 9404.29 | Spring mattress; foam or latex is 9404.21 |
| Memory foam mattress | 9404.21 | Cellular plastics |
| Scatter cushions, pillows | 9404.90 | Stuffed bedding articles |
| Table lamp, floor lamp | 9405.21 or 9405.29 | Luminaires, not furniture; LED-only fittings are 9405.21 |
For outdoor and office products the material logic is the same but the specifications differ; the outdoor furniture guide and the office furniture guide cover materials and standards, while this page stays with classification.
Classification follows the six General Rules for the Interpretation of the Harmonized System (GRI), applied in order. In practice four of them settle almost every furniture question.
- GRI 1, the terms of the headings and the notes: read headings 9401 to 9404 and Chapter 94 Notes 1 to 3 first. Most items are classified here and go no further.
- GRI 2(a), incomplete or unassembled goods: knock-down (KD) furniture shipped flat is classified as the finished piece, not as parts. A wardrobe in three cartons is one wardrobe.
- GRI 3(b), essential character: for composite goods (a stone top on a wooden base, PE rattan on aluminium) the component that gives the article its character decides. Authorities weigh bulk, value, weight and role, so outcomes vary by country.
- GRI 3(b) for sets: goods put up together for retail sale to meet one need may be classified as a set by the item giving essential character. Furniture rarely qualifies, because pieces are usually invoiced and packed separately, so most brokers classify each piece on its own.
- GRI 6, subheadings: apply the same logic at the six-digit level, comparing only subheadings at the same level (one dash against one dash, two dashes against two).
Parts, sets and mixed cartons
Parts identifiable as furniture parts, such as a wooden chair frame or a metal table base, go to 9401.91/99 or 9403.91/99 when shipped alone. Parts of general use, such as screws, hinges and castors of base metal, are excluded from Chapter 94 by Note 1(d) and fall in their own headings even when packed with the furniture. Loose cushions, mattresses and lamps shipped with furniture are separate lines. Suppliers in Foshan commonly write one code for a whole container; ask instead for a packing list that lists each model with its own six-digit code and material description. A custom furniture order produces that information anyway, because the shop drawing and material spec already name the frame, filling and finish.
The HS code appears on the commercial invoice (per line), the packing list, the export declaration your supplier files in China, and the import entry your broker files at destination. The six digits should agree across all four; the national digits and the duty are added by your broker. Base duty on most furniture is low, but for goods of Chinese origin the 2026 picture is dominated by additional measures, above all in the United States.
- United States (HTS Revision 19, 2026): the general rate is free for 9401.61, 9401.69, 9401.71, 9401.79, 9401.80, for 9403.10 through 9403.89 and for parts of 9403.91; mattresses are 3% (9404.21 and cotton 9404.29.10) or 6% (other 9404.29.90). On top of that, Chinese-origin furniture on Section 301 List 3 has carried an additional 25% since 2019; a further 12.5% Section 301 duty on products of China took effect on 24 July 2026, replacing the expired Section 122 surcharge (goods already under Section 232 are exempt from this 12.5%); and Section 232 duties of 25% apply to upholstered wooden furniture, kitchen cabinets and vanities since 14 October 2025, with scheduled increases to 30% and 50% postponed to 1 January 2027 by a proclamation of 31 December 2025. Rates change; confirm the stack for each line at the time of entry.
- European Union (Combined Nomenclature 2026): conventional duty is 0% on most seats (9401.61 to 9401.80) and on wooden office, bedroom, dining and living room furniture, metal furniture and plastic furniture; 2.7% on wooden kitchen furniture (9403 40) and on parts (9401 90, 9403 90); 3.7% on mattresses and bedding (9404); 5.6% on bamboo and rattan seats and furniture (9401 52, 53, 59 and 9403 82, 83, 89). Import VAT of 17–27% by member state is charged on top. Check TARIC for anti-dumping measures on specific lines.
- United Kingdom (UK Global Tariff): 0% on most 9401 and 9403 lines, 2% on wooden kitchen furniture and on furniture parts, 4% on bamboo, rattan and other-material furniture, plus 20% import VAT.
- Australia, the Gulf states and other markets set their own rates; check the national tariff, and note that the six-digit code also drives quarantine and wood-packaging requirements at those borders.
Duty is assessed on the customs value, which in the US is broadly the price paid excluding international freight and in the EU and UK is the CIF value (goods plus freight and insurance to the border). Under-declaring value, or splitting an upholstered sofa into ‘frame’ and ‘cover’ lines to change the code, is fraud, and brokers will refuse it. Correct material description is legitimate and worth money: a 9401.79 aluminium chair and a 9401.71 padded version may look identical on a showroom floor but are different tariff lines with different measures. The step-by-step import guide covers the full document set, and the wholesale guide shows how duties change a landed-cost example for a US-bound container.
Classification is the importer’s responsibility In every major market the importer of record, not the supplier or the forwarder, is legally responsible for the declared code and value. Use this page to prepare; use a licensed customs broker, or a binding ruling from your customs authority, to decide.
Source Foshan is a local sourcing team based in Foshan and working in Dongguan. It is not a factory, marketplace or customs broker, and it does not classify goods on your behalf. What the team does is make the paperwork usable: every order is confirmed with the supplier against a written specification that names the frame material, upholstery, filling and finish, so the commercial invoice and packing list can list each model with a material description and a proposed six-digit code, in English and Chinese, for your broker to confirm. Goods from several suppliers are consolidated into one shipment with one document set, export-packed to a written standard with bilingual room-by-room labels, and released only after the 7-checkpoint quality process and a full pre-shipment photo and video report that you approve before the balance is paid. The team has shipped 120+ containers to 18 destination countries and coordinates with your forwarder and broker, but the final tariff line and duty calculation always rest with your own customs broker or authority. To discuss a shipment, use start your project, or read how quality control and shipping are handled before goods leave Foshan.
Frequently asked questions
What is the HS code for a sofa?
A fabric or leather sofa on a wooden frame is 9401.61 (other seats with wooden frames, upholstered); on a metal frame it is 9401.71. A sofa bed is 9401.41 if the frame is wood and 9401.49 otherwise. National codes add digits: in the US, 9401.61.4011 is a common line for upholstered wooden household chairs, and sofas fall under 9401.61.60. Loose scatter cushions shipped with the sofa are classified separately in 9404.90.
What is the HS code for an office chair?
A height-adjustable swivel office chair is 9401.39 (swivel seats with variable height adjustment, other than of wood), whatever its upholstery. A fixed-height visitor chair follows the frame rule instead: 9401.71 for an upholstered metal frame, 9401.79 for an unpadded metal frame, 9401.61 or 9401.69 for wood. Metal office desks and storage are 9403.10, wooden office desks 9403.30, and chair mechanisms shipped alone are parts under 9401.99.
What is the HS code for wooden furniture?
It depends on the room the piece is designed for. Wooden office furniture is 9403.30, wooden kitchen furniture 9403.40, wooden bedroom furniture (beds, wardrobes, nightstands) 9403.50, and all other wooden furniture such as dining tables, coffee tables, sideboards and bookcases is 9403.60. Wooden seats are not in 9403 at all: they are 9401.61 if upholstered and 9401.69 if not. Wooden parts of furniture shipped alone are 9403.91.
What is the HS code for a mattress?
Foam, memory foam and latex mattresses are 9404.21 (mattresses of cellular rubber or plastics, whether or not covered). Pocket-spring, bonnell-spring, hybrid, cotton and coir mattresses are 9404.29. A sprung divan base or box spring is 9404.10, and a mattress topper or pad is usually 9404.90. In the US, general duty on mattresses is 3% or 6% depending on the line, before any China-specific measures.
Is the HS code the same in every country?
Only the first six digits. HS 2022 is applied by more than 200 customs administrations, so 9401.61 means the same upholstered wooden-frame seat in Shenzhen, Rotterdam and Los Angeles. Beyond six digits each country adds its own lines: the US uses ten digits, the EU eight for the Combined Nomenclature plus two for TARIC measures, and the UK ten. Duty rates, VAT and trade remedies attach to those national lines, not to the six-digit code.
Who is responsible if the HS code on my furniture shipment is wrong?
The importer of record. In the US, EU, UK and Australia the law places the duty of correct classification and valuation on the importer, even when a forwarder or the Chinese supplier filled in the code. Consequences range from reassessment with interest to penalties for negligence. Use a licensed customs broker, keep the supplier’s material descriptions and drawings on file, and for high-value or ambiguous items request a binding ruling from your customs authority before shipping.
Do flat-pack furniture parts have a different HS code from assembled furniture?
No. Under General Interpretative Rule 2(a), unassembled or disassembled furniture presented complete is classified as the finished article, so a knock-down wardrobe in three cartons is 9403.50, the same as an assembled one. Only components shipped without the rest of the piece are parts (9401.91/99 or 9403.91/99). Screws, hinges, castors and other parts of general use of base metal are excluded from Chapter 94 and fall in their own headings.
Sources and further reading
- World Customs Organization — HS Nomenclature 2022 Edition, Chapter 94 (PDF) — Authoritative text of headings 9401–9406, all six-digit subheadings and Chapter Notes 1–4
- US International Trade Commission — Harmonized Tariff Schedule of the United States, Revision 19 (2026), Chapter 94 — US eight- and ten-digit lines and general duty rates (free for most 9401/9403; 3% and 6% for mattresses)
- European Commission, Taxation and Customs Union — Commission publishes the 2026 version of the Combined Nomenclature (Regulation (EU) 2025/1926) — CN 2026 codes and conventional duty rates for Chapter 94 in Annex I (0%, 2.7%, 3.7%, 5.6%)
- GOV.UK — UK Integrated Online Tariff, heading 9403 Other furniture and parts thereof — UK third-country duty: 0% on most lines, 2% kitchen furniture and parts, 4% bamboo, rattan and other materials
- Honigman — Section 122 tariffs expire; new Section 301 tariffs on 60 economies effective 24 July 2026 — 12.5% Section 301 duty on products of China stacking with the existing 25%; goods under Section 232 exempt from the new duty
- Thompson Hine SmarTrade — President Trump delays Section 232 tariff increase on wood furniture, cabinets and vanities (January 2026) — Proclamation of 31 December 2025: 25% remains through 2026; increases postponed to 1 January 2027
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