Home/Guides/HS Codes for Shopify: Setting Up Harmonized Codes for International Shipping
Guide · Platform

HS Codes for Shopify: Setting Up Harmonized Codes for International Shipping

Updated 2026-07-17 · Target term: “hs codes for shopify”

In Shopify, you add an HS (Harmonized System) code and a country of origin to each product or variant so the platform can calculate duties and import taxes for international customers and produce correct customs documents. The field lives on the product/variant page under shipping/customs information. Enter the 6-digit HS code at minimum; use the 10-digit HTS code for the most accurate US duties.

Where to set it in Shopify

Why origin is not optional

Shopify uses HS code + origin together. For US-bound orders the origin decides whether the Section 301 China duty applies at all, which can be the difference between a 0% and a 25% line. Keep origin accurate at the variant level if you dual-source. See how to check a Section 301 list.

Duties at checkout

Shopify Markets can collect estimated duties and taxes at checkout so customers are not surprised on delivery. That estimate is only as good as the HS code behind it — a base-rate-only estimate will undercharge on goods that carry Section 301 or 122 lines. Validate the true stacked duty on the code page, e.g. HS code for a laptop or 8517.13 smartphones.

Fill your whole catalog

Export your Shopify products to CSV, run the descriptions through the batch classifier, and re-import the returned HS codes. Each row comes back with a code, a confidence score and the stacked US duty plus sources — so you can prioritise the low-confidence ones for manual review. Or classify a single new product below.

Classify a product now

Full batch tool: classify a spreadsheet →

How Shopify Markets estimates duties

With duties and import taxes enabled, Shopify Markets shows the customer an estimated landed cost at checkout and can collect it, so there is no cash-on-delivery surprise. Under the hood it needs the HS code, the origin and the destination to look up the rate. Where it can fall short is stacked US measures: if the underlying estimate uses only the base rate, a China-origin SKU that carries a Section 301 line will be under-collected, and you eat the gap. Validating the true stack on the code page tells you whether the checkout estimate is realistic.

Origin at the variant level

Many stores set one origin for a whole product but source variants from different countries — a shirt cut in China in one colourway and in Vietnam in another. Because US Section 301 is origin-based, those two variants can carry different duties under the same product. If you dual-source, set the country of origin per variant, and keep it updated when you switch factories. See how to check a Section 301 list.

Migrating a big catalog

Doing the low-confidence rows by hand and trusting the tool on the clear ones is far faster than classifying everything manually, and it concentrates your attention where the money and the risk actually are.

Keep codes accurate as the catalog evolves

A store is never static: you add colourways, swap suppliers, launch bundles. Each of those can change a classification. A bundle of otherwise-separate items may be a set that classifies by essential character; a supplier switch changes origin and therefore the Section 301 exposure; a materials change can move the code outright. Build a light habit of re-checking the code whenever a variant's material, function or origin changes, and leave the untouched variants alone. If you sell into several countries through Shopify Markets, remember the 6-digit root is shared but each destination adds its own digits and its own duty rules — the US HTS stack OpenTariff shows is one destination's answer, and the same product will read differently, with its own duty, for the EU, the UK or any other destination you enable.

Shopify's UI labels and Markets duty features change over time [verify]; consult Shopify's current docs for exact steps. Rates reflect the current OpenTariff dataset.

FAQ

Where do HS codes go in Shopify?
On each product or variant under Shipping → Customs information, along with the country/region of origin. Use bulk edit or CSV import for large catalogs.
Does Shopify calculate duties from the HS code?
Yes — Shopify Markets can estimate duties and taxes at checkout using the HS code and origin. The estimate is only accurate if the code and origin are correct.
6-digit or 10-digit code in Shopify?
Six digits is the minimum. For accurate US duties, enter the 10-digit HTS code, since US trade measures attach at the 8- to 10-digit level.

More guides: all guides · find a code by product · batch classify