HS Code Detail
220830 Chapter 22 · Beverages Whisky
Six-digit subheading in Beverages, chapter 22 of the Harmonized System, priced here for 6 destination markets.
Anatomy of 220830
You will declare against a longer local code that begins 220830: ten digits in the United States and the United Kingdom, eight in the European Union, and the first six the same everywhere. Which trailing digits apply is what the 6 rates below differ on.
What this code covers
Import duty by country
MFN duty rate · 6 countries| Country | Duty | VAT | |||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 🇦🇺Australia | Not a % | 10% | |||||||
| The two official publications differ, Australia This rate is read twice, from two official publications. They agree on what kind of duty the line below carries, and they print different wording for it. This site does not decide between two official sources, so both are shown and neither figure below is published as a rate.
The percentage in the table above is the part both publications agree on, where there is one. Read the first publication and the second before you budget on this code. | |||||||||
| 🇨🇦Canada | 0% | 5% | |||||||
| 🇩🇪Germany | 0% | 19% | |||||||
| 🇵🇹Portugal | 0% | 23% | |||||||
| 🇬🇧United Kingdom | 0% | 20% | |||||||
| 🇺🇸United States | 0% | 0% | |||||||
Australia charges this code by the hectolitre, the item or the kilogram rather than on its value, sometimes alongside a percentage, which is why the duty column reads Not a % there; a charge of that kind cannot be shown as a single percentage, so none is shown, the calculator does not estimate it, and the official wording is under each of those rows.
Rates shown are MFN (Most Favoured Nation), the default for WTO members. Preferential FTA rates may be lower with valid proof of origin. Section 301 / anti-dumping surcharges on Chinese-origin goods are not included.
What that costs: 220830 into United States
An illustrative consignment of 220830 invoiced at USD 2,000.00, priced in USD because a threshold is set in the destination's currency and nothing here is converted.
| Goods value on the invoice | USD 2,000.00 |
| International freight | USD 120.00 |
| Cargo insurance | USD 30.00 |
| Value the duty is charged on, FOB basis | USD 2,000.00 |
| Duty at 0% | USD 0.00 |
| United States charges no consumption tax at the border | USD 0.00 |
| Total, before commercial charges | USD 2,150.00 |
And if the consignment were small
United States relieves nothing: the duty free allowance was suspended, so the duty above is charged whatever the consignment is worth. A smaller shipment pays less because the value is lower, not because a threshold spared it.
Selling rather than buying? USD 2,150.00 is what your buyer in United States pays to take delivery of this consignment, yours to pay if you quote DDP and theirs if you quote DAP: Exporting to United States sets out who collects it and what your invoice has to say.
An illustration, not a quotation: broker fees, handling and any trade remedy on the origin sit outside it. Price 220830 on your own numbers in the duty calculator.
How these rates were verified
Rates last verified 31 August 2026Every figure in the table above was read from the official tariff database of the market that charges it, on the date shown. Nothing here is copied from another aggregator.
- 🇦🇺AU
- MFN for 220830 AU, read on 2026-09-01 from https://www.abf.gov.au/importing-exporting-and-manufacturing/tariff-classification/current-tariff/schedule-3/section-iv/chapter-22 and again on 2026-09-01 from https://www.legislation.gov.au/C2004A04997/latest/text. Both returned the official wording "5%, and $110.15/L of alcohol". Both publications were read independently. They agree on the percentage shown above, where there is one, and print different per unit charges, which is why no per unit figure is published here as a rate. The lines they differ on are set out in the panel above the rate table. Retrieved text: 2208.30.00 5%, and $110.15/L of alcohol NZ/PG/FI/DC/LDC/SG/SG: $110.15/L of alcohol DCS:3%, and $110.15/L of alcohol
- 🇨🇦CA
- MFN for 220830 CA, read on 2026-08-31 from https://www.cbsa-asfc.gc.ca/trade-commerce/tariff-tarif/2026/html/00/ch22-eng.html and again on 2026-09-01 from https://www.cbsa-asfc.gc.ca/trade-commerce/tariff-tarif/2026/menu-eng.html. Both returned 0%. The Canada Border Services Agency is the only body that publishes this schedule. The Department of Justice publishes the Act and refers readers to the Agency for the schedule itself, so both readings are the Agency's, taken from two different products. Retrieved text: 2208.30.00 Free
- 🇩🇪DE 🇵🇹PT
- One reading covers DE and PT, which are priced from the same schedule: Third country duty (EU, via NI Online Tariff) for 220830 DE, read on 2026-08-31 from https://www.trade-tariff.service.gov.uk/xi/commodities/2208301100 and again on 2026-09-01 from https://trade.ec.europa.eu/access-to-markets/en/results?product=220830&origin=CN&destination=DE. Both returned 0%. The two publications are independent of each other and they agree. Retrieved text: 2208301100 0.00 %; 2208301900 0.00 %; 2208303000 0.00 %; 2208304100 0.00 %; 2208304900 0.00 %; 2208306100 0.00 %; 2208306900 0.00 %; 2208307100 0.00 %; 2208307900 0.00 %; 2208308200 0.00 %; 2208308800 0.00 %
- 🇬🇧GB
- Third country duty for 220830 GB, read on 2026-08-31 from https://www.trade-tariff.service.gov.uk/commodities/2208301100 and again on 2026-09-01 from https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/reference-document-for-the-customs-tariff-establishment-eu-exit-regulations-2020. Both returned 0%. The two publications are independent of each other and they agree. Retrieved text: 2208301100 0.00 %; 2208301900 0.00 %; 2208303000 0.00 %; 2208304100 0.00 %; 2208304900 0.00 %; 2208306100 0.00 %; 2208306900 0.00 %; 2208307100 0.00 %; 2208307900 0.00 %; 2208308200 0.00 %; 2208308800 0.00 %
- 🇺🇸US
- HTS General for 220830 US, read on 2026-08-31 from https://hts.usitc.gov/search?query=2208.30 and again on 2026-09-01 from https://hts.usitc.gov/reststop/exportList?from=22&to=23&format=CSV&styles=false. Both returned 0%. The United States International Trade Commission is the only body that publishes this schedule. The second reading was taken in a different format to check the reading, not to corroborate the schedule, because there is no second schedule to corroborate it against. Retrieved text: 2208.30.30 Free; 2208.30.60 Free
Re-check first: Duty is the small part. Whisky carries excise in every market on this table, charged on alcohol content rather than on value, and it is the figure that dominates the landed cost.
What falls under 220830
- Whiskies of all types: Scotch, bourbon, Irish, rye, blended and single malt
What's specifically excluded
These look similar but belong under a different code:
Commonly confused with
220870: Liqueurs
A whisky-based liqueur (sweetened, lower-proof, flavoured) is 220870, not 220830. The sugar and added-flavour test decides it.
Classification & cost note
Like wine, whisky's customs duty is dwarfed by excise. Spirits excise is charged per litre of pure alcohol, so a 40% ABV bottle is taxed on its alcohol content, and VAT then applies on top of duty + excise. Country-of-origin protected designations (Scotch, Bourbon, Irish) also carry labelling rules that can hold a shipment at the border independently of any tariff.
Typical products: Single malt Scotch · Bourbon and Tennessee whiskey · Blended and rye whiskies
What the notes to section IV say
Chapter 22 sits in section IV, prepared foodstuffs; beverages, spirits and vinegar; tobacco and manufactured tobacco substitutes; Products, whether or not containing nicotine, intended for inhalation without combustion; Other nicotine containing products intended for the intake of nicotine into the human body, where a section note governs every chapter in the section and applies before the heading notes below; the one reaching chapter 22 names no heading this site holds a code under, and it is quoted whole on the chapter 22 page, read from https://www.trade-tariff.service.gov.uk/api/v2/sections/4 on 2026-09-08.
What the nomenclature says about heading 2208
220830 is a subheading of 2208, undenatured ethyl alcohol of an alcoholic strength by volume of less than 80 % vol; spirits, liqueurs and other spirituous beverages , and this site holds 3 other codes under the same heading, which every rule below governs equally.
No numbered note to chapter 22 takes heading 2208 as its subject, which is what the published notes say rather than a gap on this page: the heading is defined by its own wording above and by the note to the chapter, quoted in full on the chapter 22 page.
One further note to chapter 22 names heading 2208 from elsewhere in its own text, usually to send goods into it or away from it, and the sentence that names it is quoted below.
Note 3 to chapter 22, which is about something else
Alcoholic beverages are classified in heading 2203 to 2206 or heading 2208 as appropriate.
Read from the notes to chapter 22 published in the UK Trade Tariff by HM Revenue and Customs, at https://www.trade-tariff.service.gov.uk/api/v2/chapters/22, with the heading title from https://www.trade-tariff.service.gov.uk/api/v2/headings/2208, on 2026-09-07, with the whole layer and the reason a heading note is a chapter note set out on the chapter 22 page. These notes are part of the international text of the Harmonized System, so the rule is the same whichever destination a shipment is going to, and it decides classification and never a rate.
Questions about 220830
Why is imported whisky so expensive after duty?
Customs duty is usually modest, but spirits excise, charged per litre of pure alcohol, is large, and VAT is then applied to the duty-and-excise-inclusive value, compounding the effect.
Is a whisky liqueur classified as whisky?
No. Sweetened, flavoured, lower-strength whisky-based products are liqueurs under 220870, which can carry different excise treatment from straight whisky under 220830.
Related codes in Chapter 22
Calculate duty for HS 220830
Pre-fills the calculator with this code. Add your destination and shipment value for an instant landed-cost estimate.
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