HS Code Detail
420212 Chapter 42 · Leather Goods Suitcases and briefcases, plastic or textile outer
Six-digit subheading in Leather Goods, chapter 42 of the Harmonized System, priced here for 2 destination markets.
Anatomy of 420212
You will declare against a longer local code that begins 420212: ten digits in most national tariffs, eight in the European Union, and the first six the same everywhere. Which trailing digits apply is what the 2 rates below differ on.
What this code covers
Import duty by country
MFN duty rate · 2 countries| Country | Duty | VAT |
|---|---|---|
| 🇦🇺Australia | 5% | 10% |
| 🇨🇦Canada | 11% | 5% |
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: 420212 into Canada
An illustrative consignment of 420212 invoiced at CAD 2,000.00, priced in CAD because a threshold is set in the destination's currency and nothing here is converted.
| Goods value on the invoice | CAD 2,000.00 |
| International freight | CAD 120.00 |
| Cargo insurance | CAD 30.00 |
| Value the duty is charged on, FOB basis | CAD 2,000.00 |
| Duty at 11% | CAD 220.00 |
| Canada tax at 5%, charged on the value plus the duty | CAD 111.00 |
| Total, before commercial charges | CAD 2,481.00 |
And if the consignment were small
Canada relieves customs duties and taxes on consignments at or under CAD 20. The 420212 shipment above is over that, so its duty is charged in full. The same code invoiced at exactly CAD 20 with no freight would be charged CAD 0.00 of duty and CAD 0.00 of tax, a total of CAD 20.00. The rate on the 420212 row has not changed; only the charge is relieved.
Selling rather than buying? CAD 2,481.00 is what your buyer in Canada pays to take delivery of this consignment, yours to pay if you quote DDP and theirs if you quote DAP: Exporting to Canada 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 420212 on your own numbers in the duty calculator.
How these rates were verified
Rates last verified 7 September 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.
- 🇨🇦CA
- MFN for 420212 CA, read on 2026-09-07 from https://www.cbsa-asfc.gc.ca/trade-commerce/tariff-tarif/2026/html/00/ch42-eng.html and again on 2026-09-07 from https://www.cbsa-asfc.gc.ca/trade-commerce/tariff-tarif/2026/menu-eng.html. Both returned 11%. 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: 4202.12.10 11%; 4202.12.90 11%
- 🇦🇺AU
- MFN for 420212 AU, read on 2026-09-07 from https://www.abf.gov.au/importing-exporting-and-manufacturing/tariff-classification/current-tariff/schedule-3/section-viii/chapter-42 and again on 2026-09-07 from https://www.legislation.gov.au/C2004A04997/latest/text. Both returned 5%. The two publications are independent of each other and they agree. Retrieved text: 4202.12.10 5%; 4202.12.90 5% DCS:4% DCT:5%
Markets with no figure recorded
United States: United States splits 4202.12 into 6 tariff lines and they do not carry the same rate: the schedule returned 5.7 to 20%. A single percentage cannot represent that honestly, so no United States figure is recorded and the calculator falls back to its disclosed category average.
United Kingdom: United Kingdom splits 4202.12 into 7 tariff lines and they do not carry the same rate: the schedule returned 2 to 8%. A single percentage cannot represent that honestly, so no United Kingdom figure is recorded and the calculator falls back to its disclosed category average.
Germany: Germany splits 4202.12 into 7 tariff lines and they do not carry the same rate: the schedule returned 3.7 to 9.7%. A single percentage cannot represent that honestly, so no Germany figure is recorded and the calculator falls back to its disclosed category average.
Portugal: Portugal splits 4202.12 into 7 tariff lines and they do not carry the same rate: the schedule returned 3.7 to 9.7%. A single percentage cannot represent that honestly, so no Portugal figure is recorded and the calculator falls back to its disclosed category average.
Re-check first: The outer surface material is what separates this code from the leather cases at 420211. Canada and Australia each charge one rate across the subheading, while the United States and the United Kingdom both split it, which is why only two markets carry a figure.
What falls under 420212
- Trunks, suitcases, vanity cases, executive cases and briefcases with an outer surface of plastics or of textile materials
- Polycarbonate, ABS and polypropylene shell luggage, and soft sided textile suitcases
What's specifically excluded
These look similar but belong under a different code:
Commonly confused with
420292: Travel bags and backpacks
The split within heading 4202 is between rigid cases and soft bags, not between materials, and both groups then divide by material. A wheeled duffel is argued between the two, and structure rather than the presence of wheels is what resolves it.
420211: Leather suitcases
Outer surface material decides the subheading. A textile covered case with leather handles and corner patches remains textile, because the greater part of the exterior is textile, and the trim carries no weight in the determination.
Classification & cost note
This is where most luggage sold today actually falls, since hard shell cases in modern polymers and soft sided textile cases both land in the same subheading. The classification work is therefore not usually about material at all but about which group within heading 4202 an article belongs to, rigid cases or soft travel bags, and that question is decided on structure. An article built around an internal frame or a moulded shell that holds its shape empty is a case; one that collapses is a bag. Wheels and a telescopic handle do not settle it, which surprises importers, because wheeled duffels exist in both groups. A further point that matters for retail luggage sets: nested cases sold together as a set take the essential character of the set, and where the pieces are identical in kind that is simply the article itself.
Typical products: Polycarbonate hard shell cabin cases · ABS and polypropylene checked luggage · Soft sided textile suitcases with expanders · Textile pilot and laptop cases with rigid frames
What the notes to section VIII say
Chapter 42 sits in section VIII, raw hides and skins, leather, furskins and articles thereof; saddlery and harness; travel goods, handbags and similar containers; articles of animal gut (other than silkworm gut), and the nomenclature publishes no note to that section at all, so the note to chapter 42 is the highest rule over this code; that is the published position rather than a gap here, and the chapter 42 page says the same, read from https://www.trade-tariff.service.gov.uk/api/v2/sections/8 on 2026-09-08.
What the nomenclature says about heading 4202
420212 is a subheading of 4202, trunks, suitcases, vanity cases, executive-cases, briefcases, school satchels, spectacle cases, binocular cases, camera cases, musical instrument cases, gun cases, holsters and similar containers; travelling-bags, insulated food or beverages bags, toilet bags, rucksacks, handbags, shopping-bags, wallets, purses, map-cases, cigarette-cases, tobacco-pouches, tool bags, sports bags, bottle-cases, jewellery boxes, powder boxes, cutlery cases and similar containers, of leather or of composition leather, of sheeting of plastics, of textile materials, of vulcanised fibre or of paperboard, or wholly or mainly covered with such materials or with paper , and this site holds 8 other codes under the same heading, which every rule below governs equally.
One numbered note to chapter 42 takes heading 4202 as its own subject, and it is quoted below in full, as published.
Note 3 to chapter 42
(A) In addition to the provisions of note 2 above, heading 4202 does not cover:
a. bags made of sheeting of plastics, whether or not printed, with handles, not designed for prolonged use (heading 3923);
b. articles of plaiting materials (heading 4602).
(B) Articles of heading 4202 and 4203 which have parts of precious metal or metal clad with precious metal, of natural or cultured pearls, of precious or semi-precious stones (natural, synthetic or reconstructed) remain classified in those headings, even if such parts constitute more than minor fittings or minor ornamentation, provided that these parts do not give the articles their essential character. If, on the other hand, the parts give the articles their essential character, the articles are to be classified in Chapter 71.
This note sends goods to chapter 71.
Read from the notes to chapter 42 published in the UK Trade Tariff by HM Revenue and Customs, at https://www.trade-tariff.service.gov.uk/api/v2/chapters/42, with the heading title from https://www.trade-tariff.service.gov.uk/api/v2/headings/4202, on 2026-09-07, with the whole layer and the reason a heading note is a chapter note set out on the chapter 42 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 420212
Are hard shell and soft sided suitcases classified together?
Yes, where both have an outer surface of plastics or textile materials. Modern polycarbonate shells and soft textile cases share this subheading, so the material question rarely separates them.
Do wheels make an article a suitcase rather than a bag?
No. The distinction is structural. An article that holds its shape when empty, around a frame or a moulded shell, is a case; one that collapses is a travel bag, whether or not wheels are fitted.
How are cases sent abroad for repair treated on return?
Most markets operate a returned goods or outward processing relief that limits the charge to the value of the repair rather than the whole article, provided the identity of the original item can be proved. The paperwork has to be raised before the case leaves, so a warranty return arranged after the event usually forfeits the relief.
Related codes in Chapter 42
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