HS Code Detail
420219 Chapter 42 · Leather Goods Suitcases and briefcases, other materials
Six-digit subheading in Leather Goods, chapter 42 of the Harmonized System, priced here for 3 destination markets.
Anatomy of 420219
You will declare against a longer local code that begins 420219: ten digits in the United States, eight in the European Union, and the first six the same everywhere. Which trailing digits apply is what the 3 rates below differ on.
What this code covers
Import duty by country
MFN duty rate · 3 countries| Country | Duty | VAT |
|---|---|---|
| 🇦🇺Australia | 0% | 10% |
| 🇨🇦Canada | 11% | 5% |
| 🇺🇸United States | 20% | 0% |
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: 420219 into United States
An illustrative consignment of 420219 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 20% | USD 400.00 |
| United States charges no consumption tax at the border | USD 0.00 |
| Total, before commercial charges | USD 2,550.00 |
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 2,550.00 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 420219 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.
- 🇺🇸US
- HTS General for 420219 US, read on 2026-09-07 from https://hts.usitc.gov/search?query=4202.19 and again on 2026-09-07 from https://hts.usitc.gov/reststop/exportList?from=42&to=43&format=CSV&styles=false. Both returned 20%. 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: 4202.19.00.00 20%
- 🇨🇦CA
- MFN for 420219 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: 4202.19.00 11%
- 🇦🇺AU
- MFN for 420219 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 0%. The two publications are independent of each other and they agree. Retrieved text: 4202.19.00 Free
Markets with no figure recorded
United Kingdom: United Kingdom splits 4202.19 into 3 tariff lines and they do not carry the same rate: the schedule returned 2 to 4%. 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 4202.19 into 3 tariff lines and they do not carry the same rate: the schedule returned 3.7 to 5.7%. 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 4202.19 into 3 tariff lines and they do not carry the same rate: the schedule returned 3.7 to 5.7%. 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: This is the residual luggage line and it carries the highest United States rate of the three, so a case that can be classified by its outer surface as leather or as plastic or textile should be. The outer surface decides it, never the contents.
What falls under 420219
- Trunks, suitcases, vanity cases, executive cases and briefcases with an outer surface of materials other than leather, plastics or textiles
- Cases with an outer surface of aluminium, other metal, wood or vulcanised fibre
What's specifically excluded
These look similar but belong under a different code:
Commonly confused with
420212: Plastic shell cases
Aluminium cases are the main occupant of this residual subheading and they are routinely declared as plastic shell luggage because they sit beside it on a price list. The outer surface here is metal, which is neither leather, plastics nor textile, so the residual line is the correct one.
420211: Leather cases
A metal or wooden case finished with leather edging is still classified on the material forming the greater part of its outer surface. Trim does not carry the article into the leather subheading however prominent it is.
Classification & cost note
This is the residual subheading within the first group of heading 4202, reached only when the outer surface is none of the three named material families. In practice that means metal and wood, and aluminium cases are by far the largest trade in it. Two things are worth knowing. Because the subheading is residual, arriving here is always the result of eliminating the others, so the material determination has to be documented rather than assumed, and a photograph plus a statement of the exterior surface material is the evidence that settles it. Second, protective cases for specific equipment can leave heading 4202 altogether where they are specially shaped to contain a particular article and presented with it, in which case they follow the goods they protect. A camera case sold with a camera and a camera case sold alone are not the same classification problem.
Typical products: Aluminium flight and camera cases · Wooden presentation and instrument cases · Vulcanised fibre trunks · Metal shelled tool and equipment cases · Reinforced instrument flight cases with recessed catches · Plywood shipping trunks bound with riveted corners
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
420219 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 420219
Where do aluminium cases belong?
In this residual subheading. Aluminium is neither leather, plastics nor textile, so a metal shelled case falls to 4202.19 once the three named material groups have been eliminated.
Is a fitted equipment case always classified in heading 4202?
No. A case specially shaped to contain a specific article and presented together with it is generally classified with the article it holds, rather than on its own. A case sold separately is classified in its own right.
Do custom foam inserts change the classification?
Not on their own. A protective case fitted with foam cut to hold particular equipment remains a case of heading 4202 when it is imported empty. It leaves the heading only where it is specially shaped for a specific article and presented together with that article, in which case it follows the goods it protects.
Related codes in Chapter 42
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