HS Code Detail
420221 Chapter 42 · Leather Goods Handbags, leather outer surface
Six-digit subheading in Leather Goods, chapter 42 of the Harmonized System, priced here for 6 destination markets.
Anatomy of 420221
You will declare against a longer local code that begins 420221: 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 | 5% | 10% | |
| 🇨🇦Canada | 10% | 5% | |
| 🇩🇪Germany | 3% | 19% | |
| 🇵🇹Portugal | 3% | 23% | |
| 🇬🇧United Kingdom | 2% | 20% | |
| 🇺🇸United States | 5.3% to 10% | 0% | |
| No single rate for United States United States splits this subheading into 3 national tariff lines and they do not all carry the same duty. Two official readings agree the schedule runs from 5.3% to 10%, and neither of them names a single rate for the six digit code, so the cell above shows the range rather than a figure from inside it.
Read them at the official tariff. | |||
United States splits this six digit code into national lines that do not all carry the same duty, which is why the cell above shows a range; which line your goods take is a classification decision and it is what decides the duty, so this site shows the range rather than choosing a line for you.
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.
Duty figures on this page have not yet been checked against official tariff schedules and should be treated as estimates.
What that costs: 420221 into Portugal
An illustrative consignment of 420221 invoiced at EUR 2,000.00, priced in EUR because a threshold is set in the destination's currency and nothing here is converted.
| Goods value on the invoice | EUR 2,000.00 |
| International freight | EUR 120.00 |
| Cargo insurance | EUR 30.00 |
| Value the duty is charged on, CIF basis | EUR 2,150.00 |
| Duty at 3% | EUR 64.50 |
| Portugal tax at 23%, charged on the value plus the duty | EUR 509.34 |
| Total, before commercial charges | EUR 2,723.84 |
And if the consignment were small
Portugal relieves nothing: the relief was abolished, 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? EUR 2,723.84 is what your buyer in Portugal pays to take delivery of this consignment, yours to pay if you quote DDP and theirs if you quote DAP: Exporting to Portugal 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 420221 on your own numbers in the duty calculator.
How these rates were verified
The markets listed below were read from the official tariff database of the market that charges it. Nothing here is copied from another aggregator. The other rows in the table above are not yet traced to a source, which is why no date is shown over them.
- 🇦🇺AU
- MFN for 420221 AU, read on 2026-09-01 from https://www.abf.gov.au/importing-exporting-and-manufacturing/tariff-classification/current-tariff/schedule-3/section-viii/chapter-42 and again on 2026-09-01 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: 4202.21.00 5%
- 🇨🇦CA
- MFN for 420221 CA, read on 2026-08-31 from https://www.cbsa-asfc.gc.ca/trade-commerce/tariff-tarif/2026/html/00/ch42-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 10%. 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: 4202.21.00 10%
- 🇩🇪DE 🇵🇹PT
- One reading covers DE and PT, which are priced from the same schedule: Third country duty (EU, via NI Online Tariff) for 420221 DE, read on 2026-08-31 from https://www.trade-tariff.service.gov.uk/xi/commodities/4202210010 and again on 2026-09-01 from https://trade.ec.europa.eu/access-to-markets/en/results?product=420221&origin=CN&destination=DE. Both returned 3%. The two publications are independent of each other and they agree. Retrieved text: 4202210010 3.00 %; 4202210090 3.00 %
- 🇬🇧GB
- Third country duty for 420221 GB, read on 2026-08-31 from https://www.trade-tariff.service.gov.uk/commodities/4202210010 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 2%. The two publications are independent of each other and they agree. Retrieved text: 4202210010 2.00 %; 4202210090 2.00 %
What falls under 420221
- Handbags with an outer surface of leather or composition leather, with or without shoulder strap
What's specifically excluded
These look similar but belong under a different code:
Commonly confused with
420222: Handbags, outer surface of plastic/textile
The outer-surface material, not the lining or the brand, decides the code. A coated-canvas designer bag with a plastic outer surface is 420222, not leather 420221, even at a luxury price point.
Classification & cost note
Leather handbags carry some of the highest consumer-goods MFN duties in the schedule (commonly high single digits to low double digits), which is why the outer-surface classification is so heavily scrutinised. The decisive question at customs is the material that makes up the greatest external surface area, assessed objectively. Get this wrong and a reclassification can move the rate by several points.
Typical products: Leather shoulder bags and totes · Leather clutches · Structured leather handbags
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
420221 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 420221
What decides if a bag is 'leather' for customs?
The outer surface with the greatest external area. If leather covers most of the visible exterior it's 420221; if plastic or textile dominates the surface, it's 420222 regardless of price or brand.
Is duty on leather handbags high?
Yes, leather handbags sit among the higher-duty consumer goods in most tariff schedules, so accurate outer-surface classification materially affects landed cost.
Related codes in Chapter 42
Calculate duty for HS 420221
Pre-fills the calculator with this code. Add your destination and shipment value for an instant landed-cost estimate.
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