HS Code Detail
420291 Chapter 42 · Leather Goods Travel bags and holdalls, leather outer
Six-digit subheading in Leather Goods, chapter 42 of the Harmonized System, priced here for 5 destination markets.
Anatomy of 420291
You will declare against a longer local code that begins 420291: 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 5 rates below differ on.
What this code covers
Import duty by country
MFN duty rate · 5 countries| Country | Duty | VAT |
|---|---|---|
| 🇦🇺Australia | 5% | 10% |
| 🇩🇪Germany | 3% | 19% |
| 🇵🇹Portugal | 3% | 23% |
| 🇬🇧United Kingdom | 2% | 20% |
| 🇺🇸United States | 4.5% | 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: 420291 into Portugal
An illustrative consignment of 420291 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 420291 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 420291 US, read on 2026-09-07 from https://hts.usitc.gov/search?query=4202.91 and again on 2026-09-07 from https://hts.usitc.gov/reststop/exportList?from=42&to=43&format=CSV&styles=false. Both returned 4.5%. 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: 4202.91.10.00 4.5%; 4202.91.90 4.5%
- 🇬🇧GB
- Third country duty for 420291 GB, read on 2026-09-07 from https://www.trade-tariff.service.gov.uk/commodities/4202911010 and again on 2026-09-07 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: 4202911010 2.00 %; 4202911090 2.00 %; 4202918010 2.00 %; 4202918090 2.00 %
- 🇦🇺AU
- MFN for 420291 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: 4202.91.10 5%; 4202.91.90 5% DCS:4% DCT:5%
- 🇩🇪DE 🇵🇹PT
- One reading covers DE and PT, which are priced from the same schedule: Third country duty (EU, via NI Online Tariff) for 420291 DE, read on 2026-09-07 from https://www.trade-tariff.service.gov.uk/xi/commodities/4202911010 and again on 2026-09-07 from https://trade.ec.europa.eu/access-to-markets/en/results?product=420291&origin=CN&destination=DE. Both returned 3%. The two publications are independent of each other and they agree. Retrieved text: 4202911010 3.00 %; 4202911090 3.00 %; 4202918010 3.00 %; 4202918090 3.00 %
Markets with no figure recorded
Canada: Canada splits 4202.91 into 3 tariff lines and they do not carry the same rate: the schedule returned 0 to 11%. A single percentage cannot represent that honestly, so no Canada figure is recorded and the calculator falls back to its disclosed category average.
Re-check first: Both United States lines carry the same rate, golf bags and everything else alike, so the figure is stable across the subheading. What it depends on is the outer surface being leather; a plastic or textile outer is 420292 and is not covered here.
What falls under 420291
- Travel bags, toilet bags, rucksacks, sports bags and similar containers with an outer surface of leather or composition leather
- Leather holdalls, weekend bags, leather rucksacks and leather sports bags
What's specifically excluded
These look similar but belong under a different code:
Commonly confused with
420211: Leather suitcases and briefcases
Heading 4202 splits rigid cases from soft bags before it divides by material. A structured leather attache case is in the first group and an unstructured leather holdall in the second, so two leather articles of similar size sit in different subheadings on construction alone.
420221: Leather handbags
Design purpose separates these. A bag for personal effects carried in the hand or on the shoulder is a handbag; a bag built to carry belongings for travel or sport belongs here, and an oversized leather tote is the case that gets argued.
Classification & cost note
The leather half of the soft bag group is a premium trade and it carries the same outer surface test as everything else in heading 4202: the material presented to the outside over the greater part of the exterior, with composition leather counting as leather and coated fabrics not. Two questions arise more here than elsewhere. Exotic leathers bring CITES obligations, and a bag with crocodile or python trim needs permits covering the whole article even where the panel is small, which is a common and expensive surprise on premium goods. And leather goods generally attract origin scrutiny, because the tanning and the making frequently happen in different countries and preferential origin depends on where the substantial transformation occurred rather than on where the hide came from.
Typical products: Leather weekend and holdall bags · Leather rucksacks and backpacks · Leather sports and gym bags · Leather toiletry and wash bags · Full grain leather duffels · Leather garment carriers
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
420291 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 420291
What separates a leather holdall from a leather briefcase?
Structure rather than material. Heading 4202 divides rigid cases from soft bags first, so a framed attache case is in the earlier group and an unstructured holdall belongs here.
Does a small exotic leather trim need a permit?
Usually yes. CITES obligations attach to the article containing the listed species, so a bag with a crocodile or python panel needs permits covering the whole item even where the trim is minor.
Where does a leather bag originate?
Where the substantial transformation occurred, which is often not where the hide came from. Tanning and making frequently happen in different countries, so preferential origin needs establishing rather than assuming.
Does the grade of leather affect the code?
No. Full grain, top grain, split and corrected grain hides are all leather for tariff purposes, and the distinction is a quality and pricing matter between buyer and tannery. Only bonded or composition leather is treated separately, and it still counts as leather in this heading.
Related codes in Chapter 42
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