HS Code Detail
847170 Chapter 84 · Machinery Computer storage units / hard drives / SSDs
Six-digit subheading in Machinery, chapter 84 of the Harmonized System, priced here for 6 destination markets.
Anatomy of 847170
You will declare against a longer local code that begins 847170: 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 a rate can differ on, though on this subheading all 6 destinations below charge the same, 0%.
What this code covers
Import duty by country
MFN duty rate · 6 countries| Country | Duty | VAT |
|---|---|---|
| 🇦🇺Australia | 0% | 10% |
| 🇨🇦Canada | 0% | 5% |
| 🇩🇪Germany | 0% | 19% |
| 🇵🇹Portugal | 0% | 23% |
| 🇬🇧United Kingdom | 0% | 20% |
| 🇺🇸United States | 0% | 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: 847170 into Germany
An illustrative consignment of 847170 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 0% | EUR 0.00 |
| Germany tax at 19%, charged on the value plus the duty | EUR 408.50 |
| Total, before commercial charges | EUR 2,558.50 |
And if the consignment were small
Germany 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 2,558.50 is what your buyer in Germany pays to take delivery of this consignment, yours to pay if you quote DDP and theirs if you quote DAP: Exporting to Germany 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 847170 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 847170 AU, read on 2026-09-01 from https://www.abf.gov.au/importing-exporting-and-manufacturing/tariff-classification/current-tariff/schedule-3/section-xvi/chapter-84 and again on 2026-09-01 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: 8471.70.00 Free
- 🇨🇦CA
- MFN for 847170 CA, read on 2026-08-31 from https://www.cbsa-asfc.gc.ca/trade-commerce/tariff-tarif/2026/html/00/ch84-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: 8471.70.00 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 847170 DE, read on 2026-08-31 from https://www.trade-tariff.service.gov.uk/xi/commodities/8471702000 and again on 2026-09-01 from https://trade.ec.europa.eu/access-to-markets/en/results?product=847170&origin=CN&destination=DE. Both returned 0%. The two publications are independent of each other and they agree. Retrieved text: 8471702000 0.00 %; 8471703000 0.00 %; 8471705000 0.00 %; 8471707000 0.00 %; 8471708000 0.00 %; 8471709800 0.00 %
- 🇬🇧GB
- Third country duty for 847170 GB, read on 2026-08-31 from https://www.trade-tariff.service.gov.uk/commodities/8471702000 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: 8471702000 0.00 %; 8471703000 0.00 %; 8471705000 0.00 %; 8471707000 0.00 %; 8471708000 0.00 %; 8471709800 0.00 %
- 🇺🇸US
- HTS General for 847170 US, read on 2026-08-31 from https://hts.usitc.gov/search?query=8471.70 and again on 2026-09-01 from https://hts.usitc.gov/reststop/exportList?from=84&to=85&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: 8471.70.10.00 Free; 8471.70.20.00 Free; 8471.70.30.00 Free; 8471.70.40 Free; 8471.70.50 Free; 8471.70.60.00 Free; 8471.70.90.00 Free
Re-check first: Storage drives are information technology goods and enter every market on this table at zero, so re-check the destination tax rather than the duty. The classification question is whether the unit is a drive or a complete system.
What falls under 847170
- Internal and external hard disk drives, solid-state drives and NVMe modules
- Optical and tape storage units presented as units of an automatic data-processing system
- Network-attached and direct-attached storage arrays
What's specifically excluded
These look similar but belong under a different code:
Commonly confused with
852351: Flash drives and memory cards
This catches almost everyone. A USB stick, an SD card and a microSD card are solid-state non-volatile storage media of 8523.51, not storage units of 8471.70, even though an internal SSD in the same machine is 8471.70. The distinction is between a recording medium and a unit of an ADP system.
847330: Empty enclosures
An external drive is 8471.70; the empty caddy you put a bare drive into is a part or accessory of 8473.30. Importing enclosures and drives separately and assembling locally therefore uses two codes, not one.
Classification & cost note
Storage units are Information Technology Agreement goods, so the MFN duty is zero across the EU, UK, US, Canada, Japan and Australia and the only real cost is import VAT or GST on the landed value. That makes the classification look low-stakes, and it mostly is, right up until the flash-media boundary. Filing a pallet of USB drives under 8471.70 rather than 8523.51 is a misdeclaration even where both happen to be duty-free, and it is the kind of pattern that surfaces in a post-clearance audit rather than at the border.
Typical products: 2.5 inch and 3.5 inch internal hard drives · M.2 NVMe and SATA solid-state drives · USB-C portable SSDs · Rack-mounted storage arrays
What the notes to section XVI say
Chapter 84 sits in section XVI, machinery and mechanical appliances; electrical equipment; parts thereof, sound recorders and reproducers, television image and sound recorders and reproducers, and parts and accessories of such articles, where a section note governs every chapter in the section and applies before the heading notes below; the 6 reaching chapter 84 name no heading this site holds a code under, and they are quoted whole on the chapter 84 page, read from https://www.trade-tariff.service.gov.uk/api/v2/sections/16 on 2026-09-08.
What the nomenclature says about heading 8471
847170 is a subheading of 8471, automatic data-processing machines and units thereof; magnetic or optical readers, machines for transcribing data onto data media in coded form and machines for processing such data, not elsewhere specified or included , and this site holds 4 other codes under the same heading, which every rule below governs equally.
One numbered note to chapter 84 takes heading 8471 as its own subject, and it is quoted below in full, as published.
Note 6 to chapter 84
(A) For the purposes of heading 8471, the expression 'automatic data-processing machines' means machines, capable of
(1) storing the processing program or programs and at least the data immediately necessary for the execution of the program;
(2) being freely programmed in accordance with the requirements of the user;
(3) performing arithmetical computations specified by the user; and
(4) executing, without human intervention, a processing program which requires them to modify their execution, by logical decision during the processing run.
(B) Automatic data-processing machines may be in the form of systems consisting of a variable number of separate units.
(C) Subject to paragraphs (D) and (E) below, a unit is to be regarded as being a part of an automatic data processing system if it meets all the following conditions:
(1) it is of a kind solely or principally used in an automatic data-processing system;
(2) it is connectable to the central processing unit either directly or through one or more other units; and
(3) it is able to accept or deliver data in a form (codes or signals) which can be used by the system.
Separately presented units of an automatic data-processing machine are to be classified in heading 8471.
However keyboards, X-Y coordinate input devices and disk storage units which satisfy the conditions of paragraphs (C)(2) and (C)(3) above, are in all cases to be classified as units of heading 8471.
(D) Heading 8471 does not cover the following when presented separately, even if they meet all of the conditions set forth in note 6(C) above:
(1) printers, copying machines, facsimile machines, whether or not combined;
(2) apparatus for the transmission or reception of voice, images or other data, including apparatus for
communication in a wired or wireless network (such as a local or wide area network);
(3) loudspeakers and microphones;
(4) television cameras, digital cameras and video camera recorders;
(5) monitors and projectors, not incorporating television reception apparatus.
(E) Machines incorporating or working in conjunction with an automatic data-processing machine and performing a specific function other than data processing are to be classified in the headings appropriate to their respective functions or, failing that, in residual headings.
Read from the notes to chapter 84 published in the UK Trade Tariff by HM Revenue and Customs, at https://www.trade-tariff.service.gov.uk/api/v2/chapters/84, with the heading title from https://www.trade-tariff.service.gov.uk/api/v2/headings/8471, on 2026-09-07, with the whole layer and the reason a heading note is a chapter note set out on the chapter 84 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 847170
Is a USB flash drive classified under 8471.70?
No. USB sticks, SD cards and microSD cards are recording media under 8523.51. Subheading 8471.70 covers storage units of an automatic data-processing system, such as internal and external hard drives and SSDs.
Is there duty on hard drives and SSDs?
No. Storage units are covered by the Information Technology Agreement, so the MFN rate is zero in the EU, UK, US, Canada, Japan and Australia. You still pay import VAT or GST.
How is an external drive enclosure classified?
On its own an empty enclosure is a part or accessory under 8473.30. Only a populated external drive is a storage unit of 8471.70.
Related codes in Chapter 84
Calculate duty for HS 847170
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