HS Code Detail
851829 Chapter 85 · Electronics Loudspeakers, other
Six-digit subheading in Electronics, chapter 85 of the Harmonized System, priced here for 6 destination markets.
Anatomy of 851829
You will declare against a longer local code that begins 851829: 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% | |||||||
| The two official publications differ, Australia This rate is read twice, from two official publications. They agree on what kind of duty the line below carries, and they print different wording for it. This site does not decide between two official sources, so both are shown and neither figure below is published as a rate.
The percentage in the table above is the part both publications agree on, where there is one. Read the first publication and the second before you budget on this code. | |||||||||
| 🇨🇦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: 851829 into Australia
An illustrative consignment of 851829 invoiced at AUD 2,000.00, priced in AUD because a threshold is set in the destination's currency and nothing here is converted.
| Goods value on the invoice | AUD 2,000.00 |
| International freight | AUD 120.00 |
| Cargo insurance | AUD 30.00 |
| Value the duty is charged on, FOB basis | AUD 2,000.00 |
| Duty at 0% | AUD 0.00 |
| Australia tax at 10%, charged on the value plus the duty | AUD 215.00 |
| Total, before commercial charges | AUD 2,365.00 |
And if the consignment were small
Australia relieves customs duty, GST and the Import Processing Charge on consignments at or under AUD 1,000. The 851829 shipment above is over that, so its duty is charged in full. The same code invoiced at exactly AUD 1,000 with no freight would be charged AUD 0.00 of duty and AUD 0.00 of tax, a total of AUD 1,000.00. The rate on the 851829 row has not changed; only the charge is relieved. The tax is not simply absent at that value: Australia collects it on the sale instead of at the border, so an overseas seller or marketplace above the registration threshold charges it at checkout. What the relief removes is the charge on arrival, not the tax.
Selling rather than buying? AUD 2,365.00 is what your buyer in Australia pays to take delivery of this consignment, yours to pay if you quote DDP and theirs if you quote DAP: Exporting to Australia 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 851829 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 851829 US, read on 2026-09-07 from https://hts.usitc.gov/search?query=8518.29 and again on 2026-09-07 from https://hts.usitc.gov/reststop/exportList?from=85&to=86&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: 8518.29.40.00 Free; 8518.29.80.00 Free
- 🇬🇧GB
- Third country duty for 851829 GB, read on 2026-09-07 from https://www.trade-tariff.service.gov.uk/commodities/8518290010 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 0%. The two publications are independent of each other and they agree. Retrieved text: 8518290010 0.00 %; 8518290090 0.00 %
- 🇨🇦CA
- MFN for 851829 CA, read on 2026-09-07 from https://www.cbsa-asfc.gc.ca/trade-commerce/tariff-tarif/2026/html/00/ch85-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 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: 8518.29.00 Free
- 🇦🇺AU
- MFN for 851829 AU, read on 2026-09-07 from https://www.abf.gov.au/importing-exporting-and-manufacturing/tariff-classification/current-tariff/schedule-3/section-xvi/chapter-85 and again on 2026-09-07 from https://www.legislation.gov.au/C2004A04997/latest/text. Both returned 0%. Both publications were read independently. They agree on the rate in force and differ only in that one of them still prints the dated reduction that led to it. The lines they differ on are set out in the panel above the rate table. Retrieved text: 8518.29.10 Free; 8518.29.90 5% From 1 July 2020: 2.5% From 1 July 2021: 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 851829 DE, read on 2026-09-07 from https://www.trade-tariff.service.gov.uk/xi/commodities/8518290010 and again on 2026-09-07 from https://trade.ec.europa.eu/access-to-markets/en/results?product=851829&origin=CN&destination=DE. Both returned 0%. The two publications are independent of each other and they agree. Retrieved text: 8518290010 0.00 %; 8518290090 0.00 %
Re-check first: Both United States lines are free and the split between them is a narrow telecommunications driver of not more than 50 mm against everything else. A loudspeaker entered as part of a complete audio system is classified with the system instead.
What falls under 851829
- Loudspeakers, whether or not mounted in their enclosures, other than single loudspeakers mounted in their enclosures
- Multiple driver speaker cabinets, drive units supplied unmounted and passive speaker systems
What's specifically excluded
These look similar but belong under a different code:
Commonly confused with
851830: Headphones and headsets
Heading 8518 separates headphones from loudspeakers, so an article worn on the head is 8518.30 and one that projects sound into a room is a loudspeaker. A neckband speaker sits between them and is decided on whether it is worn and personal or projects to a space.
851821: Single driver speakers in enclosures
Subheading 8518.21 covers a single loudspeaker mounted in its enclosure, and this residual line takes everything else, including multi driver cabinets and unmounted drive units. Counting the drivers is the test and it is easy to get wrong on a sealed cabinet.
Classification & cost note
Heading 8518 divides loudspeakers by how many drive units are in the enclosure, which is an unusual test and an easy one to get wrong on a sealed product where the count is not obvious from the outside. A single driver in its cabinet has its own subheading, and everything else, including multi driver systems and drivers supplied loose, falls here. Active speakers with built in amplification raise a further question, since an amplifier is separately named in the same heading and a powered speaker can be argued as a combination, resolved on essential character. Smart speakers push this further still: a product whose principal function is voice assistance and network connectivity rather than sound reproduction has been argued out of 8518 altogether, and the answer depends on the specific device rather than on the category.
Typical products: Two way and three way speaker cabinets · Passive bookshelf and floorstanding speakers · Unmounted drive units and tweeters · Line array and PA speaker cabinets · Multi driver soundbars without amplification · Speaker drivers supplied for assembly
What the notes to section XVI say
Chapter 85 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 85 name no heading this site holds a code under, and they are quoted whole on the chapter 85 page, read from https://www.trade-tariff.service.gov.uk/api/v2/sections/16 on 2026-09-08.
What the nomenclature says about heading 8518
851829 is a subheading of 8518, microphones and stands therefor; loudspeakers, whether or not mounted in their enclosures; headphones and earphones, whether or not combined with a microphone, and sets consisting of a microphone and one or more loudspeakers; audio-frequency electric amplifiers; electric sound amplifier sets , and this site holds one other code under the same heading, which every rule below governs equally.
No numbered note to chapter 85 takes heading 8518 as its subject, which is what the published notes say rather than a gap on this page: the heading is defined by its own wording above and by the note to the chapter, quoted in full on the chapter 85 page.
Read from the notes to chapter 85 published in the UK Trade Tariff by HM Revenue and Customs, at https://www.trade-tariff.service.gov.uk/api/v2/chapters/85, with the heading title from https://www.trade-tariff.service.gov.uk/api/v2/headings/8518, on 2026-09-07, with the whole layer and the reason a heading note is a chapter note set out on the chapter 85 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 851829
What separates this from the single speaker subheading?
The number of drive units in the enclosure. A single loudspeaker mounted in its cabinet has its own subheading, and multi driver systems and unmounted drivers fall here.
Where do active or powered speakers sit?
They raise a combination question, because amplifiers are separately named in heading 8518. A powered speaker is resolved on essential character, which usually remains sound reproduction.
Are smart speakers classified as loudspeakers?
Not always. Where the principal function is voice assistance and network connectivity rather than sound reproduction, a device has been argued out of heading 8518, and the outcome turns on the specific product.
Related codes in Chapter 85
Calculate duty for HS 851829
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