HS Code Detail
851830 Chapter 85 · Electronics Headphones and earphones, including headsets
Six-digit subheading in Electronics, chapter 85 of the Harmonized System, priced here for 6 destination markets.
Anatomy of 851830
You will declare against a longer local code that begins 851830: 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: 851830 into Canada
An illustrative consignment of 851830 invoiced at CAD 2,000.00, priced in CAD because a threshold is set in the destination's currency and nothing here is converted.
| Goods value on the invoice | CAD 2,000.00 |
| International freight | CAD 120.00 |
| Cargo insurance | CAD 30.00 |
| Value the duty is charged on, FOB basis | CAD 2,000.00 |
| Duty at 0% | CAD 0.00 |
| Canada tax at 5%, charged on the value plus the duty | CAD 100.00 |
| Total, before commercial charges | CAD 2,250.00 |
And if the consignment were small
Canada relieves customs duties and taxes on consignments at or under CAD 20. The 851830 shipment above is over that, so its duty is charged in full. The same code invoiced at exactly CAD 20 with no freight would be charged CAD 0.00 of duty and CAD 0.00 of tax, a total of CAD 20.00. The rate on the 851830 row has not changed; only the charge is relieved.
Selling rather than buying? CAD 2,250.00 is what your buyer in Canada pays to take delivery of this consignment, yours to pay if you quote DDP and theirs if you quote DAP: Exporting to Canada 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 851830 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 851830 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-85 and again on 2026-09-01 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: 8518.30.10 Free; 8518.30.90 5% From 1 July 2018: 3.75% From 1 July 2019: Free
- 🇨🇦CA
- MFN for 851830 CA, read on 2026-08-31 from https://www.cbsa-asfc.gc.ca/trade-commerce/tariff-tarif/2026/html/00/ch85-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: 8518.30.10 Free; 8518.30.90 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 851830 DE, read on 2026-08-31 from https://www.trade-tariff.service.gov.uk/xi/commodities/8518300010 and again on 2026-09-01 from https://trade.ec.europa.eu/access-to-markets/en/results?product=851830&origin=CN&destination=DE. Both returned 0%. The two publications are independent of each other and they agree. Retrieved text: 8518300010 0.00 %; 8518300090 0.00 %
- 🇬🇧GB
- Third country duty for 851830 GB, read on 2026-08-31 from https://www.trade-tariff.service.gov.uk/commodities/8518300010 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: 8518300010 0.00 %; 8518300090 0.00 %
- 🇺🇸US
- HTS General for 851830 US, read on 2026-08-31 from https://hts.usitc.gov/search?query=8518.30 and again on 2026-09-01 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: 8518.30.10.00 Free; 8518.30.20.00 Free
Re-check first: Every rate on this table is zero, so the figure worth re-checking is the destination tax. The classification line that matters is between a headset and a complete telephone handset, which is a different code.
What falls under 851830
- Headphones and earphones of every construction: over-ear, on-ear, in-ear and true-wireless earbuds
- The same products whether or not a microphone is built in, which the subheading text says explicitly
- Sets consisting of a microphone together with one or more loudspeakers
What's specifically excluded
These look similar but belong under a different code:
Commonly confused with
851829: Loudspeakers
A portable Bluetooth speaker is a loudspeaker, not a headphone, and sits in 8518.21 or 8518.22 depending on how many drivers share the enclosure. The 8518.30 test is whether the product is worn on or in the ear.
851762: Wireless transmission apparatus
True-wireless earbuds contain a Bluetooth radio, and importers periodically argue that makes them reception apparatus of 8517. Rulings in the EU and UK have consistently gone the other way: the radio is a means of getting audio to the driver, and sound reproduction remains the principal function.
Classification & cost note
Older classification advice circulating online tells you that a built-in microphone moves headphones out of 8518.30. That advice is simply wrong, and it is worth being blunt about because it is repeated a lot: the subheading text reads 'whether or not combined with a microphone', so a gaming headset and a plain pair of earbuds land in the same place. The real decisions here are the boundary against loudspeakers, which turns on whether the product is worn at the ear, and the charging case supplied with true-wireless earbuds, which is normally treated as part of the retail set under General Rule 3(b) rather than as a separate accumulator.
Typical products: True-wireless earbuds with a charging case · Noise-cancelling over-ear headphones · Wired in-ear monitors · Gaming headsets with a boom mic
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
851830 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 851830
Does a built-in microphone change the HS code for headphones?
No. Subheading 8518.30 covers headphones and earphones whether or not they are combined with a microphone, so a headset and a plain pair of earbuds classify identically. This is a widely repeated error.
Are wireless earbuds 8518.30 or 8517.62?
8518.30 in normal practice. The Bluetooth radio is a means of delivering audio, and sound reproduction is the principal function, so the wireless element does not move them into heading 8517.
How is the charging case for earbuds classified?
When it is supplied with the earbuds as a retail set it is normally classified with them under 8518.30, applying General Rule 3(b). A case sold separately as a spare is classified on its own merits.
Related codes in Chapter 85
Calculate duty for HS 851830
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