HS Code Detail
870321 Chapter 87 · Vehicles Cars, petrol engine up to 1000cc
Six-digit subheading in Vehicles, chapter 87 of the Harmonized System, priced here for 6 destination markets.
Anatomy of 870321
You will declare against a longer local code that begins 870321: 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 | 6.1% | 5% |
| 🇩🇪Germany | 10% | 19% |
| 🇵🇹Portugal | 10% | 23% |
| 🇬🇧United Kingdom | 10% | 20% |
| 🇺🇸United States | 2.5% | 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: 870321 into United States
An illustrative consignment of 870321 invoiced at USD 2,000.00, priced in USD because a threshold is set in the destination's currency and nothing here is converted.
| Goods value on the invoice | USD 2,000.00 |
| International freight | USD 120.00 |
| Cargo insurance | USD 30.00 |
| Value the duty is charged on, FOB basis | USD 2,000.00 |
| Duty at 2.5% | USD 50.00 |
| United States charges no consumption tax at the border | USD 0.00 |
| Total, before commercial charges | USD 2,200.00 |
And if the consignment were small
United States relieves nothing: the duty free allowance was suspended, 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? USD 2,200.00 is what your buyer in United States pays to take delivery of this consignment, yours to pay if you quote DDP and theirs if you quote DAP: Exporting to United States 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 870321 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 870321 US, read on 2026-09-07 from https://hts.usitc.gov/search?query=8703.21 and again on 2026-09-07 from https://hts.usitc.gov/reststop/exportList?from=87&to=88&format=CSV&styles=false. Both returned 2.5%. 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: 8703.21.01 2.5%
- 🇬🇧GB
- Third country duty for 870321 GB, read on 2026-09-07 from https://www.trade-tariff.service.gov.uk/commodities/8703211000 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 10%. The two publications are independent of each other and they agree. Retrieved text: 8703211000 10.00 %; 8703219000 10.00 %
- 🇨🇦CA
- MFN for 870321 CA, read on 2026-09-07 from https://www.cbsa-asfc.gc.ca/trade-commerce/tariff-tarif/2026/html/00/ch87-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 6.1%. 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: 8703.21.10 6.1%; 8703.21.90 6.1%
- 🇦🇺AU
- MFN for 870321 AU, read on 2026-09-07 from https://www.abf.gov.au/importing-exporting-and-manufacturing/tariff-classification/current-tariff/schedule-3/section-xvii/chapter-87 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: 8703.21.11 5% CA:Free; 8703.21.19 5% CA:Free; 8703.21.20 5% CA:Free; 8703.21.90 5% DCS:4% CA:Free 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 870321 DE, read on 2026-09-07 from https://www.trade-tariff.service.gov.uk/xi/commodities/8703211000 and again on 2026-09-07 from https://trade.ec.europa.eu/access-to-markets/en/results?product=870321&origin=CN&destination=DE. Both returned 10%. The two publications are independent of each other and they agree. Retrieved text: 8703211000 10.00 %; 8703219000 10.00 %
Re-check first: Engine capacity is the whole of the classification and 1,000 cc is the ceiling. The figure here is the general rate of duty alone: other United States measures on motor vehicles are not part of this table and have to be checked separately.
What falls under 870321
- Motor cars principally designed for the transport of persons, with spark ignition internal combustion piston engine of a cylinder capacity not exceeding 1,000 cc
- City cars and small passenger vehicles within that engine size
What's specifically excluded
These look similar but belong under a different code:
Commonly confused with
870322: Petrol cars from 1,000 cc to 1,500 cc
The subheadings for petrol passenger cars divide purely on cylinder capacity, and the boundary is exact rather than approximate. A 998 cc engine and a 1,020 cc engine are in different subheadings, so the figure taken from the type approval documentation decides the code.
870340: Non plug in hybrids
Any electric motor in the powertrain moves the vehicle out of the pure petrol subheadings. A mild hybrid with a small starter generator is the difficult case and turns on whether the electric machine contributes propulsion.
Classification & cost note
Passenger cars are classified in heading 8703 first by what drives them and only then by size, so the order of questions is powertrain, then cylinder capacity for the combustion subheadings. Getting the capacity right is a documentary exercise rather than a judgement: the figure is the engine displacement recorded on the type approval or certificate of conformity, and rounding it in either direction across a band boundary is a classification error rather than a tolerance. Beyond the tariff, vehicle imports carry a compliance load that dwarfs the customs entry in most markets, covering type approval or individual approval, emissions certification, registration and, in several jurisdictions, age restrictions on used vehicles. Duty is also only part of the fiscal picture, since many countries levy registration, luxury or emissions based taxes on top of it that are assessed by a different authority.
Typical products: City cars with three cylinder petrol engines under 1,000 cc · Kei class and equivalent small passenger vehicles · Small hatchbacks with sub litre turbocharged engines · Compact passenger cars in the smallest engine band
What the notes to section XVII say
Chapter 87 sits in section XVII, vehicles, aircraft, vessels and associated transport equipment, where a section note governs every chapter in the section and applies before the heading notes below; the 5 reaching chapter 87 name no heading this site holds a code under, and they are quoted whole on the chapter 87 page, read from https://www.trade-tariff.service.gov.uk/api/v2/sections/17 on 2026-09-08.
What the nomenclature says about heading 8703
870321 is a subheading of 8703, motor cars and other motor vehicles principally designed for the transport of persons (other than those of heading 8702), including station wagons and racing cars , and this site holds 5 other codes under the same heading, which every rule below governs equally.
One numbered note to chapter 87 takes heading 8703 as its own subject, and it is quoted below in full, as published.
Note 3 to chapter 87
Motor chassis fitted with cabs fall in heading 8702 to 8704, and not in heading 8706.
Read from the notes to chapter 87 published in the UK Trade Tariff by HM Revenue and Customs, at https://www.trade-tariff.service.gov.uk/api/v2/chapters/87, with the heading title from https://www.trade-tariff.service.gov.uk/api/v2/headings/8703, on 2026-09-07, with the whole layer and the reason a heading note is a chapter note set out on the chapter 87 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 870321
Which figure decides the engine size band?
The cylinder capacity recorded on the type approval or certificate of conformity, in cubic centimetres. The boundaries are exact, so an engine of 1,020 cc is outside the sub 1,000 cc subheading even though it is commonly described as a one litre.
Does a mild hybrid stay in the petrol subheadings?
Not where the electric machine contributes to propulsion. Any hybrid powertrain moves the vehicle to the hybrid subheadings, and mild hybrid systems are argued on whether the electric motor drives the vehicle or only assists ancillaries.
Related codes in Chapter 87
Calculate duty for HS 870321
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