HS Code Detail
920190 Chapter 92 · Musical Instruments Harpsichords and other keyboard string instruments
Six-digit subheading in Musical Instruments, chapter 92 of the Harmonized System, priced here for 5 destination markets.
Anatomy of 920190
You will declare against a longer local code that begins 920190: 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 | 0% | 10% |
| 🇩🇪Germany | 4% | 19% |
| 🇵🇹Portugal | 4% | 23% |
| 🇬🇧United Kingdom | 0% | 20% |
| 🇺🇸United States | 3.5% | 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: 920190 into United Kingdom
An illustrative consignment of 920190 invoiced at GBP 2,000.00, priced in GBP because a threshold is set in the destination's currency and nothing here is converted.
| Goods value on the invoice | GBP 2,000.00 |
| International freight | GBP 120.00 |
| Cargo insurance | GBP 30.00 |
| Value the duty is charged on, CIF basis | GBP 2,150.00 |
| Duty at 0% | GBP 0.00 |
| United Kingdom tax at 20%, charged on the value plus the duty | GBP 430.00 |
| Total, before commercial charges | GBP 2,580.00 |
And if the consignment were small
United Kingdom relieves customs duty on consignments at or under GBP 135. The 920190 shipment above is over that, so its duty is charged in full. The same code invoiced at exactly GBP 135 with no freight would be charged GBP 0.00 of duty and GBP 27.00 of tax, a total of GBP 162.00. The rate on the 920190 row has not changed; only the charge is relieved. The tax is not simply absent at that value: United Kingdom 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? GBP 2,580.00 is what your buyer in United Kingdom pays to take delivery of this consignment, yours to pay if you quote DDP and theirs if you quote DAP: Exporting to United Kingdom 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 920190 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 920190 US, read on 2026-09-07 from https://hts.usitc.gov/search?query=9201.90 and again on 2026-09-07 from https://hts.usitc.gov/reststop/exportList?from=92&to=93&format=CSV&styles=false. Both returned 3.5%. 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: 9201.90.00.00 3.5%
- 🇬🇧GB
- Third country duty for 920190 GB, read on 2026-09-07 from https://www.trade-tariff.service.gov.uk/commodities/9201900000 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: 9201900000 0.00 %
- 🇦🇺AU
- MFN for 920190 AU, read on 2026-09-07 from https://www.abf.gov.au/importing-exporting-and-manufacturing/tariff-classification/current-tariff/schedule-3/section-xviii/chapter-92 and again on 2026-09-07 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: 9201.90.00 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 920190 DE, read on 2026-09-07 from https://www.trade-tariff.service.gov.uk/xi/commodities/9201900000 and again on 2026-09-07 from https://trade.ec.europa.eu/access-to-markets/en/results?product=920190&origin=CN&destination=DE. Both returned 4%. The two publications are independent of each other and they agree. Retrieved text: 9201900000 4.00 %
Markets with no figure recorded
Canada: Canada splits 9201.90 into 2 tariff lines and they do not carry the same rate: the schedule returned 0 to 7%. 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: This is the residual keyboard string instrument line, so an upright piano belongs at 920110 and a grand at 9201.20. The United States rate here is lower than the rate on the upright, which is what makes the classification worth getting right.
What falls under 920190
- Harpsichords and other keyboard stringed instruments, other than pianos
- Clavichords, virginals, spinets of the plucked type and other keyboard string instruments
- Plucked keyboard instruments whose strings are sounded by quill or leather plectra
What's specifically excluded
These look similar but belong under a different code:
Commonly confused with
920110: Pianos
Both are keyboard stringed instruments in the same heading, separated by which subheading they fall in. Pianos have dedicated subheadings for uprights and grands, so this residual line holds the plucked keyboard instruments and anything else with keys and strings that is not a piano.
920600: Percussion instruments
A piano is sometimes described as a percussion instrument because its strings are struck, and that description has no bearing on classification. Heading 9206 covers percussion instruments proper, and a keyboard with strings stays in 9201 whatever the strings are struck with.
Classification & cost note
This is a small and specialised trade, and the classification is easier than everything around it. What matters in practice is that these instruments are frequently either genuine antiques or faithful modern reproductions, and the two attract quite different treatment beyond the tariff. An instrument over the age threshold may qualify as an antique in some markets, which changes both the classification and often the tax rate, and it may also fall under cultural property export controls in the country it leaves, a restriction that has nothing to do with the importing country's tariff. Reproductions face neither. Materials raise the usual questions for old instruments: ivory, tortoiseshell and tropical hardwoods all appear in historical keyboard construction and all carry CITES or timber legality obligations that travel with the instrument.
Typical products: Harpsichords, single and double manual · Clavichords · Virginals and muselars · Spinets of the plucked type · Historical keyboard reproductions · Continuo instruments for early music · Fretted and unfretted clavichords · Italian style single manual instruments
What the notes to section XVIII say
Chapter 92 sits in section XVIII, optical, photographic, cinematographic, measuring, checking, precision, medical or surgical instruments and apparatus; clocks and watches; musical instruments; parts and accessories thereof, and the nomenclature publishes no note to that section at all, so the note to chapter 92 is the highest rule over this code; that is the published position rather than a gap here, and the chapter 92 page says the same, read from https://www.trade-tariff.service.gov.uk/api/v2/sections/18 on 2026-09-08.
What the nomenclature says about heading 9201
920190 is a subheading of 9201, pianos, including automatic pianos; harpsichords and other keyboard stringed instruments , and this site holds one other code under the same heading, which every rule below governs equally.
No numbered note to chapter 92 takes heading 9201 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 92 page.
Read from the notes to chapter 92 published in the UK Trade Tariff by HM Revenue and Customs, at https://www.trade-tariff.service.gov.uk/api/v2/chapters/92, with the heading title from https://www.trade-tariff.service.gov.uk/api/v2/headings/9201, on 2026-09-07, with the whole layer and the reason a heading note is a chapter note set out on the chapter 92 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 920190
Why are harpsichords not classified with pianos?
They are in the same heading. Heading 9201 covers keyboard stringed instruments, giving pianos their own subheadings for uprights and grands and leaving harpsichords and other plucked keyboard instruments in this residual line.
Does an antique instrument have a different code?
Possibly. An instrument over the age threshold may qualify as an antique in some markets, which can change both the classification and the tax treatment. Modern reproductions never do.
Are export controls a factor?
They can be. Historical instruments may fall under cultural property export controls in the country they leave, which is entirely separate from the importing country's tariff and is frequently discovered late.
Is a stand or bench classified with the instrument?
Usually not. A harpsichord stand or a keyboard bench shipped alongside the instrument is furniture unless it is built as an integral part of the instrument, so a detachable trestle stand and a fitted integral one can be treated differently.
How should a harpsichord be prepared for shipping?
Jacks are usually lifted out and packed separately, the lid is secured and the whole instrument crated with humidity buffering. A soundboard that dries out in transit cracks, and the damage appears days after delivery rather than on the tailgate, which makes insurance claims awkward.
Does the instrument need retuning after arrival?
Invariably, and it should be allowed to acclimatise for several days before anyone touches the tuning pins. Historical temperaments are set at a chosen pitch standard, and a buyer expecting concert pitch on an instrument voiced at a lower baroque pitch is a dispute worth heading off in the contract.
Related codes in Chapter 92
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