HS Code Detail
920290 Chapter 92 · Musical Instruments Guitars and other string instruments
Six-digit subheading in Musical Instruments, chapter 92 of the Harmonized System, priced here for 4 destination markets.
Anatomy of 920290
You will declare against a longer local code that begins 920290: ten digits in the United Kingdom, eight in the European Union, and the first six the same everywhere. Which trailing digits apply is what the 4 rates below differ on.
What this code covers
Import duty by country
MFN duty rate · 4 countries| Country | Duty | VAT |
|---|---|---|
| 🇦🇺Australia | 5% | 10% |
| 🇩🇪Germany | 3.2% | 19% |
| 🇵🇹Portugal | 3.2% | 23% |
| 🇬🇧United Kingdom | 2% | 20% |
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: 920290 into Australia
An illustrative consignment of 920290 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 5% | AUD 100.00 |
| Australia tax at 10%, charged on the value plus the duty | AUD 225.00 |
| Total, before commercial charges | AUD 2,475.00 |
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 920290 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 920290 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 2,475.00 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 920290 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.
- 🇬🇧GB
- Third country duty for 920290 GB, read on 2026-09-07 from https://www.trade-tariff.service.gov.uk/commodities/9202903000 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 2%. The two publications are independent of each other and they agree. Retrieved text: 9202903000 2.00 %; 9202908000 2.00 %
- 🇦🇺AU
- MFN for 920290 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 5%. The two publications are independent of each other and they agree. Retrieved text: 9202.90.00 5% DCS:4% 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 920290 DE, read on 2026-09-07 from https://www.trade-tariff.service.gov.uk/xi/commodities/9202903000 and again on 2026-09-07 from https://trade.ec.europa.eu/access-to-markets/en/results?product=920290&origin=CN&destination=DE. Both returned 3.2%. The two publications are independent of each other and they agree. Retrieved text: 9202903000 3.20 %; 9202908000 3.20 %
Markets with no figure recorded
United States: United States splits 9202.90 into 3 tariff lines and they do not carry the same rate: the schedule returned 4.5 to 8.7%. A single percentage cannot represent that honestly, so no United States figure is recorded and the calculator falls back to its disclosed category average.
Canada: Canada splits 9202.90 into 2 tariff lines and they do not carry the same rate: the schedule returned 0 to 6%. 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: Guitars and the other string instruments that are not keyboard instruments, which are 9201. The United Kingdom charges its guitar line and its residual line alike and the United States lines disagree, so only one market is priced. Instruments containing protected timber carry CITES paperwork the tariff does not mention.
What falls under 920290
- String musical instruments other than those played with a bow
- Acoustic and electro acoustic guitars, ukuleles, banjos, mandolins and harps
What's specifically excluded
These look similar but belong under a different code:
Commonly confused with
920710: Solid body electric guitars
Chapter 92 divides instruments by how the sound is produced. An acoustic or electro acoustic guitar produces sound acoustically and sits in 9202.90; a solid body electric guitar produces it electrically and belongs in heading 9207. A pickup fitted to an acoustic instrument does not move it.
920930: Strings and accessories
Strings, cases and tuners are parts and accessories of heading 9209 rather than instruments. A guitar shipped with a gig bag as a retail set takes the essential character of the instrument, but boxes of strings on the same invoice are a separate line.
Classification & cost note
String instruments other than bowed ones sit in this subheading, and the classification question that matters is how the sound is produced rather than whether electronics are present. An acoustic guitar with a pickup and preamp fitted remains an acoustic instrument, because the body still generates the sound and the electronics only capture it, while a solid body electric guitar leaves Chapter 92's acoustic headings altogether. Two further points affect real consignments. Instruments containing rosewood, ebony or ivory are subject to CITES controls, and permits are required for import in most markets regardless of the tariff position, which is the single most common cause of detained instrument shipments. Separately, vintage instruments over a certain age may qualify as antiques or collectors' pieces in some jurisdictions, which changes both the classification and the tax treatment.
Typical products: Steel string and classical acoustic guitars · Electro acoustic guitars with fitted pickups · Ukuleles, banjos and mandolins · Concert and lever harps · Twelve string acoustic guitars · Lever harps with carved soundboards · Bluegrass resonator banjos · Flat back mandolins · Autoharps and zithers with tuning pins
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 9202
920290 is a subheading of 9202, other string musical instruments (for example, guitars, violins, harps) , and it is the only code this site holds under that heading.
One numbered note to chapter 92 takes heading 9202 as its own subject, and it is quoted below in full, as published.
Note 2 to chapter 92
Bows and sticks and similar devices used in playing the musical instruments of heading 9202 or 9206 presented with such instruments in numbers normal thereto and clearly intended for use therewith, are to be classified in the same heading as the relative instruments.
Cards, discs and rolls of heading 9209 presented with an instrument are to be treated as separate articles and not as forming a part of such instrument.
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/9202, 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 920290
Is an electro acoustic guitar classified as an electric instrument?
No. Where the body produces the sound and the electronics only amplify or capture it, the instrument remains acoustic and sits in 9202.90. Only instruments whose sound is produced electrically move to heading 9207.
Do I need a permit to import a guitar?
Possibly. Instruments containing rosewood, ebony or other listed species are subject to CITES controls and require permits in most markets. This is the most frequent reason instrument shipments are detained, and it is independent of the customs classification.
Are violins and cellos in this subheading?
No. Heading 9202 divides bowed instruments from the rest, so violins, violas, cellos and double basses sit in 9202.10. This subheading takes the instruments that are plucked or strummed, which is why guitars, harps and mandolins share it while a cello does not.
Related codes in Chapter 92
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