How to classify furniture under HS Chapter 94

000094 Editorial · Updated 27 Oct 2026 · 9 min read

A wrong code is not a paperwork error — it changes your duty rate, your exposure to additional tariffs, and your penalty risk. Here is a repeatable method that gets most furniture right first time.

How Chapter 94 is built

The Harmonized System groups goods into 21 sections and 97 chapters. Chapter 94 sits in Section XX (miscellaneous manufactured articles) and has six four-digit headings:

• 94.01 — seats of all kinds (except medical and barbers' chairs), whether or not convertible into beds, and their parts.
• 94.02 — medical, surgical, dental and veterinary furniture, and barbers' chairs.
• 94.03 — all other furniture and parts: tables, beds, wardrobes, desks, cabinets, shelving.
• 94.04 — mattress supports and stuffed bedding: mattresses, quilts, duvets, pillows, cushions, pouffes.
• 94.05 — luminaires and lighting fittings, illuminated signs and their parts.
• 94.06 — prefabricated buildings.

Within each heading, six-digit subheadings usually split by function (office, kitchen, bedroom), then by material (metal, wood, plastics, bamboo, rattan) and, for seats, by frame and upholstery. Your import country then adds two to four digits for national duty and statistics.

The five-question method

1. Is it furniture at all?

Chapter note 2 says articles of headings 94.01 to 94.03 are classified there only if they are designed to be placed on the floor or ground. The notable exception: cupboards, bookcases, shelving (including single shelves with their wall supports) and unit furniture stay in Chapter 94 even when hung on a wall. A decorative wall bracket that is not shelving, by contrast, is classified by material elsewhere.

2. Is it excluded?

Check the chapter's exclusions before going further: inflatable or water mattresses (Chapters 39, 40, 63), light sources themselves (Chapter 85), toy furniture (95.03), game tables (95.04), clock cases (Chapter 91) and furniture designed as part of apparatus such as audio cabinets.

3. Is it a seat?

If its primary function is sitting — sofas, armchairs, dining chairs, stools, office chairs, benches — it belongs in 94.01, even if it also stores things or converts to a bed. Then split by type: swivel seats with height adjustment, convertible seats, seats of bamboo or rattan, then other seats by frame material (wood or metal) and whether upholstered.

4. If not a seat, what is it for and what is it made of?

Heading 94.03 splits first by use for metal and wooden furniture (office, kitchen, bedroom, other), then by material for plastics, bamboo, rattan and “other materials”. Where materials are mixed, the General Interpretative Rules apply: the material that gives the article its essential character usually decides — often the frame or the dominant visible surface, judged case by case.

5. Is it a complete article or a part?

Parts have their own subheadings (9401.91/.99, 9403.91/.99, 9405.91/.92/.99). Under GIR 2(a), an unassembled or knocked-down article presented complete — a flat-pack wardrobe in three cartons — is classified as the finished article, not as parts.

Worked examples

• Three-seat fabric sofa, solid pine frame: seat → not convertible → wooden frame → upholstered → 9401.61. In the U.S. this is squarely in the population affected by Section 232 upholstered-wood duties.
• Gas-lift office chair with steel base and mesh back: swivel seat with variable height adjustment, not wood → 9401.39.
• Click-clack sofa bed on a steel frame: convertible seat, not wood → 9401.49.
• Solid oak dining table: not a seat → wooden → not office, kitchen or bedroom specific → 9403.60.
• MDF kitchen base cabinet: wooden furniture of a kind used in the kitchen → 9403.40. High-exposure line for U.S. cabinet duties.
• Steel bunk bed: other metal furniture → 9403.20.
• Rattan lounge chair: seat of rattan → 9401.53; a rattan side table would be 9403.83.
• Wooden drawer fronts imported alone: parts of furniture, of wood → 9403.91.

Common mistakes

• Classifying by marketing name. “Console”, “credenza” and “media unit” are all just furniture; use function and material.
• Ignoring upholstery on wood-framed seats. Upholstered vs not upholstered is a separate subheading and, in the U.S., can mean a 25-point duty difference.
• Calling complete flat-pack items “parts”. Parts lines can carry different rates; customs will reclassify.
• Copying a supplier's export code. Exporters' national codes and descriptions often differ from your import tariff beyond six digits.
• Not documenting the decision. Keep photos, materials breakdown and your reasoning. For high-volume SKUs, request a binding ruling.

Checklist

1. Write a one-line description: function, materials by weight/visibility, upholstered or not, assembled or KD.
2. Check chapter exclusions.
3. Pick the heading (94.01–94.06) by function.
4. Pick the six-digit subheading by use and material.
5. Find the national line in your destination tariff and note any additional measures.
6. Save your evidence; for big SKUs, seek a binding ruling or ask a licensed broker.

Educational content, not legal advice. Classification depends on the exact product and the national tariff in force at entry.