HS code by category
HS code for footwear: classify shoes, sneakers and boots
Footwear is one of the most heavily taxed things you can import, and two nearly identical shoes can owe wildly different duty. The sole material and the upper material decide the heading. Describe your shoe on the right and the AI returns the HS/HTS code, the US duty rate and its reasoning.
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Customs declaration · AI classifier
FORM TW-01
The short answer
Footwear classifies in Chapter 64, and the heading turns on two things: what the outer sole is made of and what the upper is made of. All-rubber or all-plastic shoes sit in 6402, leather-upper shoes in 6403, and textile-upper shoes (most sneakers and canvas shoes) in 6404. US duty on footwear is steep and uneven: it runs from about 6 percent on rubber or plastic shoes to 37.5 percent on inexpensive textile shoes, so the difference between two headings can be most of your landed cost.
Anatomy of a code: a canvas sneaker
6404.19
- 64
- Chapter: footwear, gaiters and parts. Every shoe starts here, but a shoe part such as a loose rubber sole classifies in 6406, not with the finished shoe.
- 6404
- Heading: outer soles of rubber or plastic, uppers of textile. The textile upper is what pulls a canvas sneaker into 6404 instead of the leather heading 6403.
- 6404.19
- Subheading: textile-upper footwear other than sports footwear. A dedicated athletic shoe would move up to 6404.11 instead.
- .20 / .90
- National digits and value break: the US Harmonized Tariff Schedule splits 6404.19 by price per pair. Cheap pairs can hit 37.5 percent while pairs valued over 12 dollars can drop to around 9 percent.
Where common footwear classifies
A starting map, not a ruling. The heading turns on sole and upper material, and the US duty line often turns on price per pair, so confirm your exact shoe with the classifier above before you file.
6403.59
Leather dress shoes
Leather uppers, leather or rubber soles; men's and women's split further.
6403.91
Leather boots
Leather-upper footwear covering the ankle.
6404.19
Canvas & textile sneakers
Rubber or plastic soles, textile uppers; value per pair drives the rate.
6404.11
Athletic & running shoes
Sports footwear with textile uppers: tennis, basketball, gym, training.
6402.99
All-rubber or all-plastic shoes
Sandals, clogs and molded shoes with both sole and upper in rubber or plastic.
6401.92
Waterproof rubber boots
One-piece molded footwear, not assembled by stitching or riveting.
6403.19
Leather-upper athletic shoes
Sports footwear where the upper is leather rather than textile.
6405.20
Slippers & house footwear
Other footwear with textile uppers not covered above.
6406.10
Soles, uppers & shoe parts
Uppers, outer soles, insoles and heels shipped as parts, not finished shoes.
How to find the HS code for a shoe
Work two questions in order. First, what is the outer sole made of? Rubber, plastic, leather or composition leather keeps you in 6402 through 6404. Second, what is the upper made of? An all rubber or plastic shoe is 6402, a leather upper is 6403, and a textile upper is 6404. Only after you have fixed the heading do you look at whether it is sports footwear, whether it covers the ankle, and who it is for, because those decide the subheading. For the general method that applies to any product, see the Harmonized System code guide.
Why footwear duty punishes a wrong guess
Footwear carries some of the highest general duty rates in the tariff, and the rates are not smooth. A textile sneaker can owe 37.5 percent while an almost identical shoe with more rubber in the upper drops into a single-digit heading. The US also splits several footwear lines by declared value per pair, so the same style can sit in different duty brackets depending on its price. That combination means a small classification error is rarely small in dollars. Run your customs value through the import duty calculator once you have the code to see the real gap.
The 90 percent rule and mixed materials
Most shoes are not made of one material, so the tariff uses the material with the greatest external surface area to decide sole and upper. For the upper, you measure the external surface area excluding accessories and reinforcements such as ankle patches, eyelets and trim. A sneaker that looks like leather can still count as a textile upper if mesh and canvas make up most of the outer surface. Getting this measurement right is usually what separates a correct footwear code from an expensive one.
Footwear HS code questions, answered
What is the HS code for footwear?
Footwear classifies in Chapter 64 of the Harmonized System. The exact heading depends on the sole and upper material: all-rubber or all-plastic shoes are in 6402, leather-upper shoes in 6403, and textile-upper shoes such as most sneakers in 6404. Waterproof molded footwear sits in 6401 and shoe parts in 6406.
What is the HS code for shoes?
There is no single code for "shoes". A leather dress shoe is around 6403.59, a canvas sneaker around 6404.19, an athletic running shoe around 6404.11, and a rubber sandal around 6402.99. You fix the six-digit code from sole and upper material, then read the full 10-digit US HTS line for the duty rate.
What is the HS code for sneakers?
Most sneakers with a rubber or plastic sole and a textile upper classify under heading 6404. Dedicated athletic sneakers (tennis, basketball, gym and training shoes) fall in 6404.11, while other textile-upper sneakers fall in 6404.19. A sneaker with a leather upper moves to 6403 instead.
How much is US import duty on shoes?
Footwear duty is high and uneven. It runs from about 6 percent on rubber or plastic shoes up to 37.5 percent on inexpensive textile shoes, and several US lines split by value per pair. Because the range is so wide, confirm the exact 10-digit HTS code and your declared value before you estimate the cost.
How do I classify shoes by material?
Measure the material that makes up the greatest external surface area, first for the outer sole, then for the upper (excluding accessories and reinforcements). The sole and upper materials together fix the heading in Chapter 64. Only then do details like sports use, ankle height and gender decide the subheading.
Classify your footwear now, keep the rationale for your entry file.
Related: HS code lookup by product, HS codes for clothing, HS code for electronics.