Furniture HTS Codes Under Chapter 94: Frames, Function and the Duty Stack

What HTS chapter covers furniture?

Furniture classifies in Chapter 94 of the Harmonized Tariff Schedule. Seats go to heading 9401. Medical, surgical, dental and veterinary furniture, plus barbers' chairs, goes to 9402. Everything else, from beds and desks to kitchen cabinets, goes to 9403. Within those headings, the frame material, the room the piece is made for, and whether it is a chair or a sofa set the subheading.

Why does the 10-digit furniture HTS code matter more now?

Since October 14, 2025, a Section 232 duty, 25 percent for most origins, applies to seven Chapter 94 statistical lines and no others: four upholstered wood-frame seat lines and three kitchen cabinet lines. The tenth digit now decides whether a piece of furniture carries that duty.

TL;DR: A furniture HTS code under Chapter 94 comes from three questions in order: does the chapter accept the article at all (Notes 1 and 2), which heading fits it (9401 seats, 9402 medical, 9403 everything else), and which frame material and use apply. For a furniture importer bringing in 20 to 50 seating SKUs a season, the stakes have moved. The Column 1 rate on most of Chapter 94 is free, but a wood-frame upholstered sofa from Vietnam pays 25 percent under Section 232, and the same design on a metal frame pays 12.5 percent under the forced-labor Section 301 action. GingerControl is a trade compliance AI platform whose HTS Classification Researcher works through the GRI and chapter notes, and asks clarifying questions, such as frame material and seating capacity, before it proposes a code.

Last updated: October 2026

How the Chapter 94 notes decide what counts as furniture

The notes come before the headings. Under GRI 1, classification is determined by the terms of the headings and any relative section or chapter notes, so a sofa that fails a Chapter 94 note never reaches 9401. Three notes do most of the work.

Note 1: what Chapter 94 does not cover. The list includes floor-standing mirrors (heading 7009), articles of Chapter 71, parts of general use of base metal or similar goods of plastics, furniture designed as parts of refrigerating equipment (8418) or sewing machines (8452), toy furniture (9503), and furniture specially constructed for games, such as billiard tables (9504). A cabinet built into a refrigerated display case is therefore not furniture.

Note 2: the floor-standing rule. The Chapter 94 text reads: "The articles (other than parts) referred to in headings 9401 to 9403 are to be classified in those headings only if they are designed for placing on the floor or ground." Two groups are let back in "even if they are designed to be hung, to be fixed to the wall or to stand one on the other": cupboards, bookcases and other shelved furniture, including single shelves presented with wall supports, and seats and beds. CBP applied the shelf exception in N222188, classifying a wall-hung wooden shelf with rope and pulleys in 9403.60.8081, a statistical line that no longer appears in Revision 20. A wall-mounted article outside those two groups, such as a hook rack, classifies by its material elsewhere in the schedule.

Note 3: what a part is. Note 3(a) says references to parts in 9401 to 9403 "do not include references to sheets or slabs (whether or not cut to shape but not combined with other parts) of glass (including mirrors), marble or other stone or of any other material referred to in chapter 68 or 69." Note 3(b) keeps goods of heading 9404, such as mattresses and cushions entered separately, out of the furniture headings as parts.

Seats under heading 9401: the frame and the seat count

Heading 9401 covers "Seats (other than those of heading 9402), whether or not convertible into beds, and parts thereof." The subheadings sort by type first and frame material second. The frame subheadings are worded "Other seats, with wooden frames" and "Other seats, with metal frames," so they take only what the earlier type subheadings leave, which is why a wood-frame sofa bed lands in 9401.41 rather than 9401.61.

Subheading	What it covers	Column 1 general rate (HTS Rev. 20)	Section 232 wood duty
9401.31, 9401.39	Swivel seats with variable height adjustment	Free	No
9401.41, 9401.49	Seats convertible into beds (not garden or camping)	Free	No
9401.52 to 9401.59	Seats of cane, osier, bamboo or similar materials	Free	No
9401.61.40	Upholstered chairs with wooden frames (non-teak)	Free	Yes, suffixes 11 and 31
9401.61.60	Other upholstered seats with wooden frames, such as sofas	Free	Yes, suffixes 11 and 31
9401.69	Wood-frame seats, not upholstered	Free	No
9401.71, 9401.79	Seats with metal frames, upholstered or not	Free	No
9401.80	Other seats, including plastics	Free	No
9401.91, 9401.99	Parts of seats	Free	No

Bottom line: For a furniture importer sorting a seating catalog, the Section 232 line is narrow. Only upholstered wood-frame chairs and sofas at four statistical suffixes carry it, and children's chairs, teak chairs, sofa beds, swivel office chairs and metal-frame seats sit outside it.

Two CBP rulings show where the lines fall.

Chair or sofa: count the seats. In HQ H290176 (May 2019), CBP modified an earlier ruling on a wood-frame reclining sofa. The tariff does not define "chair," so CBP took the common meaning and held that seats "can only accommodate one person" to be chairs of 9401.61.40. The three-seat reclining sofa went to 9401.61.6011, while the single rocker recliner stayed in 9401.61.40. The sofa had a metal reclining mechanism, and there was no dispute that it was a wood-frame seat of 9401.61.

Wood or metal: essential character. In N363457 (July 31, 2026), the requester sought 9401.71.0011, the metal-frame provision, for an upholstered chair whose molded plywood shell sat on a steel swivel pedestal. CBP disagreed. Applying GRI 3(b), it found that "[t]he wood material is the indispensable attribute" of the chair, because the plywood gave the frame its shape and support, and classified it in 9401.61.4011. The pedestal was not height-adjustable, so the 9401.31 swivel provision did not apply either. The matching ottoman could serve as a seat or a footrest, so CBP applied GRI 3(c) and placed it in the later heading, 9403.60.8093.

The second ruling matters because 9401.61.4011 is a Section 232 line and 9401.71.0011 is not. When a frame mixes wood and metal, the essential-character analysis is also a tariff analysis.

Heading 9403: other furniture by room and material

Heading 9403 covers "Other furniture and parts thereof." For wood, the subheadings sort by the room the piece is designed for. For other materials, they sort by material.

• Metal: 9403.10 (office) and 9403.20 (other metal furniture, including beds, steel shelving and storage lockers)
• Wood: 9403.30 (office), 9403.40 (kitchen), 9403.50 (bedroom), 9403.60 (other wooden furniture, including dining and living room pieces)
• Plastics: 9403.70
• Bamboo, rattan, cane and others: 9403.82, 9403.83, 9403.89
• Parts: 9403.91 (of wood) and 9403.99 (other)

Kitchen cabinets are the 9403 lines with the most at stake. Wooden cabinets designed for permanent installation classify at 9403.40.9060, and that holds for ready-to-assemble kits: in N316111, a country-of-origin ruling, CBP agreed with the requester that ready-to-assemble base cabinets, wall cabinets and vanities fall in 9403.40.9060, consistent with GRI 2(a), which treats unassembled articles as the assembled article. U.S. note 37 also lists 9403.60.8093 (other wooden furniture) and 9403.91.0080 (parts of wood) for cabinets, vanities and their parts classified there.

That last group needs care. U.S. note 37(g) to Chapter 99 sends products in those three statistical lines that are not wooden kitchen cabinets, vanities or their parts to heading 9903.76.04, which carries no Section 232 duty. A wooden ottoman in 9403.60.8093, like the one in N363457, is reported under 9903.76.04 and pays no Section 232 duty, but it does carry the forced-labor Section 301 duty.

How are furniture parts classified?

A part classifies in Chapter 94 when it is identifiable as made solely or principally for an article of 9401 to 9403. Seat parts go to 9401.91 (of wood) or 9401.99 (other), and other furniture parts go to 9403.91 or 9403.99. The 9401.99 provisions include textile covers cut to shape and mechanically collapsible sofa bed seat deck components, which Statistical Note 2 defines by their metal torsion hinges and struts.

Stone and glass tops are the trap. In HQ H255095 (March 2015), CBP reviewed marble table tops entered under Chapter 68. Note 3(a) excludes stone slabs from the parts provisions unless they are "combined with other parts." These tops had wood locating blocks glued underneath or threaded metal inserts set into them, and CBP held that those small additions "clearly identify" the tops as furniture parts and classified them as furniture parts under the then-current 9403.90.80. A plain slab or glass sheet cut to shape and shipped alone would have stayed in Chapter 68 or 70.

The parts question also matters for the Section 232 duty. Parts of upholstered wood-frame seats (9401.91, 9401.99) are not on the Section 232 list, while parts of kitchen cabinets and vanities (9403.91.0080) are.

Quotable insight: The Section 232 wood action did not tax furniture. It taxed seven ten-digit statistical lines. That turns ordinary Chapter 94 questions, such as how many people the seat holds, whether the frame is wood or metal, and whether a wooden piece is a vanity or a sideboard, into duty questions worth 12.5 percentage points or more. A furniture classification file now has to show the reasoning at the tenth digit, not the sixth.

What tariffs apply to furniture imports now?

Four layers can apply to a Chapter 94 entry. Rates below are from HTS Revision 20, in force since September 28, 2026, and the Federal Register documents cited, retrieved October 8, 2026.

Layer	Legal basis	What it hits in Chapter 94	Rate and effective date
Column 1 general	HTS Chapter 94	All lines	Free on headings 9401 and 9403
Section 232 wood products	Proclamation 10976, 90 FR 48127	9401.61.4011, .4031, .6011, .6031 (9903.76.02); 9403.40.9060, 9403.60.8093, 9403.91.0080 cabinets and vanities (9903.76.03)	25 percent from October 14, 2025
Section 301, China	HTS Chapter 99 U.S. note 20	Most 9401 and 9403 subheadings	25 percent (9903.88.03 or 9903.88.04), unless a product exclusion under 9903.88.69 applies (through November 9, 2026)
Section 301, forced labor	USTR notice, 91 FR 47318	All products of 60 economies, except listed exemptions, which include goods under 9903.76.02 and 9903.76.03	10 or 12.5 percent from July 24, 2026

Bottom line: For a sourcing team pricing one sofa design across origins, the layers do not simply add. A Section 232 line is exempt from the forced-labor Section 301 duty but still carries the China Section 301 duty.

Country caps on Section 232. Proclamation 10976 limited the wood-products duty to 10 percent for the United Kingdom and to a combined 15 percent, including the Column 1 rate, for the European Union and Japan. The current HTS also lists 15 percent headings for South Korea (9903.76.23) and Taiwan (9903.76.24).

The scheduled increase is not in force. Proclamation 10976 originally raised upholstered furniture to 30 percent and cabinets and vanities to 50 percent on January 1, 2026. Proclamation 11000 of December 31, 2025 delayed that step to January 1, 2027, except for countries that reach an agreement with the United States. Until then, 25 percent applies.

Stacking. U.S. note 37(c) says any additional duty in subchapter III or IV of Chapter 99 "shall be imposed in addition to the duty in heading 9903.76.02," and that antidumping and countervailing duties continue to apply. U.S. note 52 exempts wood products reported under 9903.76.01 to 9903.76.03 and 9903.76.20 to 9903.76.24 from the forced-labor Section 301 duty, through heading 9903.05.90. Goods reported under 9903.76.04 are not on that list.

One China Section 301 exclusion reaches sofas. U.S. note 20(vvv)(iii)(66) excludes from the China Section 301 duty upholstered wood-frame seats other than chairs in 9401.61.6011 measuring at least 144 cm but no more than 214 cm wide, 81 to 89 cm high and 81 to 163 cm deep. The exclusion is claimed under heading 9903.88.69, which applies to entries through November 9, 2026. Measure the sofa before you price the China layer.

Section 122 has ended. The Section 122 import surcharge imposed in February 2026 (91 FR 9339) expired at the close of July 23, 2026, according to the compiler's note in the current Chapter 99.

Worked example: one design, five classifications

These figures are illustrative ad valorem duty only, on $10,000 of entered value. They exclude merchandise processing and harbor maintenance fees and any antidumping or countervailing duty. The China sofa row assumes the sofa falls outside the 9903.88.69 exclusion dimensions.

Product and origin	HTS line	Layers	Duty rate	Duty on $10,000
Wood-frame 3-seat sofa, Vietnam	9401.61.6011	Section 232 (9903.76.02)	25%	$2,500
Wood-frame 3-seat sofa, China	9401.61.6011	Section 232 25% + Section 301 China 25% (9903.88.03)	50%	$5,000
Metal-frame 3-seat sofa, Vietnam	9401.71.0011	Section 301 forced labor (9903.05.84)	12.5%	$1,250
Metal-frame 3-seat sofa, China	9401.71.0011	Section 301 China 25% (9903.88.04) + forced labor 12.5% (9903.05.31)	37.5%	$3,750
Wood ottoman, Vietnam	9403.60.8093	9903.76.04 (no Section 232) + forced labor 12.5%	12.5%	$1,250

Bottom line: For a furniture importer with one design sourced from two countries, the frame material and seat count can move the duty on the same $10,000 from $1,250 to $5,000. That spread is why the classification has to follow the product exactly as built, with the reasoning written down.

Where a classification review shows an entry was overpaid, GingerControl identifies and documents the opportunity; your licensed broker or counsel files. Changing a product's frame to change its classification is a sourcing and engineering decision. Before you rely on it at volume, ask for a binding ruling.

A Chapter 94 classification checklist

1. Clear the notes first. Check Note 1 exclusions and the Note 2 floor-standing rule before choosing a heading.
2. Count the seats. One person is a chair (9401.61.40), more than one is "other" (9401.61.60), following HQ H290176.
3. Establish the frame. Where wood and metal both appear, decide which gives the essential character under GRI 3(b), as N363457 did, and document it.
4. Check the earlier subheadings. Convertible seats (9401.41, 9401.49) and height-adjustable swivel seats (9401.31, 9401.39) come before the frame subheadings.
5. For wood under 9403, name the room. Kitchen, bedroom, office or other, then confirm whether a 9403.60.8093 article is a vanity or not, which decides 9903.76.03 against 9903.76.04.
6. Treat tops and slabs separately. Apply Note 3(a) to glass and stone entered without fittings.
7. Price the full stack by origin. Column 1, Section 232 with its country caps, China Section 301, and the forced-labor Section 301 action.
8. Search CROSS for your fact pattern. Rulings bind only on their own facts, so read the ruling before you rely on it.

Putting Chapter 94 reasoning into your classification file

GingerControl's HTS Classification Researcher follows GRI logic and asks clarifying questions before it proposes a classification. For furniture, the facts that separate codes are seat count, frame material, height adjustment and convertibility, and the Chapter 94 notes and CROSS rulings are read during the analysis rather than attached afterwards. The Tariff Calculator then breaks the duty on the result into its components. GingerControl is an HTS Classification Researcher, not a customs broker. Under CBP ruling HQ H290535, classifying specific goods for others beyond the six-digit level, for goods that will be entered, is customs business (why that needs a broker), so a licensed customs broker should review the output before it goes on an entry. See how the HTS Classification Researcher works.

References

[REF 1] U.S. International Trade Commission, HTSUS Chapter 94, Revision 20 (2026) Data cited: Notes 1, 2 and 3; Statistical Note 2; subheading structure and Column 1 rates for headings 9401 and 9403 Source: HTSUS Chapter 94 In force: September 28, 2026

[REF 2] U.S. International Trade Commission, HTSUS Chapter 99, Revision 20 (2026) Data cited: U.S. note 37 (headings 9903.76.01 to 9903.76.24); U.S. note 20 (9903.88.03, 9903.88.04); U.S. note 52 and headings 9903.05.31, 9903.05.84, 9903.05.90; Section 122 expiry compiler's note Source: HTSUS Chapter 99 In force: September 28, 2026

[REF 3] Proclamation 10976, Adjusting Imports of Timber, Lumber, and Their Derivative Products Into the United States Data cited: 25 percent on upholstered wooden products and on kitchen cabinets and vanities; effective October 14, 2025; UK, EU and Japan caps Source: 90 FR 48127 Published: October 6, 2025

[REF 4] Proclamation 11000, Amendments to Adjusting Imports of Timber, Lumber, and Their Derivative Products Data cited: increase to 30 and 50 percent delayed to January 1, 2027 Source: 91 FR 1039 Published: January 9, 2026

[REF 5] USTR, Notice of Actions in Section 301 Investigations Related to Forced Labor Import Prohibitions Data cited: 10 and 12.5 percent rates, effective July 24, 2026; exemption for 9903.76 wood products Source: 91 FR 47318 Published: July 28, 2026

[REF 6] Proclamation imposing a temporary import surcharge under Section 122 Data cited: the surcharge whose HTS provisions expired at the close of July 23, 2026 Source: 91 FR 9339 Published: February 25, 2026

[REF 7] U.S. Customs and Border Protection, HQ H290176 Data cited: one-person seats are chairs of 9401.61.40; multi-seat sofas go to 9401.61.6011 Source: CROSS ruling H290176 Dated: May 30, 2019

[REF 8] U.S. Customs and Border Protection, NY N363457 Data cited: plywood-shell chair on steel pedestal to 9401.61.4011 under GRI 3(b); ottoman to 9403.60.8093 under GRI 3(c) Source: CROSS ruling N363457 Dated: July 31, 2026

[REF 9] U.S. Customs and Border Protection, NY N222188 Data cited: wall-hung wooden shelf in 9403.60.8081 under Note 2(a) Source: CROSS ruling N222188 Dated: June 29, 2012

[REF 10] U.S. Customs and Border Protection, NY N316111 Data cited: ready-to-assemble wooden kitchen cabinets and vanities in 9403.40.9060 Source: CROSS ruling N316111 Dated: December 11, 2020

[REF 11] U.S. Customs and Border Protection, HQ H255095 Data cited: marble table tops with fitted wood blocks or metal inserts classified as furniture parts under Note 3(a) Source: CROSS ruling H255095 Dated: March 30, 2015