Export classification
Find the 10-digit Schedule B number for a U.S. export by product name or HS code. It goes on your Electronic Export Information (EEI) filing in AES.
Popular export products
A Schedule B number (also called a Schedule B code) is the 10-digit code that classifies a product leaving the United States. The U.S. Census Bureau maintains the list, and exporters report the number in the Electronic Export Information (EEI) they file through the Automated Export System (AES). Census compiles U.S. export statistics from these numbers, so the export figures on this site's product pages are built from them.
The first six digits are the international Harmonized System (HS) code, shared by almost every country. The last four are a U.S. statistical suffix. Take ordinary soybeans, Schedule B number 1201.90.0095:
The same subheading has a second U.S. line, 1201.90.0005, for seeds of a kind used as oil stock. That is why you read every candidate: the suffix is what separates them. To see what sits under any chapter, browse HS products.
HS is the six-digit international system. Schedule B extends it to ten digits for U.S. exports; HTS, the Harmonized Tariff Schedule, extends the same six digits to ten for U.S. imports and carries the duty rates. The two ten-digit lists often differ in their last four digits. On the EEI, the regulations accept a 10-digit HTS number in place of the Schedule B number in most cases (the HTS headnotes list the exceptions). Importing instead? Use the HS Code Lookup.
You file EEI, and so report a Schedule B (or HTS) number, when the goods under one Schedule B number, going from one exporter to one consignee on one shipment, are worth more than $2,500. You also file at any value when the goods need an export license or other government authorization (including anything subject to the ITAR), or are rough diamonds or used vehicles.
Most shipments from the United States to Canada are exempt, unless they need a license or fall in another always-file category, or the goods are only passing through or stored in Canada on the way to another country. Forwarders and customers often ask for the number on invoices and shipping documents even when no EEI is filed.
Sources: U.S. Census Bureau, Schedule B; export filing rules, Foreign Trade Regulations (15 CFR Part 30).
You can search for Schedule B codes using this tool by entering your product description or an HS code number. The U.S. Census Bureau maintains the official Schedule B classification system.
Ten. The first six are the international HS code; the last four are a U.S. statistical suffix. It is often written with dots, as in 1201.90.0095.
Census publishes the current edition on its Schedule B page and updates it from time to time. Check a number you have used before against the current edition rather than an old invoice.
Search the HS heading instead of the product name, or browse the chapter it belongs to. If it still does not fit, Census's foreign trade classification help, linked from its Schedule B page, answers classification questions.