The following quick guide to the codes most likely to be used by booksellers has been provided by Nathan Barker of Kayleigh Books. Before he was a bookseller, Nathan was a licensed import/export broker so if you have questions not answered below, he has offered to help and can be contacted at info@kayleighbug.com

 1. Use US Postal system when you can for most exports.. UPS or Fedex will

 charge brokerage fees that can add up VERY quickly since they base their

 fees on value regardless of duty classification (and charge extra for duty

 payables)

 2. The importer of record is responsible for brokerage fees, customs

 brokerages services and proper classification, etc. Providing customs

 forms on export is more of a courtesy service to the buyer than a

 responsibility of the exporter (except that you must file them anyway)

 Anything shipped LTL/TL, Container or Air freight will most likely require

 a brokerage firm to be handling the importation... the buyer should engage

 one and you would work with their representative to provide necessary

 information.

Selected codes:

Note: printed matter is mostly covered in Chapter 49 - and the generic 6 digit code is 490110 - when using a code you do not need the decimal point separator, just enter the digits.

 4901.99.00.10 Textbooks

 4901.91.00.20 Dictionaries

 4901.91.00.40 Encyclopedias

 4901.99.00.20 Bound journals or periodicals

 4901.99.00.40 Bibles, Prayer Books, Other Religious Books

 4901.99.00.55 Art or other heavily illustrated books.

 4901.99.00.70 Hardcover Books

 4901.99.00.75 Mass Market Paperbacks

 4901.99.00.92 Trade Paperbacks/booklets under 49 pages

 4901.99.00.93 Trade Paperbacks/booklets over 49 pages

 4902.90.20.20 Newspapers

 4902.90.20.40 Professional Journals

 4904.00.00.20 Sheet Music (folded or stapled but not bound)

 4904.00.00.40 Sheet Music bound

 4909.00.20.00 Postcards or Announcements

 4911.10.00.50 Trade Catalogs

 4911.10.00.90 Other printed advertising material (brochures, etc.)

 4911.91.00.20 Posters/broadsheets (non-commercial)

 4911.91.00.40 : Photographs

 4911.10.00.90 Posters/broadsheets commercial advertising

 8523.80.10.00 Vinyl Records

 8523.29.90.00 Cassette Tapes or VHS tapes

 8523.49.20.20 CDs

 8523.49.20.10 CD-ROMs

Finally, Nathan recommends classifying books as antiques when appropriate - and the two most applicable codes are

9706.90.00.00 Antiques between 100 & 250 years old

9706.10.00.00 Antiques over 250 years old

Nathan Barker

Kayleighbug Books, IOBA

315-750-4042

info@kayleighbug.com

In addition, the official lookup for HTS is at

https://usatrade.census.gov (or https://hts.usitc.gov) under the Trade tab which also features a copy of the entire HTS in PDF or HTML as well as CROSS (customs rulings), updates, trade agreements

And a simple to use search engine for looking up codes is can be found at

https://www.exportgenius.in/hs-code/usa/printed-books-newspapers-pictures-other-chapter-49

(this url is for books) Each of the headers can be clicked on to get more detailed subcategories.

or you can simply enter any word describing the item in the search box.