--- title: "Schedule B number vs HS code: which one you need, and why $2,500 is per code" description: "The difference between an HS code, a Schedule B number, and an HTS code, how to find your Schedule B number, and the mechanic small exporters get wrong: the $2,500 EEI threshold applies per Schedule B number, not per shipment." canonical: https://exportdocshub.com/blog/schedule-b-number-vs-hs-code published: 2026-07-28 --- # Schedule B number vs HS code: which one you need, and why $2,500 is per code > The difference between an HS code, a Schedule B number, and an HTS code, how to find your Schedule B number, and the mechanic small exporters get wrong: the $2,500 EEI threshold applies per Schedule B number, not per shipment. Most explainers on this topic answer a question nobody actually has. You are not trying to win a trivia contest about the World Customs Organization. You are filling in a form, and a field is asking for a number. So let us start where it bites. Your Schedule B number decides two things that cost real money: 1. Whether you have to [file Electronic Export Information in AES](/blog/do-i-need-to-file-eei-in-aes) at all. 2. If you are exempt, which [NOEEI legend](/blog/noeei-exemption-codes) goes on your paperwork. And the mechanic that decides #1 is not the one most people assume. The $2,500 threshold is **per Schedule B number**, not per shipment. More on that below, because it is the part that gets small exporters wrong in both directions. ## The three numbers, in one pass There are three codes in circulation and they are nested, not competing. | Code | Digits | Used for | Administered by | |---|---|---|---| | HS code | 6 | International baseline, every member country | World Customs Organization | | Schedule B | 10 | U.S. **exports** | U.S. Census Bureau | | HTSUS | 10 | U.S. **imports**, carries duty rates | U.S. International Trade Commission | The first 6 digits of a Schedule B number **are** the HS code. The last 4 are U.S. statistical detail the Census Bureau adds so it can count exports at a finer grain than the international system allows. So "Schedule B vs HS code" is a slightly false framing. You are not choosing between them. You are choosing how far down to go. Your customer abroad may only ever see the first 6 digits, because that is what their customs authority classifies against. Your AES filing needs all 10. The one that genuinely competes is the HTSUS. Same 10-digit length, same first 6 digits, different last 4, opposite direction of trade. It is an import number. It exists to assign duty. **Can you use an HTS number to file an export?** For most commodities in chapters 1 through 97, yes, AES accepts either. But not every HTS number is valid for export, and reporting one that is not returns a fatal error or a Census Bureau correction. There is no upside to the substitution and a real chance of a rejected filing, so use Schedule B on the export side and leave HTSUS to your importer. ## The $2,500 rule is per code, and that changes the math Here is the language that matters, from [15 CFR 30.37(a)](https://www.law.cornell.edu/cfr/text/15/30.37). The exemption covers commodities shipped from one USPPI to one ultimate consignee on a single exporting conveyance, classified under **an individual Schedule B number or HTSUSA code**, valued at $2,500 or less. Read the unit carefully. It is not the shipment. It is the code line. The regulation then spells out the mixed case: where a shipment contains some code lines at or under $2,500 and some above, **only the lines above $2,500 are required to be reported.** Two consequences, and small exporters trip on both. **You can ship well over $2,500 and file nothing.** Say you send a distributor in Chile four different products, each under its own Schedule B number, at $2,000 apiece. Shipment total: $8,000. Filing required: none, provided no export license is involved and the other conditions hold. People routinely over-file this case because they looked at the invoice total. **You can also be mostly exempt and still owe a filing.** Same shipment, but one of the four lines is $3,200. Now that single code line requires EEI. The other three do not. Your filing reports the line over the threshold; your documents still carry the shipment. People routinely under-file this case because most of the invoice looked exempt. And the aggregation rule inside a single code: if you ship multiple items under the **same** Schedule B number, the exemption only applies if their combined value for that code is $2,500 or less. You cannot split one code line into three invoice rows to stay under. The practical upshot is that you cannot answer "do I file?" until your products are classified. The classification is not paperwork you do afterward. It is the input to the decision. ## Two conditions that cancel the whole calculation The value test is the last question, not the first. Before it matters: - **A required export license removes every value-based exemption.** If your item needs a license, you file EEI regardless of value. About 95 percent of U.S. exports need no license, but that is a statistic, not a determination for your product. - **Country of destination can override.** Shipments to embargoed destinations, and certain controlled items, file regardless. Canada runs the other way: under [NOEEI 30.36](/blog/noeei-exemption-codes), no EEI is required when Canada is the country of ultimate destination, regardless of value, provided no license is required. The $2,500 arithmetic never enters. ## How to find your Schedule B number The Census Bureau publishes a free [Schedule B Search Engine](https://uscensus.prod.3ceonline.com/). Search by keyword, or drill down through the chapter structure if the keyword search returns noise. Three things that make classification go faster: **Classify by what it is, not what you call it.** Your product's name is a marketing decision. The tariff schedule cares about material composition, degree of processing, and function. "Artisan small-batch cold-pressed sunflower oil" classifies as sunflower oil. **Go down, not across.** The structure is a hierarchy. Find the right chapter, then the right heading, then the subheading. Jumping straight to a 10-digit number from a keyword hit skips the reasoning that makes it defensible. **Get a ruling when it is genuinely ambiguous.** Census Bureau commodity classification staff will tell you the correct number. Ask in writing and keep the answer. The number drives your filing obligation, so a defensible classification is worth ten minutes of email. One more habit worth forming: Schedule B is revised, typically at the start of the year and again mid-year. A number that was valid last year can be retired. If you export the same products on a regular cadence, re-verify your codes when the update lands rather than the day a filing rejects. ## Where the number actually appears Once you have it, the Schedule B number shows up in more places than the AES filing: - **The EEI filing itself**, alongside USPPI EIN, ultimate consignee, value, and weight. - **Your [shipper's letter of instruction](/blog/shippers-letter-of-instruction)**, so your forwarder files the same classification you decided on rather than guessing. - **Your [commercial invoice](/blog/commercial-invoice-vs-proforma-invoice)**, by convention rather than regulation. Put it on the line item. It saves a round trip with the forwarder and often helps your customer's broker on the import side. - **Your [certificate of origin](/blog/how-to-fill-out-a-certificate-of-origin)** and, if you are shipping to Canada or Mexico, the [USMCA certification](/blog/usmca-certification-of-origin), which asks for the HS tariff classification to 6 digits. That is the first 6 of the number you already found. That last point is the quiet payoff of classifying once, properly. The 6-digit HS code your USMCA certification needs is not a separate research project. It is the front half of your Schedule B number. ## The short version - HS is 6 digits and international. Schedule B is 10 digits and U.S. export-only. HTSUS is 10 digits and U.S. import-only. - Schedule B contains the HS code. Use Schedule B to file exports. - The $2,500 EEI threshold applies per Schedule B number per consignee per conveyance, not to the invoice total. - A required license cancels value-based exemptions entirely. - Classify before you decide whether to file, because classification is the input. If you have not worked out whether your shipment needs a filing at all, the [EEI decision guide](/blog/do-i-need-to-file-eei-in-aes) walks the whole tree. If you already know you are exempt and need the legend, the [NOEEI exemption codes reference](/blog/noeei-exemption-codes) has the full list. --- **Further reading** - Cornell LII: [15 CFR 30.37, Miscellaneous exemptions](https://www.law.cornell.edu/cfr/text/15/30.37) - Census Bureau: [Schedule B Search Engine](https://uscensus.prod.3ceonline.com/) - Census Bureau: [Quick Guide to Title 15, Part 30, Foreign Trade Regulations](https://www.census.gov/foreign-trade/regulations/quickguide.pdf) **Related on this site** - [Do I need to file EEI in AES? A decision guide for small US exporters](/blog/do-i-need-to-file-eei-in-aes) - [NOEEI exemption codes: the complete list for small US exporters](/blog/noeei-exemption-codes) - [What is an HS code?](/blog/what-is-an-hs-code) - [Shipper's letter of instruction: what it is and how to fill one out](/blog/shippers-letter-of-instruction) *Written by [Anas Marwan](/authors/anas-n), Co-founder of Darza Technologies. Last reviewed 2026-07-28.* --- Source: https://exportdocshub.com/blog/schedule-b-number-vs-hs-code (https://exportdocshub.com)