HS Chapter 94 for Contract Furniture: Which Heading Covers Commercial Seating, Casegoods, Mattresses and Medical Furnishings
Chapter 94 of the US tariff schedule read heading by heading for FF&E schedules: what each heading covers, what the chapter notes exclude, and what the schedule leaves to your broker.
Every line of an FF&E schedule that crosses a border is classified under a tariff schedule, and for furniture the starting point is Chapter 94. The chapter’s headings are written for goods in general, not for hotels, offices or aged-care homes, so a contractor reading them for the first time may not be able to tell where a lounge chair, a wardrobe, a mattress or a hospital bed belongs. The answer starts with the words of the headings and the chapter notes.
This article reads Chapter 94 of the Harmonized Tariff Schedule of the United States (HTSUS), Revision 21 (2026), which the US International Trade Commission’s HTS site listed as its current release when we downloaded the chapter on 16 October 2026. We quote the headings, subheadings and notes. We do not state duty rates, we do not say whether any additional duties or trade remedies apply, and we do not classify any product: classification is decided by the importer and its customs broker, and other countries publish their own schedules. For a wider view of codes on mixed orders, see our guide to HS codes for furniture and building material imports on FBM Sourcing.
What Chapter 94 covers
The chapter title is “Furniture; bedding, mattresses, mattress supports, cushions and similar stuffed furnishings; luminaires and lighting fittings, not elsewhere specified or included; illuminated signs, illuminated nameplates and the like; prefabricated buildings.” It has six headings:
- 9401: “Seats (other than those of heading 9402), whether or not convertible into beds, and parts thereof”.
- 9402: “Medical, surgical, dental or veterinary furniture (for example, operating tables, examination tables, hospital beds with mechanical fittings, dentists’ chairs); barbers’ chairs and similar chairs, having rotating as well as both reclining and elevating movements; parts of the foregoing articles”.
- 9403: “Other furniture and parts thereof”.
- 9404: “Mattress supports; articles of bedding and similar furnishing (for example, mattresses, quilts, eiderdowns, cushions, pouffes and pillows) fitted with springs or stuffed or internally fitted with any material or of cellular rubber or plastics, whether or not covered”.
- 9405: luminaires and lighting fittings not elsewhere specified or included, illuminated signs, illuminated name-plates and the like, and parts.
- 9406: “Prefabricated buildings”.
The chapter notes that change the answer
Note 1 lists what the chapter does not cover. The exclusions most likely to matter on an FF&E schedule are pneumatic or water mattresses, pillows or cushions (chapters 39, 40 or 63); mirrors designed for placing on the floor or ground (heading 7009); parts of general use of base metal, similar goods of plastics, and safes of heading 8303; furniture specially designed as parts of refrigerating or freezing equipment (heading 8418); lamps or light sources and their parts (chapter 85); dentists’ chairs incorporating dental appliances of heading 9018; and billiard tables or other furniture specially constructed for games (heading 9504).
Note 2 says that the articles, other than parts, referred to in headings 9401 to 9403 are classified in those headings “only if they are designed for placing on the floor or ground.” It then names goods that stay in those headings even if they are designed to be hung, fixed to the wall or stood one on the other: cupboards, bookcases, other shelved furniture (including single shelves presented with supports for fixing them to the wall) and unit furniture; and seats and beds.
Note 3(a) says that references to parts in headings 9401 to 9403 do not include sheets or slabs of glass (including mirrors), marble or other stone, or any other material of chapter 68 or 69, whether or not cut to shape, if they are not combined with other parts. Note 3(b) says that goods described in heading 9404, entered separately, are not classified in 9401, 9402 or 9403 as parts of goods. Note 4 defines prefabricated buildings for heading 9406, and says they include modular building units of steel, normally presented in the size and shape of a standard shipping container but substantially or completely pre-fitted internally.
Commercial seating: heading 9401
Heading 9401 covers seats other than those of heading 9402. Its subheadings separate seats by type and by frame material:
- swivel seats with variable height adjustment, of wood or other (9401.31 and 9401.39);
- seats other than garden seats or camping equipment, convertible into beds, of wood or other (9401.41 and 9401.49);
- seats of cane, osier, bamboo or similar materials: of bamboo, of rattan, and other (9401.52, 9401.53 and 9401.59);
- other seats with wooden frames, upholstered or other (9401.61 and 9401.69);
- other seats with metal frames, upholstered or other (9401.71 and 9401.79);
- other seats (9401.80), and parts of wood or other (9401.91 and 9401.99).
For a schedule, the practical point is that the subheadings ask about the frame material and whether the seat is upholstered, which a line that says only “lounge chair” does not answer. In Revision 21, the statistical breakouts under some of these subheadings also distinguish outdoor seats, including outdoor seats with textile-covered cushions or textile seating or backing material, so the intended use and the cushion material are worth stating as well.
Casegoods and tables: heading 9403
Heading 9403 covers “other furniture and parts thereof”, which is the heading to look at for casegoods, tables and storage furniture that are not seats, medical furniture or bedding. Its subheadings sort by material and, for wood, by the kind of room:
- metal furniture of a kind used in offices (9403.10) and other metal furniture (9403.20);
- wooden furniture of a kind used in offices (9403.30), in the kitchen (9403.40) and in the bedroom (9403.50), and other wooden furniture (9403.60);
- furniture of plastics (9403.70);
- furniture of other materials, including cane, osier, bamboo or similar materials: of bamboo, of rattan, and other (9403.82, 9403.83 and 9403.89);
- parts, of wood (9403.91) and other (9403.99).
Two details in Revision 21 are relevant to contract work. Under 9403.20, a statistical breakout covers “counters, lockers, racks, display cases, shelves, partitions and similar fixtures”, and the chapter’s statistical notes describe “metal exchange lockers” used by commercial businesses, hospitals, police departments, condominiums, apartments, hotels and automobile dealerships. For wooden casegoods, the subheading turns on the kind of room the furniture is used in, so a guestroom wardrobe, an office credenza and a kitchen unit can sit in different subheadings even when they are made in the same workshop. See our page on hotel guestroom casegoods for what to specify on the product itself.
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Mattresses, cushions and bedding: heading 9404
Heading 9404 covers mattress supports and articles of bedding and similar furnishing “fitted with springs or stuffed or internally fitted with any material or of cellular rubber or plastics, whether or not covered”. Its subheadings include mattress supports (9404.10); mattresses of cellular rubber or plastics, whether or not covered (9404.21), and of other materials (9404.29); sleeping bags (9404.30); quilts, bedspreads, eiderdowns and duvets (9404.40); and other articles, including pillows, cushions and similar furnishings (9404.90).
Note 3(b) matters for seating packages: goods described in heading 9404 that are entered separately are not classified as parts of seats or other furniture. Whether a separately packed seat cushion or a headboard pad is such a good is a question for your broker, but the note is the reason to describe loose cushions and pads as their own lines rather than as “parts”. Note 1(a) excludes pneumatic or water mattresses, pillows and cushions from the chapter altogether.
Medical and aged-care furnishings: heading 9402
Heading 9402 covers medical, surgical, dental or veterinary furniture, with operating tables, examination tables, hospital beds with mechanical fittings and dentists’ chairs as its examples, together with barbers’ chairs and similar chairs “having rotating as well as both reclining and elevating movements”, and parts. Its subheadings are dentists’, barbers’ or similar chairs and parts (9402.10) and other (9402.90). Heading 9401 expressly excludes seats of heading 9402, and note 1 excludes dentists’ chairs incorporating dental appliances of heading 9018.
The heading text gives examples, not a list of aged-care products, and it does not say where a resident-room bed, a care recliner or a lounge chair used in a care home belongs. Those lines need a description that tells the broker what the product does: its mechanical fittings, its movements and how it is used.
What the schedule does not settle
The headings and notes are the starting point, not the answer. Classification is decided by the importer and its customs broker under the General Rules of Interpretation and any rulings, which we did not read for this article. Duty rates, additional duties and trade remedies are separate questions: for example, our United States compliance page notes the US antidumping order on wooden bedroom furniture from China, and the scope of any such order is read from the order itself, not from the heading. Other countries publish their own tariff schedules, and the same product can be described differently in each. For a container to the United States, the six-digit number is also one of the data elements of the Importer Security Filing; our note on 19 CFR Part 149 reads that filing.
How to write schedule lines a broker can classify
A broker classifies from the description, so one useful thing a contractor can do is write each line so that it answers the questions the headings ask. These are the fields we would add to each item code before the order:
- What it is: seat, table, storage, bed, mattress, cushion or lighting, in plain words.
- Frame material: wood, metal, plastics, bamboo, rattan or other, as the subheadings ask.
- Upholstery: upholstered or not, and the cover and filling materials.
- Where it is used: office, kitchen, bedroom, outdoor or healthcare, as the specification describes the room.
- Mechanisms: swivel, height adjustment, conversion into a bed, or mechanical fittings and movements.
- How it is shipped: assembled, knocked down, or with cushions, glass or stone tops packed separately.
Our own team performs one inspection after bulk production is complete and before shipment, checking quantities, dimensions, finish, hardware and packing against the signed-off specification, and your project team is welcome to attend. A line written this way is as useful to the factory as it is to the broker. FBM Furniture works with companies only: Developers · General Contractors · Builders · Commercial Project Owners · Interior Design & Construction Companies · FF&E Solution Providers.
Frequently asked questions
Which heading covers hotel and office seating?
Heading 9401 covers seats other than those of heading 9402. Its subheadings separate swivel seats with height adjustment, seats convertible into beds, cane, bamboo and rattan seats, and seats with wooden or metal frames, upholstered or not.
Where do wardrobes, desks and tables go?
They are generally looked for in heading 9403, other furniture, which is divided by material and, for wooden furniture, by the kind of room: offices, kitchens, bedrooms and other.
Are wall-hung cabinets still furniture under Chapter 94?
Note 2 says articles of headings 9401 to 9403 are classified there only if designed for placing on the floor or ground, but it keeps cupboards, bookcases, other shelved furniture and unit furniture, and seats and beds, in those headings even if they are hung or fixed to the wall.
Does this article give duty rates?
No. It quotes the headings and notes of HTS Revision 21 (2026) only. Rates, additional duties and classification decisions belong with the importer and its customs broker.
How is FBM Furniture paid, and who inspects?
For suppliers you nominate, we charge a 5% commission; for products we source for you, we quote a direct price. Our own team performs one inspection after bulk production is complete and before shipment, and your team is welcome to attend.
Send your FF&E schedule
Send the item list with materials and descriptions. Our team will review it and get back to you.