# Coffee HS Code 0901: Which Code Applies to Your Coffee?

**HS heading 0901 covers coffee — but it splits into five codes, and four of them enter the United States at 0% while the fifth does not.** Two questions settle which is yours: is the coffee roasted, and is it decaffeinated? Answer those and your six-digit code is below, with the US duty rate and a way to find importers who already buy it.

> Section II · Vegetable products
> Chapter 09 · Coffee, tea, maté and spices

**HS code:** `0901`

## Coffee HS Code 0901: Quick Classification Table

| Code | Roasted? | Decaffeinated? | What it covers |
| --- | --- | --- | --- |
| [**090111**](/hscode/09/090111) | Not roasted | No | Green coffee beans — the standard export code |
| [**090112**](/hscode/09/090112) | Not roasted | Yes | Green beans, decaffeinated before roasting |
| [**090121**](/hscode/09/090121) | Roasted | No | Roasted coffee, whole bean or ground |
| [**090122**](/hscode/09/090122) | Roasted | Yes | Roasted decaf |
| [**090190**](/hscode/09/090190) | — | — | *Other* — the residual code. In practice: coffee husks and skins, and coffee substitutes containing coffee |

> Full legal text of the heading: *Coffee, whether or not roasted or decaffeinated; coffee husks and skins; coffee substitutes containing coffee in any proportion.* Heading 0901 sits in [Chapter 09](/hscode/09) (coffee, tea, maté and spices), Section II (vegetable products).

## How Do You Choose the Right HS Code for Coffee?

Work through two questions in order. The order matters: roasting decides the pair, decaffeination decides which of the two.

**Question 1 — Has the coffee been roasted?** Not roasted sends you to 0901.1 (090111 or 090112). Roasted sends you to 0901.2 (090121 or 090122). Green beans that have been cleaned, graded, polished or sorted are still *not roasted* — processing that does not apply heat does not move the code.

**Question 2 — Has the caffeine been removed?** Decaffeinated takes the second code in the pair; ordinary coffee takes the first. Decaffeination usually happens before roasting, which is why 090112 exists as a green-bean code.

**Has the coffee been roasted?**
- Not roasted (green) → **Has the caffeine been removed?** No: [090111](/hscode/09/090111) (US MFN 0%) · Yes, decaffeinated: [090112](/hscode/09/090112) (US MFN 0%)
- Roasted → **Has the caffeine been removed?** No: [090121](/hscode/09/090121) (US MFN 0%) · Yes, decaffeinated: [090122](/hscode/09/090122) (US MFN 0%)
- Neither: [090190](/hscode/09/090190) — Husks, skins and coffee-containing substitutes — 1.5¢/kg

That is the whole decision for anything that is still recognizably coffee. What breaks the rule is coffee that has been extracted or turned into a preparation — see the instant coffee section below.

## What Is the HS Code for Green Coffee Beans?

**Green coffee beans are 090111** — unroasted, not decaffeinated. This is the code most coffee exporters use, because most coffee crosses a border green and is roasted in the destination market.

Use **090112** instead if the beans were decaffeinated before shipping. The bean is still green; the caffeine is what changed.

Cleaning, hulling, grading, polishing, sorting and bagging all leave the code at 090111. None of them is roasting.

→ [See 090111, with duty rates](/hscode/09/090111) · → [See 090112](/hscode/09/090112)

## What Is the HS Code for Roasted Coffee?

**Roasted coffee is 090121**, and **090122** if it is decaf. Both cover whole bean and ground — grinding does not change the six-digit code, and neither does packaging or blending roasted origins together.

The line that does matter is extraction. Roasted coffee is still coffee. Once you extract it into a soluble powder or a concentrate, it leaves Chapter 09 entirely.

**Flavoured coffee stays at 090121 too — adding vanilla or hazelnut does not move the code.** US Customs and Border Protection has ruled directly on this: *"CBP has consistently classified flavored ground coffee, including coffee in filter packages, as coffee in heading 0901"*, and *"added flavorings should not remove coffee from classification therein"* ([HQ 967568](https://rulings.cbp.gov/ruling/967568), 25 May 2005 — flavoured ground roasted coffee in filter packets, coffee about 95% by weight, classified 0901.21 at a Free rate). CBP's reasoning was that the Explanatory Notes to heading 0902 say flavoured **tea** stays in its heading, and coffee should be read the same way.

**What does move it is when the coffee stops being the main thing.** The test is essential character, and the contrast is stark: a *"flavoured coffee mix"* that was **46–63% sugar, 25–32% non-dairy creamer and only 7–7.5% instant coffee** was classified in **2101.12** at **10% ad valorem** ([NY D84186](https://rulings.cbp.gov/ruling/D84186), 13 November 1998).

So: **flavour added to coffee is still coffee. Coffee added to a sugar-and-creamer preparation is not.** There is no percentage threshold in the tariff — CBP decided both on which component gives the product its essential character, so a borderline blend is worth a binding ruling of your own before you file.

**Coffee pods and capsules are 090121 as well — the packaging does not change the code.** The same ruling covered two pod products. A filter-paper packet of flavoured ground coffee was classified 0901.21, *"it is the coffee component which provides the article its essential character"*. So was a **two-compartment pod holding ground roasted coffee on one side and a coffee creamer on the other** — because it was sold solely to produce a coffee beverage, the coffee still gave it its essential character. CBP notes it had classified coffee-and-cream discs the same way before.

**Where a pod stops being 090121 is the same line as everywhere else on this page:** when the thing inside is an extract rather than coffee, or when the coffee is a minor ingredient in a preparation. A pod of ground roasted coffee is coffee. A pod of instant coffee with sugar and creamer is not.

→ [See 090121](/hscode/09/090121) · → [See 090122](/hscode/09/090122)

## Does Instant Coffee Fall Under HS Code 0901?

**No. Instant coffee is not classified under 0901.** It falls under heading [**2101**](/hscode/21/2101) — *extracts, essences and concentrates, of coffee, tea or maté and preparations with a basis of these products or with a basis of coffee, tea or maté; roasted chicory and other roasted coffee substitutes, and extracts, essences and concentrates thereof.*

This is the most expensive mistake on this page, because 0901 and 2101 sit in different chapters and can carry different duty treatment.

| Product | Code | Why |
| --- | --- | --- |
| Soluble / instant coffee, coffee extract, concentrate | [210111](/hscode/21/210111) | It is an extract, not coffee |
| Preparations with a basis of coffee or of coffee extract — 3-in-1 mixes, coffee bases | [210112](/hscode/21/210112) | A preparation, not coffee as such |
| **Roasted** chicory and other **roasted** coffee substitutes | [210130](/hscode/21/210130) | Substitute, not coffee — and roasted |

The test is simple: if the product has been brewed, extracted and dried, it is 2101. If it is still a bean or ground coffee you would have to brew yourself, it is 0901.

**Where 090190 fits:** it is the residual code — the *"Other"* line under heading 0901, for anything the four specific codes above do not cover. The heading's own text names **coffee husks and skins** and **coffee substitutes containing coffee in any proportion**, and those are what 090190 catches in practice. A substitute containing **no** coffee at all is not a 0901 product.

**Where it goes instead depends on whether it has been roasted**, and this catches people out. Heading 2101's own wording covers *"**roasted** chicory and other **roasted** coffee substitutes"* — so a roasted coffee-free substitute is [210130](/hscode/21/210130). An **unroasted** one is not in 2101 at all: heading [1212](/hscode/12/1212) names *"unroasted chicory roots"* in its own text, in a different chapter entirely. **Roasting is the condition of entry to 2101 for a substitute, not an optional processing step.**

## Coffee HS Code Mistakes That Lead to the Wrong Classification

**Confusing 090111 with 090121.** These two look almost identical in most code lists because the "not roasted" and "roasted" level is often dropped from the display. 090111 is green. 090121 is roasted. Check the middle level before you file.

**Sending instant coffee to 0901.** It belongs in 2101. Different chapter, potentially different duty.

**Assuming ground means processed enough to change the code.** Grinding roasted coffee keeps it at 090121. Only extraction moves it out.

**Treating 090190 as a catch-all.** It is not a general "other coffee" bucket. It covers husks, skins and coffee-containing substitutes. Most products belong in one of the four specific codes — and **090190 is the only one of the five whose US base rate is not 0%**, so guessing it is not free.

**Classifying by the destination's national code first.** The first six digits are international and identical everywhere. Digits 7–10 are national and differ by market — in the United States they come from the HTSUS, the Harmonized Tariff Schedule. Get the six right, then extend. See [HTS vs HS Code](/blog/hts-vs-hs-code) for how the two relate.

## Already Know the Code? Check the Import Duty

The six-digit code is where classification ends and cost begins. US MFN base rates, HTS 2026 Column-1 General, **as of 1 January 2026**, read off the live code pages:

**The four specific coffee codes — [090111](/hscode/09/090111), [090112](/hscode/09/090112), [090121](/hscode/09/090121) and [090122](/hscode/09/090122) — all enter the United States at 0%. The residual [090190](/hscode/09/090190) does not: it is 1.5¢/kg, varying by US subheading.** Roasting and decaffeination change your code but not your US base rate; landing on the residual code does change it.

**The 0901/2101 line is where the real money is.** Getting instant coffee wrong is not a paperwork error:

| If you file it as… | Rate |
| --- | --- |
| [210111](/hscode/21/210111) coffee extracts, concentrates | **0%** |
| [210112](/hscode/21/210112) preparations with a basis of coffee | **10%** *(varies by US subheading)* |
| [210130](/hscode/21/210130) roasted substitutes | **2.1¢/kg** |

A 3-in-1 mix filed as roasted coffee moves a **10%** line to a **0%** one. That is the underpayment this page exists to prevent.

Three caveats, all of which apply to every rate on this site:

- **Rates vary by the US subheading beneath the six-digit code** wherever this page says so. The six-digit figure is the base, not the final line.
- The MFN base rate **excludes Section 301 and IEEPA add-ons**. Your landed cost can be higher than the base rate suggests.
- Rates shown are reference data, **not legal advice**. A binding classification comes from the customs authority of the importing country.

→ Open your own code from the [classification table](#classification-table) at the top of this page to see its duty in full. Rates for other countries and live duties are available through the EximAgent CLI.

## Turn HS Code 0901 Into a List of Coffee Importers

A code is only useful if it leads somewhere. The same six digits that clear your shipment also identify the companies that have shipped under them — by name, ranked by how much they actually ship.

Pick the code your product falls under:

| Your code | Companies on record |  |
| --- | --- | --- |
| **090111** green coffee | 117 companies | [See the companies →](/companies/hs/090111) |
| **090121** roasted coffee | 48 companies | [See the companies →](/companies/hs/090121) |
| **090112** green decaf | 16 companies | [See the companies →](/companies/hs/090112) |
| **090122** roasted decaf | 4 companies | [See the companies →](/companies/hs/090122) |
| **090190** husks, skins, substitutes | 2 records, both the same freight carrier | [See the companies →](/companies/hs/090190) |

Each listing is built from customs filings, ranked by shipments recorded over the last 12 months. **Coverage is United States filings** — the same single-country limit that applies to the duty data above.

**[Find coffee importers →](/companies/hs/090111)**

## Frequently asked questions

**What is the HS code for coffee?**
Coffee sits under heading 0901. The exact six-digit code depends on two things: 090111 for green beans, 090112 for green decaf, 090121 for roasted, 090122 for roasted decaf. 090190 is the residual *"Other"* code — in practice coffee husks, skins and coffee-containing substitutes.

**What is the HS code for green coffee beans?**
090111 — coffee, not roasted, not decaffeinated. Use 090112 if the beans are decaffeinated.

**What is the HS code for roasted coffee?**
090121 for ordinary roasted coffee, whole bean or ground. 090122 if it is decaffeinated. Grinding does not change the code.

**Is instant coffee 0901?**
No. Instant coffee, coffee extracts and concentrates fall under heading 2101, in a different chapter.

**Does grinding coffee change the HS code?**
No. Ground roasted coffee stays at 090121. Extraction into a soluble product is what moves it — to 2101.

**What is the HS code for coffee powder?**
It depends on what the powder is. Ground roasted coffee — the kind you still have to brew — is [090121](/hscode/09/090121) (090122 if it is decaf), because grinding does not change the code. Instant or soluble coffee powder is an extract, and belongs under heading 2101 at [210111](/hscode/21/210111). Check which product you have before you file.

**What is the HS code for coffee pods and capsules?**
090121, the same as any other roasted coffee — 090122 if it is decaf. The pod itself does not change the classification: US Customs classified a filter-paper packet of ground roasted coffee under 0901.21 because *"the coffee component… provides the article its essential character"*, and reached the same answer for a pod that also held a creamer compartment ([HQ 967568](https://rulings.cbp.gov/ruling/967568)). A pod of **instant** coffee is a different product — that is 2101.

**Is flavoured coffee still 0901?**
Yes. Vanilla, hazelnut or any other flavouring added to roasted coffee leaves it at 090121 — 090122 if it is decaf. US Customs has ruled that *"added flavorings should not remove coffee from classification therein"* ([HQ 967568](https://rulings.cbp.gov/ruling/967568)). What does move it is a product where coffee is no longer the main component: a mix that is mostly sugar and creamer with a little instant coffee is 2101.12, not 0901.

**What is the difference between 090111 and 090121?**
Roasting. 090111 is not roasted (green). 090121 is roasted. Both are non-decaffeinated.

**Is the coffee HS code the same in every country?**
The first six digits are, under the Harmonized System. Beyond six digits each country adds its own — so check the destination's national tariff for the full line.

## Subheadings as written in the nomenclature

- `090111` — Coffee, not roasted — Not decaffeinated
- `090112` — Coffee, not roasted — Decaffeinated
- `090121` — Coffee, roasted — Not decaffeinated
- `090122` — Coffee, roasted — Decaffeinated
- `090190` — Other

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Source: https://eximagent.ai/hscode/09/0901
Last updated: 2026-08-29
Find importers, tariffs and sanctions for 0901 with EximAgent — https://eximagent.ai