Cards made for a game are playing cards in US customs terms, even when they are bought to collect. Only cards with no game behind them stay printed matter.
Candidate codes
4
US duty
Free
UK / EU duty
0% – 2% / 0% – 2.7%
Decided by
Whether the cards are made for a game
US: USITC HTS Revision 21 (2026) · UK and EU checked 2026-10-27 · Covers loose cards, booster packs and boxes of cards, plus card storage boxes. A game sold with a board, dice and cards follows the whole game.
Find your codeCandidates 4
Q1What are you shipping?
How to tell
What counts is how the cards are designed, not how the buyer uses them. In ruling N359352 the importer said the Pokémon cards were collector's items; CBP still classified them as playing cards because they are game pieces by design.
Q2How were the cards printed?
9504.40.00.00Playing cards, including trading card gamesUS Free UK 2% · EU 2.7%
4911.99.60.00Other printed matter, lithographicUS Free UK 0% · EU 0%
4911.99.80.00Other printed matter, other printingUS Free UK 0% · EU 0%
9504.90.90.80Other game articles, such as deck boxesUS Free UK 0% · EU 0%
General (MFN) duty rates. Lower rates may apply under trade agreements; extra duties may apply depending on the country of origin. UK and EU columns show the rate for the six-digit subheading.
Mistakes to avoid
“Collector's item” does not change the code. CBP rejected 4911 for Pokémon cards declared as collectibles in N359352 and classified them in 9504.40.
Sports cards have no recent published ruling. Cards with no game are printed matter; some importers use 4911.91 (pictures) instead of 4911.99. Both are duty-free in the US.
Playing cards are not just standard decks. CBP classifies Uno, trivia decks and collectible card games as playing cards too (ruling H331822).
Customs rulings on trading cards
N359352Pokémon trading cards from Japan · 9504.40.00.00
You state that the 3 Pokémon cards are to be collector’s items and not to be used in play. By design, the Pokémon cards function as game pieces for the competitive strategic Pokémon Trading Card Game.
“we are of the opinion that the 3 Pokémon trading cards are game pieces classifiable in subheading 9504.”
N364760Playing/trading card and dice holder from Canada · 9504.90.90.80
The merchandise under consideration, item number DB-001, is a plastic playing/trading card deck box with an integrated dice and accessory compartment.
“The applicable subheading for the subject merchandise will be 9504.90.9080, HTSUS.”
Quoted word for word from the U.S. Customs and Border Protection rulings database (CROSS). A ruling binds only the goods it describes, but shows how CBP reads these headings.
How this page is checked
Every code above exists in the current US tariff schedule (Revision 21 (2026)). The build stops if a code disappears.
Duty rates are read from the official data, not typed by hand: USITC for the US, the UK Trade Tariff for the UK and the EU.
Ruling quotes are checked word for word against the ruling text, and rulings that are revoked or modified are removed.