HS Codes for Ink Craft Orders: Ink Sticks, Inkstones, Xuan Paper and Brushes

HS Codes Decide More Than Duty on an Ink Craft Order

A customs classification rarely appears in a sourcing brief, yet the HS code printed on each invoice line decides duty rates, clearance speed and document checks for every shipment leaving a Chinese workshop.

A mixed container can hold ink sticks, inkstones, xuan paper and brushes under one booking, and each product line follows a different heading. Buyers who confirm the HS code for each SKU before sampling avoid the two most common delays: a broker reclassifying goods in transit, and an invoice description failing to match the cartons loaded behind the container doors.

The guide below maps the headings most Chinese export declarations use for ink craft products, then shows how classification changes when products ship inside a gift set instead of separate cartons.

Ink Sticks and Seal Paste: Heading 3215

Heading 3215 covers printing ink, writing or drawing ink, whether or not concentrated or solid. The wording matters for solid formats: a Premium Pine Soot Hui Ink Stick is pressed and dried rather than bottled, yet the heading text includes solid ink, so export declarations most often place the HS code for ink sticks under 3215 alongside bottled liquid ink.

Vermilion paste follows the same logic. The Vermilion Ink Paste a gift program orders beside seal stones is a writing-related color preparation, so brokers commonly assign the HS code for paste to the same chapter. Liquid ink in bottles, concentrated pastes and solid sticks can then share one heading even when packaging, weights and shelf life differ completely.

Inkstones, Seal Stones and Carved Ornaments: Heading 9602

Carved mineral and plant materials fall under heading 9602, worked vegetable or mineral carving material and articles. A Classic Duan Inkstone is quarried, sawn, ground and carved into a grinding surface, so export declarations most often assign the HS code for inkstones to 9602 rather than to raw stone chapters.

Seal stones take the same route. A Premium Shoushan Seal Stone arrives as a shaped and polished blank or as a fully carved piece, and both states count as worked carving material, so the HS code for seal stones sits under 9602 as well. Display-grade carved ornaments follow the same heading; antiques form the narrow Chapter 97 exception, and new wholesale stock never qualifies for the antique route.

Xuan Paper: Heading 4802

Paper made for writing and printing sits in heading 4802. Raw Xuan Paper Professional sheets, despite the bark and bamboo fiber mix and the hand-sheeting tradition behind xuan paper, are still paper of a kind used for writing, so the HS code for xuan paper normally lands in 4802.

Format changes rarely move the heading. Sheets, rolls and bound albums of the same paper keep one HS code per line, while basis weight in grams per square meter decides the subheading candidates, so the invoice should state basis weight beside sheet counts. Decorative finishes can drift toward other paper headings, and a broker should confirm unusual coatings.

Brushes: Heading 9603

Brushes for painting, including Chinese and Japanese calligraphy brushes, fall under heading 9603.30. A Premium Wolf Hair Calligraphy Brush pairs a bamboo handle with a stiff wolf-hair tip, and the finished product remains a painting brush first, so the HS code for the brush stays in 9603 regardless of handle material.

Handle materials matter only when brushes ship as loose components. Bare bamboo shafts and separate hair tufts can be classified differently from an assembled brush, so buyers ordering parts for local assembly should ask the supplier to state the HS code for each component line on the commercial invoice.

Gift Sets: One HS Code or Several

A boxed set mixes chapters inside one retail unit. The Seal Carving Gift Set pairs a carved stone, a porcelain bowl of paste and a carving knife in one wooden case. Customs rules for mixed sets turn on essential character, and practice varies between destination markets: some accept a single set-level HS code, others expect each component declared separately.

Wholesale desk sets raise the same question at a larger scale, because a four-treasures set can combine paper, brushes, an inkstone and an ink stick. Confirming the declaration format with the broker before production prevents relabeling work after packing, when cartons are already sealed and palletized.

A Short Checklist Before Booking Shipment

• Assign one HS code per SKU line, not one for the whole order.
• Keep the commercial invoice, the packing list and the outer carton marks aligned with each HS code line.
• State material, function and finish in every description: a line reading hand-carved Shoushan seal stone clears faster than a line reading stone craft.
• Ask the broker at destination to confirm subheadings, because duty rates and rules differ by market even when the six-digit HS code matches.
• Keep product photos and material notes on file for customs queries raised after arrival.

Gumo Craftworks Co., Ltd. supplies the product names, materials and packing details behind each line, so a buyer's broker can lock the HS code list before production starts. A short inquiry message with the draft SKU list is enough to receive export-ready descriptions for every product in the ink craft range.