HS Code for Cookies

Cookies are classified in HTSUS heading 1905, where sweet biscuits point toward subheading 1905.31 and wafers toward 1905.32. Both carry a general rate of Free, and the 10-digit statistical lines separate frozen cookies, cookies containing peanuts and certified organic cookies. Unbaked cookie dough and cookie mixes are a different matter, pointing toward 1901.20 with its own rates. Confirming whether the product is a baked cookie, a wafer or a dough is the first step in exploring the most appropriate code.

Heading 1905 of the HTSUS covers bread, pastry, cakes, biscuits and other bakers' wares, whether or not containing cocoa. Within it, the subheadings for sweet biscuits, waffles and wafers are the natural home for most cookies: sweet biscuits, the HTSUS term for what US shoppers call cookies, point toward 1905.31, and waffles and wafers toward 1905.32.

Inside 1905.31 the 10-digit statistical suffixes follow a consistent pattern. Frozen cookies are reported separately from other cookies, and each group separates cookies containing peanuts or peanut products from others. Non-frozen cookies without peanuts are further split between certified organic (1905.31.00.42) and other cookies (1905.31.00.45). Wafers under 1905.32 use the same frozen and peanut splits. All of these lines currently share a general rate of Free, so the statistical detail matters more for reporting than for the estimated duty.

A few nearby provisions are worth knowing. Gingerbread and similar products have their own subheading at 1905.20. Cakes, pastries and other sweet baked goods that are not biscuits or wafers fall under the broader 1905.90 provisions, which serve a different set of products.

The biggest boundary is between a baked cookie and the dough used to make one. Unbaked cookie dough and dry cookie mixes point toward 1901.20, mixes and doughs for the preparation of bakers' wares of heading 1905. That subheading includes lines tied to butterfat and sugar content and tariff-rate quota notes, with compound rates that combine a per-kilogram and an ad valorem component, so the composition of a dough deserves a close look.

General duty rates for baked cookies are low. Sweet biscuits under 1905.31, wafers under 1905.32 and gingerbread under 1905.20 all carry a general rate of Free, whether frozen or not and whether or not they contain peanuts. Cookie dough and mixes are treated differently: the residual line for doughs at 1901.20.80 carries around 8.5%, and doughs with high butterfat or sugar content can fall on quota-linked lines with higher compound (per-kilogram plus ad valorem) rates.

These are general (MFN) rates only. Additional duties under Section 301 or IEEPA-based measures may apply depending on origin, and cookies are subject to FDA food facility registration, prior notice and labeling requirements. These figures are estimates for general planning purposes only.