Vietnam Plywood HS Codes: The HS 4412 Breakdown

Vietnamese plywood enters almost entirely under HS heading 4412. Which six-digit subheading applies depends on how the panel is built, whether every ply sits at or below 6 mm, and which wood species forms the outer face. Get the outer species wrong and the tariff line moves, which drags the duty rate and the legality paperwork along with it.

This page decodes the 4412 subheadings a Vietnam-origin shipment is likely to hit, what separates them, and what each classification asks of you at the border. For panel specs, core makeup, and density figures, the mill certificate is the source of record; Vinawood's product range shows how those specs read on real grades.

How does customs decide the HS 4412 subheading?

Three tests, applied in order.

Ply thickness. Subheadings 4412.31 through 4412.39 cover plywood made solely of wood sheets where each ply is 6 mm or less. That describes most commercial and film-faced plywood from Vietnam, built from rotary-peeled veneers well under that limit. Once a construction uses thicker laminations or a sawn-timber core, it drops out of this group and into the "other" tail of the heading.

Outer-ply species. Within the 6 mm group, the code turns on the face veneer. Customs looks at whether at least one outer ply is a tropical species named in the Chapter 44 subheading note, one of the named temperate hardwoods, another non-coniferous wood, or a softwood. Nothing about the core changes this test. A eucalyptus-core panel with a tropical face is classified on the face.

Construction. The tail of the heading separates laminated veneer lumber (LVL), blockboard and similar lumber-core panels, and everything else. Each of those groups is then split again by outer-ply species.

HS 4412 subheading reference table

Codes follow the World Customs Organization HS 2022 nomenclature. National schedules add further digits, and some still carry pre-2022 numbers, so verify the exact line in the destination tariff.

Where do Vietnam's plantation species classify?

Vietnam's core species are plantation-grown acacia, eucalyptus, Hevea (rubberwood), and styrax. They sort across the heading in a way that catches out first-time importers.

• Eucalyptus is named directly in 4412.33. A eucalyptus-faced panel with plies of 6 mm or less classifies there.
• Acacia is neither on the tropical-wood note list nor among the species named in 4412.33. As a non-coniferous wood not otherwise specified, an acacia face lands in 4412.34.
• Rubberwood and styrax follow acacia into 4412.34 for the same reason.
• Pine faces make the panel coniferous on both sides, so 4412.39.
• Tropical faces such as okoumé or bintangor, seen on some decorative and marine grades, pull the panel into 4412.31.

Film-faced formwork is classified on the wood veneer beneath the phenolic film, not the film itself. A eucalyptus film-faced panel is still 4412.33; an acacia one is 4412.34. Blockboard and laminboard, built on a sawn-timber core, sit in the lumber-core subheadings whatever the face. Planning densities help you sanity-check a declared species (Hevea around 700, eucalyptus around 650, acacia around 580 kg/m³), and the mill certificate confirms the actual face and core. Vinawood documents species and overlay per shipment; the product range lists them for each grade.

What happened to 4412.94 and 4412.99?

Older paperwork and many national tariff files still show 4412.94 for blockboard and 4412.99 for "other" plywood. The 2022 revision of the Harmonized System retired both. Blockboard, laminboard and battenboard moved to 4412.51 through 4412.59, split by outer-ply species. The old catch-all 4412.99 was replaced by 4412.91 through 4412.99, and a new LVL group opened at 4412.41 through 4412.49. If you are reconciling historical trade data or an old classification ruling, expect the tail codes to have shifted even where the 6 mm codes (4412.31, 4412.33, 4412.34, 4412.39) stayed put. National schedules adopt these changes on their own timelines, so confirm the live code in the destination tariff before you file.

What documentation does each classification trigger at import?

The six-digit code is the hinge. It sets the duty rate, and it decides which trade-remedy scope and which legality regime your shipment falls under.

United States. Every formal 4412 entry needs a Lacey Act plant declaration (APHIS PPQ 505) naming the genus, species, and country of harvest, alongside the commercial invoice, packing list, and CBP entry summary. Panels that meet the "hardwood plywood" definition also carry TSCA Title VI formaldehyde obligations, so the importer must hold the CARB P2 / TSCA Title VI certification. The US antidumping and countervailing duty order on hardwood plywood from China reaches several 4412 codes, including 4412.31, 4412.33, 4412.34 and 4412.39. Vietnam-origin panels are not covered by that China order, but Commerce has run circumvention inquiries on Vietnamese hardwood plywood that used Chinese inputs, so scope is a question for a licensed customs broker rather than a blanket assumption. A clean country-of-origin and species record on the mill documents is what settles it.

European Union. The Combined Nomenclature mirrors the same 4412 splits, and TARIC returns the third-country duty for each. Construction panels sold into the EU need CE marking to EN 13986. From late 2025 the EU Deforestation Regulation applies to wood products under 4412, so operators file a due-diligence statement with geolocation of the harvest plots before the goods are placed on the market. The EU has also held product-specific antidumping measures on plywood, such as okoumé-faced panels, so the declared face species can pull a shipment into or out of a measure.

Everywhere. UN Comtrade and national customs both key their statistics off the six-digit code, so a misdeclared face species can misfile a shipment and flag it on review. The species on the mill certificate has to match the code on the entry, and both have to match what is actually in the container.

For mill certificates, species and core documentation, or help matching a grade to the right 4412 line for your market, contact Vinawood.

Related guides

• Importing plywood from Vietnam
• Incoterms and container loading for Vietnam plywood
• US antidumping & countervailing duties on Vietnam plywood
• Where Vietnam's plywood ships: export markets