Sending Jewellery from the UK to the USA — Tariffs, Insurance & Customs

To ship jewellery from the UK to the USA in 2026: use HS code 71.13 (precious metal) or 71.17 (costume), declare actual sale value, ship DDP via UPS Worldwide Economy from £12.80 a parcel, and top up insurance for pieces above £100. Jewellery is one of the more delicate categories to ship — high value, small parcels, easy to lose — but the duty maths is friendlier than apparel.

This is the guide for UK jewellery makers, silversmiths, Etsy shops, and indie designers selling to the US.

The HS Code Split: Precious vs Costume

The first decision is which chapter your piece falls under:

• HS 71.13 — Jewellery of precious metal: gold, silver, platinum. Includes silver-plated and gold-plated where the base metal is itself precious. Most “real” jewellery sits here.
• HS 71.17 — Imitation jewellery: brass, plated base metals, plastic beads, acrylic, glass.

Subcategories within 71.13:

• 7113.11 — Silver jewellery
• 7113.19 — Gold and platinum jewellery
• 7113.20 — Base metal jewellery clad with precious metal

Gemstone-set pieces use the same chapter but with stone descriptions on the commercial invoice for accuracy.

US Duty Rates for Jewellery

Approximate rates as of 2026:

Lower than apparel (15 to 32%) but real money on a £200 silver bangle or £600 gold pendant. With DDP, the duty is pre-paid and the customer sees one total at checkout.

Pricing: What It Costs to Ship Jewellery to the USA

Jewellery parcels are small — 50g to 300g with packaging. Almost all fall in the lightest weight band:

Most single-item jewellery sales ship at the cheapest UPS WWE DDP rate. The shipping cost rarely scales with the value of the piece.

Declared Value: Always the Sale Price

This is non-negotiable. Declare the actual sale price on the customs form.

Why honesty pays:

• Insurance attaches to declared value. If your £400 ring is lost in transit and you declared £50 to save on duty, your reimbursement is £50.
• CBP spot-checks find undervaluation regularly, especially on jewellery — it’s a flagged category.
• Repeat offences flag your shipping account and can lead to systemic customs holds.

The £2 to £20 saved on duty isn’t worth the risk.

Insurance: When to Top Up

UPS Worldwide Economy includes default liability cover of around £100. Royal Mail PDDP covers up to about £250 depending on service. For most handmade pieces — silver, mid-range stones, small-batch pieces — that’s adequate.

Top up coverage when:

• The piece is above the default cover threshold
• It includes precious gemstones (diamond, sapphire, ruby, emerald) at material value
• It’s a one-of-a-kind designer piece you cannot replace
• The customer specifically requests it

Adding £500 of cover typically costs £3 to £5 at label generation. Cheap insurance for peace of mind.

Packing Jewellery for Transit

Jewellery is small and easy to lose inside a parcel:

1. Inner gift box — branded, rigid, with the piece secured (rubber-band on a pendant card, sponge-grip for rings).
2. Outer mailer — small cardboard mailer or jiffy bag rated for small items.
3. Wrap the box in bubble wrap or tissue. Stops it rattling and getting damaged.
4. Use a tracked-and-signed service for orders above £100. The signature requirement deters porch-theft once delivered.
5. Avoid labelling the outside with “jewellery” or “diamond” — security-by-obscurity is real for high-value parcels.

For pieces above £500 declared value, consider switching to a courier service with signature-required delivery as standard (UPS WWE includes this on the US final mile).

The Etsy and Handmade Angle

Most UK jewellery shipping to the USA comes from Etsy and indie maker websites. Specific to that market:

• HS codes mandated on Etsy listings since late 2025. Update yours if your shop pre-dates that.
• “Handmade” still attracts duty — no de minimis exemption for craft items since August 2025.
• Personalised pieces ship under the same HS codes as standard jewellery — personalisation doesn’t change classification.
• Wedding and engagement rings at high declared values benefit most from DDP — surprise customs on a £400 engagement ring ruins a moment.

How TradeWind Helps Jewellery Sellers

TradeWind gives UK jewellery makers access to UPS Worldwide Economy DDP rates without setting up a UPS account. Etsy and Shopify orders import automatically with HS codes pre-mapped, and DDP labels generate in seconds with duty calculated to actual declared value.

For higher volume — production jewellery, wedding-season bulk orders, B2B to US boutiques — TradeWind’s business USA shipping handles bulk DDP and commercial invoicing for boxes of stock.

Common Mistakes Jewellery Sellers Make

A few that come up regularly:

• Using “miscellaneous accessories” as the customs description. Use specific descriptions: “Sterling silver pendant necklace.”
• Marking commercial sales as gift to dodge duty. Fraud — customs catches this.
• Declaring “wholesale value” instead of retail sale price on individual orders. The declared value is what the customer paid, not your cost.
• Skipping DDP to save £1 a parcel. The 5% duty on a £150 ring is £7.50 — and the £20 brokerage fee a US carrier slaps on a DDU parcel kills the buyer experience.

The Bottom Line

UK jewellery to USA in 2026 is one of the cleaner categories to ship: low duty rates (5 to 11%), light parcel weights, predictable customs, and a strong American appetite for British silver and indie makers. Get the HS code right (71.13 or 71.17), declare honestly, ship DDP via UPS Worldwide Economy at £12.80 a parcel through TradeWind, and top up insurance on anything above £100.

The maths works. The customer experience is clean. And the US market for handmade UK jewellery is one of the most loyal segments out there.

Sources

• HMRC Trade Tariff — Chapter 71
• US Customs & Border Protection — Jewellery Imports
• US International Trade Commission Tariff Database