Finding your HS/HTS code — and what it really costs you

How to find your code, the reliable way

Start at the official USITC HTS lookup (hts.usitc.gov) — it's free, authoritative, and exportable in CSV/JSON/Excel. Search by plain-language description to find candidate headings, then read the heading and subheading text carefully: classification follows the General Rules of Interpretation, which decide the code by the product's terms, essential character, and use — not by which description contains your keyword. Two similar-looking products can sit in different chapters based on material or function.

For anything valuable, ambiguous, or high-volume, don't self-assign and hope. Search CBP's CROSS database (rulings.cbp.gov) for how similar products were classified, and for certainty request a binding ruling from CBP through eRulings (erulings.cbp.gov). A binding ruling is the authoritative answer; USITC publishes the schedule but CBP classifies individual products. This is a professional-review step for products where a wrong code is costly.

Why the HTS rate you look up is not what you pay (2026)

USITC says it directly: the base rate in HTS Chapters 1-97 is only one part of the landed duty. Your actual duty may also depend on Chapter 99 measures, country of origin, customs value, Section 301 duties, exclusions, AD/CVD, and applicable customs fees. Always verify the current HTS, USTR notices, and CBP guidance before importing.

In practice for 2026, three distinct things get confused — keep them separate: (1) the new Section 301 forced-labor tariff — an additional duty of 10% or 12.5% by country of origin, effective July 24, 2026, for economies that don't enforce a forced-labor import ban; (2) the traditional China Section 301 duties (7.5–25% by product list) from the tech-transfer/IP investigation, which continue separately and stack on China-origin goods; and (3) forced-labor import prohibitions (such as UFLPA), which are an admissibility question — they can bar goods from entering at all, not just tax them. A product showing a 6.5% HTS base rate can carry roughly 19% in real duty once the forced-labor origin layer is added, and a separate supply-chain issue could stop it at the border regardless of duty.

So use the HTS lookup for your product's base rate and classification, then run the real number in the landed cost calculator, where the origin-based trade-action layers are applied. The HTS code is the starting point; it is not the final bill — and duty is not the only gate.

Common questions

Why won't this site just tell me my HS code?

Because an honest tool can't. Correct classification depends on material, function, composition, and the GRI — a text match produces confident-but-wrong codes, and as importer of record you're liable for the error under CBP's reasonable-care standard. We point you to the official lookup and the binding-ruling process instead of guessing.

Is the HS code the same in every country?

The first 6 digits are — that's the international Harmonized System. Each country adds its own last digits and duty rates, so your US HTS code and duty differ from the EU or UK tariff line for the same goods.

Official sources behind these numbers

• The Harmonized Tariff Schedule of the United States (HTSUS) is published by the U.S. International Trade Commission. An HTS number is 10 digits: the first 6 are the international Harmonized System code (shared worldwide), digits 7-8 are the US subheading that sets the duty rate, and digits 9-10 are a statistical suffix. U.S. International Trade Commission · verified 2026-07-24
• Classification under the HTS is governed by the General Rules of Interpretation (GRI) — a legal hierarchy that decides a product's code by its terms, essential character, and use, not by keyword matching. The correct code depends on material, function, composition, and intended use. U.S. International Trade Commission · verified 2026-07-24
• The full current HTS (and its revisions) can be searched and exported for free from the official USITC site at hts.usitc.gov/export in CSV, JSON, or Excel; it is also published on data.gov. U.S. International Trade Commission · verified 2026-07-24
• For certainty on a product's classification, an importer can request a binding tariff classification ruling from CBP through the eRulings system (erulings.cbp.gov), filed to the National Commodity Specialist Division. A binding ruling is the authoritative answer; USITC publishes the schedule but does not classify individual products. U.S. Customs and Border Protection · verified 2026-07-24
• CBP's Customs Rulings Online Search System (CROSS), at rulings.cbp.gov, contains the full text of thousands of CBP binding rulings — useful precedent for how a similar product was classified before you request your own ruling. U.S. Customs and Border Protection · verified 2026-07-24
• The importer of record is legally responsible for the correct HTSUS classification under CBP's 'reasonable care' standard — even when a customs broker files the entry. A wrong code is the importer's liability, not the broker's. U.S. Customs and Border Protection · verified 2026-07-24
• USITC states that the base 'general' duty rate in HTS Chapters 1-97 is only one part of the duty owed: a product's actual duty may also depend on Chapter 99 measures, country of origin, customs value, Section 301 duties, exclusions, AD/CVD, and applicable customs fees. Importers should verify the current HTS, USTR notices, and CBP guidance before importing. U.S. International Trade Commission · verified 2026-07-24
• Effective 12:01 a.m. EDT 2026-07-24 (CBP CSMS #69326983; USTR Section 301 forced-labor action determined 2026-06-02, announced 2026-07-23), imports from 60 economies owe an additional Section 301 duty of 10% or 12.5% ad valorem on most goods (HTSUS Chapters 1-97, via Chapter 99 headings 9903.05.20-9903.05.84), for those economies' failure to enforce a prohibition on goods made with forced labor. This is a NEW, distinct trade action — it is NOT the traditional China technology-transfer/IP Section 301 duties (which continue separately), and it is NOT the forced-labor import prohibition itself (which bars entry of specific goods rather than taxing them). 12.5%: China, Hong Kong, Vietnam, Brazil, Russia and others; 10%: Canada, Mexico, India, UK, Indonesia, Malaysia, Taiwan and others. EU/Taiwan/Japan/Korea/Switzerland are net-of-MFN conditional rates. U.S. Customs and Border Protection (CSMS #69326983) · verified 2026-07-24 · effective 2026-07-24
• Section 301 tariffs on China-origin goods remain in effect: four tranches at 7.5%-25% covering ~$370bn of imports, with 2024 four-year-review increases of 25%-100% on targeted categories (EVs, batteries, semiconductors, solar, steel/aluminum, medical products). USTR · verified 2026-07-24 · effective 2018-07-06