HTS Code Lookup: The Complete Guide for Importers

Quick Answer: An HTS code lookup identifies the 10-digit Harmonized Tariff Schedule number that sets your US import duty. Search your product at hts.usitc.gov, confirm it against CBP CROSS rulings, then apply the Column 1 General rate plus any Chapter 99 add-on tariffs. The importer of record owns the classification.

Classification is a legal decision, not a guess. The calculator above turns a plain product description into an HTS code and a full landed-cost breakdown for your own origin and commercial value.

What is an HTS code, and how many digits does it have?

Quick Answer: An HTS code is the 10-digit Harmonized Tariff Schedule number the United States uses to classify imported goods and set their duty. The first 6 digits are the international HS code, digits 7-8 set the US duty rate, and digits 9-10 are the statistical suffix used for trade data.

HTS stands for the Harmonized Tariff Schedule of the United States. The US International Trade Commission publishes it. CBP enforces it at the border and rules on disputed classifications.

The structure is strictly hierarchical. Each pair of digits narrows the product further. Take a men's cotton knit T-shirt, classified under 6109.10.00.12.

Only the first six digits travel internationally. Your buyer in Bogotá files a DIAN code that shares those six digits, then diverges. The same happens at SAT in Mexico, SUNAT in Peru and Receita Federal in Brazil.

Three agencies divide the work. The USITC publishes the tariff at hts.usitc.gov. CBP issues classification rulings. The Census Bureau maintains Schedule B for exports.

One product in one condition has exactly one correct HTS line. Two codes that both "look right" means one of them is wrong.

What is the difference between an HS code and an HTS code?

Quick Answer: An HS code is the 6-digit international classification used by all WCO member countries. An HTS code is the 10-digit US version built on top of it. Schedule B is the 10-digit US export code, and TARIC is the EU's 10-digit import code. Imports into the USA always require the HTS number.

The World Customs Organization owns the first six digits. Every member country adopts them without change. What comes after is national policy.

For destination-side classification, use the local tool. The EU publishes TARIC, the UK publishes the Trade Tariff, CBSA publishes the Canadian Customs Tariff, and the International Trade Administration's HS code guidance links the main foreign databases.

How do I look up an HTS code for my product?

Quick Answer: Go to hts.usitc.gov and run a keyword search using the product's material and function, not its brand name. Open the chapter, read the heading notes, then drill to the 10-digit line. Cross-check the result against CBP rulings in CROSS before you file anything.

The USITC search tool is free and authoritative. The agency rebuilt it with filtered search and export options, described in its HTS search tool announcement.

1. Open hts.usitc.gov and confirm the revision shown at the top is the current edition.
2. Search by keyword for a material plus function, or by number if you already have six digits.
3. Read the Section and Chapter notes before you accept any heading — notes override intuition.
4. Drill from the 4-digit heading down through the 6-digit and 8-digit lines to the statistical suffix.
5. Export the candidate lines to CSV or PDF and save them in your classification file.

Search terms that actually return results

Describe the good the way the tariff does. The tariff cares about constituent material, function and state of assembly. It does not care about your marketing name.

• "polo" returns noise — "knitted cotton shirt, men's" lands you in Chapter 61
• "phone holder" returns noise — "mounting bracket, base metal" lands you in Chapter 83
• "brake kit" returns noise — "brake pads, mounted friction material" lands you in heading 6813

What are the General Rules of Interpretation (GRI 1-6)?

Quick Answer: The General Rules of Interpretation are the six legally binding rules that decide which HTS heading applies to your product. GRI 1 says the headings and section notes control. The later rules handle sets, mixtures, incomplete goods and competing headings, and they must be applied in order.

The GRI sit at the front of the tariff. They are law, not guidance. You apply them in sequence and stop at the first one that resolves the question.

• GRI 1 — the heading text plus Section and Chapter notes decide. Most goods stop here.
• GRI 2(a) — an incomplete or unfinished article classifies as the complete article only if, as entered, it has the essential character of the complete article. Complete articles entered unassembled or disassembled are also covered.
• GRI 2(b) — mixtures and composite goods extend to materials combined with others.
• GRI 3 — when two headings compete: most specific, then essential character, then last in numerical order.
• GRI 4 — goods most akin to the item, used rarely.
• GRI 5 — cases and packing are classified with the goods only under conditions: under 5(a), cases must be specially shaped or fitted, suitable for long-term use, entered with the articles, normally sold with them, and must not give the whole its essential character; under 5(b), packing must be of a kind normally used for the goods and not clearly suitable for repeated use.
• GRI 6 — the same logic applied one level down, at the subheading.

Three worked examples

Flat-packed steel shelving. You ship it unassembled from Houston. GRI 2(a) applies. It classifies as complete steel furniture, not as cut steel parts.

A gift set with a leather case, charger and cable. GRI 3(b) applies. You pick the component that gives the set its essential character, usually by value and function, and classify the whole set there.

Two headings fit equally well. GRI 3(a) and 3(b) fail to break the tie. GRI 3(c) sends you to the heading that occurs last in numerical order. That is a real rule, not a tiebreaker of convenience.

How do I read the General, Special and Column 2 rate columns?

Quick Answer: Column 1 General is the normal trade relations rate that applies to most countries. Column 1 Special lists free trade agreement rates with letter codes in parentheses. Column 2 applies to a short list of countries without normal trade relations. Your origin country decides which column you read.

Every 8-digit line in the tariff carries three rate columns. CBP explains the mechanic in its guidance on determining duty rates.

Letter codes you will see on Latin America lanes

• Colombia — US-Colombia Trade Promotion Agreement; confirm its letter code in the HTS General Notes
• PE — US-Peru Trade Promotion Agreement
• CL — US-Chile Free Trade Agreement
• P / P+ — CAFTA-DR, covering Guatemala, El Salvador, Honduras, Costa Rica, Nicaragua and the Dominican Republic
• S / S+ — USMCA, covering Canada and Mexico

A Special rate is never automatic. The goods must meet the rule of origin for that specific heading, and you must hold a valid certification of origin. Mere shipment from a partner country proves nothing.

Rates come in three formats. Ad valorem rates are a percentage of customs value. Specific rates are cents per kilogram or per unit. Compound rates combine both, and you pay the sum.

How do Chapter 99 add-on tariffs stack on the base rate?

Quick Answer: Chapter 99 subheadings carry the add-on tariffs that sit on top of your base HTS rate. Section 301, Section 232 and IEEPA actions each have their own product and origin scope, set in their published notices. They stack, and they change often.

The mechanic is simple. Your Chapter 1-97 line supplies the base duty. One or more Chapter 99 lines are declared alongside it on the same entry summary. CBP assesses them cumulatively.

Antidumping and countervailing duties are the sharpest risk. They are set per exporter, by case number, and can exceed the value of the goods. No calculator includes them. A licensed customs broker confirms whether your producer falls within a scope order.

Exclusion lists and derivative lists move constantly. A code that carried no add-on last quarter may carry one this quarter. Check the current entry before every shipment, and use the calculator above for the live add-on on your own product and origin.

How do I find the duty rate and landed cost for my HTS code?

Quick Answer: Duty is charged on the customs value of the goods, meaning the price paid without international freight or insurance. Add the Merchandise Processing Fee and, on ocean cargo, the Harbor Maintenance Fee. The calculator above finds the HTS code from a plain product description and returns the full landed cost.

Customs value is the transaction value — the price actually paid or payable for the goods. International freight and insurance stay out of it. Assists, royalties and selling commissions can be dutiable additions, so review your contract terms.

Air freight into Miami International or Los Angeles pays MPF but no HMF. Ocean containers arriving at PortMiami, Port Houston, Savannah or Los Angeles/Long Beach pay both.

Build the landed cost in this order:

1. Start with customs value — price paid, excluding international freight and insurance.
2. Apply the base duty from the correct rate column.
3. Add any Chapter 99 add-on tariffs for your country of origin.
4. Add the Merchandise Processing Fee, and the Harbor Maintenance Fee on ocean cargo.
5. Add brokerage, bond and freight, which are quoted separately.

How do I verify a code with CROSS and request a binding ruling?

Quick Answer: Search CBP's CROSS database at rulings.cbp.gov for rulings on products like yours, then read how CBP reasoned through the GRI. If no ruling fits, file a binding ruling request through the eRulings portal. Binding rulings are free and give you written, defensible classification.

CROSS holds decades of CBP classification decisions. Search by HTS number to see what CBP has already placed there. Search by keyword to find products built like yours.

Read the reasoning, not just the outcome. Check the ruling status too — a ruling marked revoked or modified no longer protects anyone.

What a binding ruling request must contain

• Full product description and commercial name
• Complete materials breakdown by weight and value
• Intended use and how the product is marketed
• Manufacturing process and country of origin
• Photos, diagrams or a physical sample
• Your proposed classification with GRI reasoning

eRulings requests cost nothing. CBP generally answers standard classification requests in about 30 days. Complex or referred cases take longer, especially when headquarters review is needed.

Who is responsible if my HTS code is wrong, and what happens?

Quick Answer: The importer of record is legally responsible for the HTS classification, even when a broker or foreign supplier supplied the number. CBP enforces a reasonable-care standard under 19 U.S.C. 1484, and penalties for incorrect entries fall under 19 U.S.C. 1592, scaled by negligence, gross negligence or fraud.

The Customs Modernization Act shifted the burden onto importers. You must use reasonable care when you declare value, classification and origin. "My broker typed it" is not a defense.

Penalty exposure under 19 U.S.C. 1592 scales with culpability. Negligence draws the lowest multiple of the loss of duty. Gross negligence draws more. Fraud draws the domestic value of the merchandise. Intent is not required for liability at the negligence tier.

Three ways to fix a wrong code

• Post Summary Correction — amend the entry before liquidation, usually the cleanest route
• Protest under 19 U.S.C. 1514 — challenge the entry after liquidation, within the statutory window
• Prior disclosure — self-report before CBP opens a case and cap your penalty exposure

The operational damage lands before the legal damage. A misclassified entry triggers a CBP hold, then an exam. CES charges, terminal storage, demurrage and chassis per-diem accrue the entire time.

Categories that go wrong most often

• Auto parts — classified by use or by material, and the two paths diverge badly. See our guide to importing auto parts from the USA to Guatemala for a worked category example.
• Textiles — knit versus woven, and fiber content by weight, change the chapter entirely
• Machinery — a complete unit versus a part versus an accessory
• Food and supplements — FDA prior notice stacks on top of the classification
• Solar and steel derivatives — derivative lists expand without warning

Where does the HTS code appear on shipping documents?

Quick Answer: The HTS code appears on the commercial invoice, the CBP Form 7501 entry summary, and the ISF 10+2 filing for ocean imports. On exports it appears as a Schedule B or HTS number in the AES/EEI filing. Consistency across all four documents prevents CBP holds.

Map it document by document. The commercial invoice carries the code per line item. The packing list mirrors the description. On CBP Form 7501, any Chapter 98 and 99 numbers are reported first on the line, and the full 10-digit Chapter 1–97 code comes last.

The ISF 10+2 filing needs the code at six digits minimum. It is due 24 hours before the vessel loads at the foreign port. A mismatch between the ISF and the manifest can lead to delays and CBP holds.

Southbound to Latin America, your buyer's broker rebuilds the classification locally. The Factura Comercial, Certificado de Origen and Manifiesto de Carga must agree with the US-side description. Their NIT or RUT goes on the import declaration.

Free lookup tools compared

Commercial mirrors such as the Flexport HS and HTS lookup are useful for speed. The legal text remains the USITC edition.

Classification data flows differently by mode. On an LCL consolidation from the USA to Guatemala, each house bill carries its own codes through deconsolidation. Transit expectations by mode are mapped in our shipping times guide for the USA to El Salvador.

Monitor the tariff for changes. The USITC publishes revisions several times a year. Chapter 99 moves faster, through Federal Register notices, presidential proclamations and CBP CSMS messages.

An accurate harmonized tariff code lookup protects your margin and your entry record. Use the calculator on this page to turn a plain product description into an HTS code, a duty rate, the additional tariffs, the customs fees and a full landed cost for your own origin and value. Then confirm borderline calls with a licensed customs broker before the goods ship.