Learn: US import duties, explained
Plain-language guides for anyone who buys goods abroad and brings them into the United States: what the codes mean, which duties apply, and how to read an estimate. No customs background needed.
How to find your HTS code
What the ten digits of an HTS code mean, where to find yours, and how to have it confirmed.
Guide 2Why the base duty rate is not enough
The base rate is only the first layer: what the country of origin and the date add, what a trade agreement takes off, and what stays outside.
Guide 3How to compare two countries of origin
The same product from two countries can owe very different duties: what changes, what does not, and how to compare.
Guide 4How to read a TariffTrust estimate
The total and its share of the value, each line and its source, the status, the questions, the scenarios and the date.
Guide 5How the MPF and HMF entry fees are calculated
The merchandise processing fee and the harbor maintenance fee: their rates, the MPF's minimum and maximum, who is exempt, and why they are counted once per entry.
Guide 6How to read a Chapter 99 heading
What the 9903 numbers of a customs entry are, how a heading of Chapter 99 is written, where its products are listed, and how to tell whether it applies to yours.
Guide 7How duties per kilogram, liter or proof liter are calculated
Specific and compound duty rates: which quantity they count, how to work out the proof liters of spirits and the weight of garments, and the mistakes to avoid.
Guide 8How Section 301 tariffs work, on China and beyond
The Section 301 duties on goods from China, the 2026 actions on 60 economies, Brazil and Nicaragua, their exclusions and exemptions, and how to tell whether your product owes one.
Guide 9How Section 232 tariffs work: metals, vehicles and more
The Section 232 duties on steel, aluminum and copper, vehicles, trucks, lumber, pharmaceuticals, semiconductors and drones: what they cover, what they are charged on, how to check.
Guide 10How US import duties stack
Base duty, Section 301, Section 232 and the rest: which duties add up, which exempt goods from others, which rates include the base duty, with examples calculated today.
Guide 11How trade agreements lower US import duties
The Special column and its symbols, the agreements the United States has, what claiming one takes, and what it changes in the duties, and what it does not.
Guide 12How to calculate the landed cost of an import
What goods really cost once in the United States: their price, freight, insurance, duties, entry fees and broker's fees, and the customs value duties are charged on.
Guide 13IEEPA tariff refunds: where things stand
Who can get back the IEEPA duties paid in 2025 and early 2026, how CBP's CAPE refunds work, what the class action of October 2026 changes, and what to do now.
Guide 14US import duties on goods from Canada and Mexico
What goods of Canada and Mexico owe in 2026: the USMCA and the duties it changes, Section 232, the 2026 Section 301 rate, and the Section 338 duties on Canada.
How TariffTrust checks its data
Official sources only, rules read by a specialized AI and checked by programs and people, a calculation without AI, and corrections in the open.
Words you will meet
- HTS code
- The ten-digit number of a product in the Harmonized Tariff Schedule of the United States, the US customs tariff.
- Duty
- A tax on imported goods, paid by the importer to US Customs and Border Protection (CBP) on the entry of the goods.
- Duty rate
- How a duty is calculated: a share of the value of the goods, an amount per unit such as per kilogram, or both.
- Base rate
- The rate of the General column of the tariff, for goods from the countries that have normal trade relations with the United States.
- Chapter 99
- The part of the tariff that holds the additional duties, such as those of Sections 301 and 232, each with its countries, products and dates.
- Country of origin
- Where the goods were made, or last substantially transformed; not where they were shipped from.
- Customs value
- What most duties are calculated on: in most cases the price paid to the seller, without international freight and insurance.
- Entry
- The declaration that brings goods into the United States, filed with CBP by the importer or its customs broker.
- Entry fees
- The merchandise processing fee (MPF) charged on an entry, and the harbor maintenance fee (HMF) on goods that arrive by sea.
- Customs broker
- A professional licensed by CBP to prepare and file entries for importers.
- Binding ruling
- A written decision of CBP on how a product is classified, which an importer can ask for before importing it.
Calculate your duties
Enter an HTS code, a country of origin and a value: TariffTrust adds up every US duty and fee that applies, each with its official source. Free, no sign-up.