Buying the same product from a supplier in another country can change its US import duties a great deal, sometimes by more than the difference in price between the suppliers. Comparing countries of origin before you place an order takes a few minutes.
What usually stays the same
A product keeps its HTS code wherever it is made, and with it the base rate of the General column, the same for every country that has normal trade relations with the United States. Two exceptions:
- A trade agreement. Goods that meet the rules of origin of an agreement with their country can enter at the lower rate of the Special column, often free.
- Column 2. Goods from the few countries without normal trade relations pay the higher Column 2 rate instead.
What changes
Additional duties are where countries differ most. Section 301 duties name the countries they apply to; other measures of Chapter 99 apply to one country, to all but a few, or spare goods that qualify under an agreement. Section 232 duties often reach every origin, but their terms can differ by country. And all of them change over time: the cheapest origin this quarter may not be the cheapest next quarter.
The entry fees depend on the value of the goods and on how they arrive, not on the country, with one exception: goods that qualify under some trade agreements are exempt from the merchandise processing fee.
Origin is where the goods were made
The country of origin is where the goods were produced, not where they were shipped, sold or invoiced from. When materials from several countries are combined, the origin is the country where they were last substantially transformed: made into a new article, with a new name, character or use. Some goods, such as textiles and apparel, follow rules of their own, and each trade agreement has its own rules of origin for its lower rate.
Shipping goods through another country, or relabeling or repacking them there, does not change their origin. Declaring a false origin to pay less duty is evasion, which CBP investigates and penalizes.
Compare origins in TariffTrust
In the free calculator
Calculate the product once for each country: the same code, value and answers, and only the "Made in" field changes. Each result has its own breakdown, line by line, with its sources.
In the workspace: Compare origins
The Compare origins view calculates the same product, value and answers for up to ten countries at once, starting with yours and some of the largest suppliers of US imports. Each country is a bar, sorted from least to most by the total or by the rate, your own origin highlighted. Add or remove countries on the chart and open any of them for its full breakdown; a country with a trade agreement shows what claiming it would give. A comparison counts once against your plan's quota, whatever the number of countries. The workspace is included in TariffTrust's plans.
Compare like with like
- Keep the same date of entry, quantities and answers for every country. If the suppliers' prices differ, calculate each at its own price: most duties are a share of the value.
- A country can raise questions of its own: a duty on its goods may depend on what the product contains or how it was made. Until you answer, a question with an ordinary case takes it, and the estimate says so.
- Look at the status of each country: one that needs information, or whose estimate is withheld while a rule is reviewed, has no complete total yet.
- The origin is a fact about the goods: compare suppliers in different countries, not ways of declaring the same goods.
Updated October 24, 2026. General information as of that date, not legal or customs advice: the official texts prevail, and a licensed customs broker can confirm what applies to your goods.