How do I find the HTS code for my product?

Search the tariff schedule by what the product is made of and what it is, such as "granite slab" or "cotton knit shirt", not by brand or model name. The finder above searches the current HTSUS text and groups matches by chapter and heading, so you can see where your product sits. Before settling on a ten-digit line, read the heading wording and the chapter notes.

Can I do an HS code lookup here?

Yes. Type the six-digit HS code with its dot, such as 6802.23, and the search lists the U.S. ten-digit HTS lines under it with their duty rates. The first six digits of every HTS code are the international HS code, so this is also the quickest way to turn a supplier’s HS code into the U.S. line you need. You can also search by product description or browse by chapter.

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

An HS code is the six-digit international code from the World Customs Organization Harmonized System, used by more than 200 countries. An HTS code is the ten-digit U.S. version: the same first six digits, plus two digits that set the U.S. duty rate and two statistical digits. Your supplier’s six-digit HS code is a starting point; the last four digits have to be determined for the U.S. entry.

What is the difference between an HTS code, a Schedule B number and an HS code?

All three share the same first six digits, the international Harmonized System (HS) code. The HTS code is the ten-digit U.S. import classification, published by the U.S. International Trade Commission, and it is what sets the import duty. The Schedule B number is the ten-digit U.S. export classification, published by the Census Bureau and reported in the Electronic Export Information for U.S. exports; an HTS number may be reported there instead, except where the HTS headnotes say otherwise. Use the HTS code for goods coming into the United States and Schedule B (or HTS) for goods leaving it.

Is an HTS code the same in every country?

Only the first six digits. Beyond six, each country extends the code its own way: the EU uses eight-digit CN codes with a ten-digit TARIC, India uses eight-digit ITC (HS) codes, and the U.S. uses ten digits. So a code copied from an export declaration in another country usually isn’t a valid U.S. entry code.

How many digits does an HTS code have?

Ten for a U.S. import entry. The first six digits are the international HS code, the first eight identify the duty rate, and the ninth and tenth are the statistical suffix used for trade data. An entry filed at six or eight digits won’t be accepted, which is why this tool only estimates duty on full ten-digit lines.

Why does my HTS line show a footnote about Chapter 99?

Because an additional tariff may apply on top of the normal rate. Section 301, Section 232 and Section 201 measures are written into Chapter 99 of the HTSUS as separate lines that stack on the Chapter 1–97 duty. A footnote such as "See 9903.88.03" is the schedule pointing you at one of those provisions; whether it actually reaches your goods depends on the product and the country of origin.

Who is legally responsible if the HTS code is wrong?

The importer of record. U.S. law requires the importer to use reasonable care in classifying, valuing and declaring the goods, and that responsibility can’t be transferred to a broker or a forwarder. If CBP finds the code wrong, the importer owes the duty difference plus interest, and may face penalties where reasonable care wasn’t exercised.

Are the duty rates shown here final?

No. The rates come from the current HTSUS, and the duty figure is an estimate for planning. U.S. Customs and Border Protection determines final duties and fees at entry, based on the classification, declared value, origin and the measures in force on the entry date. The estimate does not include antidumping and countervailing duties, quota provisions or excise taxes.

Can Airlift USA classify my product for me?

We can help, but the decision stays yours. Through our licensed broker network, a licensed customs broker can review a proposed classification against your product specification, point out the chapter notes and Chapter 99 lines that bear on it, and file the entry. Airlift USA is an FMC-licensed NVOCC, not a customs broker. We can’t take the legal responsibility off the importer of record: the final classification, and the reasonable-care record supporting it, stays with you.

How do I estimate the total landed cost once I have the code?

Open the code in the tariff simulator from the result panel. It carries the code and origin across and estimates the Column 1 rate, any additional Chapter 99 tariff lines, the Merchandise Processing Fee (MPF), the Harbor Maintenance Fee (HMF) and the resulting landed cost for the shipment value you enter. Freight is quoted separately through rate search.

HTS Code Lookup: Search the Harmonized Tariff Schedule

Look up the 10-digit U.S. tariff code for your product and see the duty it carries. This HTS code finder searches the Harmonized Tariff Schedule of the United States (HTSUS) by product description, by HTS code, or by the six-digit HS code your supplier gave you. Each line shows where it sits in its chapter and heading, its Column 1 and special rates, and an estimated duty by country of origin. Free, no signup.

Exporting from the US? You need a Schedule B number: Schedule B vs HTS codes.

HTS code search

What are you importing? Describe it, or type a code or chapter number

Search by material and type of article (“granite”, “knit shirt”, “aluminum extrusion”), not a brand or model name. The schedule describes goods in its own words.

Try:

Browse the Harmonized Tariff Schedule by chapter

The HTSUS is organized into 21 sections and 97 chapters. If you know roughly what family your product belongs to, starting from its chapter is usually faster than guessing search terms. Select a chapter to list its headings in the search results above. Where a chapter has pages in our US import data explorer, the link under it opens that chapter's headings, with Census import value, the main origin countries and calculated duty.

Section I Live animals; animal products

Section II Vegetable products

Section III Animal or vegetable fats and oils and their cleavage products; prepared edible fats; animal or vegetable waxes

Chapter 15 import data: 6 headings

Section IV Prepared foodstuffs; beverages, spirits and vinegar; tobacco

Section V Mineral products

Section VI Products of the chemical or allied industries

Section VII Plastics and articles thereof; rubber and articles thereof

Section VIII Raw hides and skins, leather, furskins and articles thereof; saddlery and harness; travel goods, handbags and similar containers

Chapter 42 import data: 1 heading

Section IX Wood and articles of wood; wood charcoal; cork and articles of cork; manufactures of straw, of esparto or of other plaiting materials; basketware and wickerwork

Chapter 44 import data: 5 headings

Section X Pulp of wood or of other fibrous cellulosic material; recovered (waste and scrap) paper and paperboard; paper and paperboard and articles thereof

Section XI Textiles and textile articles

Section XII Footwear, headgear, umbrellas, sun umbrellas, walking sticks, seatsticks, whips, riding crops and parts thereof; prepared feathers and articles made therewith; artificial flowers; articles of human hair

Section XIII Articles of stone, plaster, cement, asbestos, mica or similar materials; ceramic products; glass and glassware

Section XIV Natural or cultured pearls, precious or semiprecious stones, precious metals, metals clad with precious metal and articles thereof; imitation jewelry; coin

Chapter 71 import data: 7 headings

Section XV Base metals and articles of base metal

Section XVI Machinery and mechanical appliances; electrical equipment; parts thereof; sound recorders and reproducers, television image and sound recorders and reproducers, and parts and accessories of such articles

Section XVII Vehicles, aircraft, vessels and associated transport equipment

Section XVIII Optical, photographic, cinematographic, measuring, checking, precision, medical or surgical instruments and apparatus; clocks and watches; musical instruments; parts and accessories thereof

Section XIX Arms and ammunition; parts and accessories thereof

Chapter 93 import data: 1 heading

Section XX Miscellaneous manufactured articles

Section XXI Works of art, collectors' pieces and antiques

Chapter 97 import data: 2 headings

Section and chapter titles follow the Harmonized Tariff Schedule of the United States as published by the U.S. International Trade Commission at hts.usitc.gov, which reproduces the World Customs Organization Harmonized System nomenclature. Chapter 77 is reserved and has no goods. Chapters 98 and 99 are not listed: they hold U.S. special provisions and temporary modifications (including the 9903 lines behind Section 301, Section 232 and IEEPA tariffs), and goods are not classified there in the first instance.

How to look up an HTS code

Describe the product by what it is and what it is made of, such as "granite slab" or "cotton knit shirt", not by brand or model name. Or type a code: a chapter (68), a heading (6802), or the six-digit HS code from your supplier with its dot (6802.23).
Read the results chapter by chapter. Each line shows its place in the chapter and heading. The heading wording and the chapter notes decide the classification, not the line that sounds closest.
Select a 10-digit line. Only 10-digit lines can go on a US import entry; shorter codes are shown for context. The panel lists the Column 1 General, Special and Column 2 rates, the units of quantity and any footnotes.
Pick the country of origin to see an estimated duty. A flag on the line means a Chapter 99 additional tariff may apply, depending on the origin.
Open the line in the import duty calculator to run your own customs value and entry date, with MPF, HMF and the customs landed cost.

HS code vs HTS code vs Schedule B number

All three classify the same goods and share the same first six digits. Which one you need depends on the direction of the shipment: HTS codes for goods coming into the United States, Schedule B numbers for goods leaving it.

HS, HTS and Schedule B codes compared
Code	Digits	Published by	Used for
HS code	6	World Customs Organization	The international base shared by more than 200 countries. Each country adds its own digits after the first six.
HTS code (HTSUS)	10	U.S. International Trade Commission	US imports. The first eight digits set the duty rate; the last two are statistical. It goes on the import entry filed with CBP.
Schedule B number	10	U.S. Census Bureau	US exports. It is reported in the Electronic Export Information (EEI) filed in AES and sets no duty.

Exporting from the US? The Schedule B number search guide explains when the Electronic Export Information needs one and how to find yours with the Census Bureau's search tool.

How HTS classification works

What an HTS code is, and what each digit does

Every product imported into the United States enters under a code from the Harmonized Tariff Schedule of the United States (HTSUS), published by the U.S. International Trade Commission. That code sets the duty rate. It also decides whether a trade-agreement rate is available, whether an additional tariff action applies, and which other agencies get to look at the shipment.

Get it wrong and you either overpay for years or face a CBP rate advance and penalties.

The full code is ten digits, read in pairs. The first six are the international Harmonized System (HS), identical in every country that uses it: two for the chapter, two for the heading, two for the subheading. Digits seven and eight are the U.S. subheading, where the American duty rate is set. Digits nine and ten are the statistical suffix: they carry no duty but tell the Census Bureau what moved. Using granite as the example:

6802 — heading: worked monumental or building stone
6802.23 — HS subheading: granite
6802.23.00 — U.S. subheading: the line the Column 1 duty rate hangs on
6802.23.00.00 — statistical suffix: the ten-digit line you file on the entry

How the right code is decided: the six General Rules of Interpretation

You don’t pick whichever description sounds closest. The HTSUS opens with six General Rules of Interpretation (GRI), applied in order: you move to the next rule only when the one before it doesn’t settle the question.

GRI 1 — The wording of the headings and the legal section and chapter notes decide the classification. Most goods stop here. The notes are binding text, not commentary, and they routinely exclude goods that the heading wording alone would seem to cover.
GRI 2 — An unfinished or unassembled article is classified as the finished article if it already has its essential character. A material mixed or combined with another is still classified in its own heading.
GRI 3 — When two or more headings each describe part of the goods: the more specific heading wins (3a); failing that, the material or component that gives the goods their essential character wins (3b); failing that, the last heading in numerical order among the candidates wins (3c).
GRI 4 — Goods that fit nothing else go with the goods they most closely resemble. In practice this is almost never needed.
GRI 5 — Cases and packing presented with the goods generally follow the goods.
GRI 6 — The same rules are then applied one level down to choose between subheadings, comparing only subheadings at the same level.

Six common classification mistakes

Most misclassifications come from a handful of habits, not from genuinely hard goods.

Trusting the supplier’s code. Your overseas supplier classified the goods for export from their country. The first six digits usually carry over; digits seven through ten are U.S.-specific and frequently wrong.
Reusing an old code after the product changed. A new material, a new coating, added electronics or a different presentation can move the goods to a different heading.
Skipping the chapter and section notes. A note can exclude your product from a heading whose wording fits it perfectly.
Stopping at six digits. Six digits won’t clear an entry: the duty rate lives at eight digits and the entry needs ten.
Forgetting Chapter 99. Additional tariffs (Section 301, Section 232 and Section 201 measures) are written as separate Chapter 99 lines that stack on top of the Chapter 1–97 rate. A footnote such as "See 9903.88.03" on your line is the schedule telling you to go look.
Ignoring the units of quantity. If the schedule asks for kilograms and dozens, the entry has to report both, and specific or compound duties are calculated on them.

The importer owns the classification

Under U.S. law the importer of record must use reasonable care to classify and value the goods and pay the correct duty, and that obligation can’t be handed off. A customs broker, a freight forwarder or a tool like this one can do the research and file the entry. But if the code is wrong, the importer owes the money and, where CBP finds negligence, the penalty.

In practice, reasonable care means keeping a written record of how each code was chosen: the heading text and notes you relied on, the GRI you applied, and the product specification you classified against. Revisit it when the product or the schedule changes. That file is what turns a disagreement with CBP into a technical discussion instead of a penalty case.

Settle close calls with CBP rulings (CROSS)

When a classification is genuinely arguable and the duty difference is material, you don’t have to guess. CBP publishes every classification ruling it has issued in a searchable database called CROSS (Customs Rulings Online Search System). Searching it for goods like yours often turns up a ruling that settles the question, and citing that ruling strengthens your own record.

If nothing on point exists, you can request your own binding ruling under 19 CFR Part 177. You describe the product and propose a classification, and CBP answers in writing. The ruling then binds CBP at every port for as long as it stands. Requests are free to file and typically take several weeks: worth it for a product you’ll import repeatedly, less so for a one-off shipment.

When to bring in a licensed customs broker

Get a licensed broker involved when:

the goods are composite or multi-function and GRI 3 is in play
the duty spread between two plausible codes is large
an additional tariff action or an antidumping order may reach your product
another agency (FDA, USDA, EPA, FCC) has a say
CBP has already questioned an entry

How Airlift USA can help

Airlift USA arranges U.S. customs clearance through our licensed broker network, alongside ocean and air freight, ISF filing and drayage. We can have a licensed broker review a proposed classification against your product specification, flag the Chapter 99 lines that would stack on it, and file the entry. The final call, and the record behind it, stays with you as the importer of record.

What to do once you have your code:

Terms on this page:Harmonized System Code (HS Code)Landed Cost Merchandise Processing Fee (MPF)Harbor Maintenance Fee (HMF)Importer of Record (IOR)

HTS code FAQs

An HTS code is the number that classifies a product in the Harmonized Tariff Schedule of the United States (HTSUS), published by the U.S. International Trade Commission. Every product imported into the United States enters under one. The code sets the duty rate, decides whether a trade-agreement rate or an additional tariff action applies, and tells other agencies which shipments to look at. The HTS code lookup above searches the current schedule by product or by code.

Disclaimer

The HTS Code Finder reproduces the published Harmonized Tariff Schedule of the United States and estimates duty for planning only. It is not classification advice and does not create a broker–client relationship. Classifying imported goods, with reasonable care, is the legal responsibility of the importer of record. U.S. Customs and Border Protection determines the final classification, duty and fees at entry. Airlift USA arranges U.S. customs clearance through our licensed broker network.