The US HS code and the corresponding tariffs can be queried through the official website of the US International Trade Commission.
First, let’s get to know the interface. The URL is https://hts.usitc.gov/. After opening the webpage, enter HS CODE to search. From left to right are the search results, tax code category/chapter/item/subcategory, national subcategory, product description, quantity unit and tariff rate. There are several sub-columns under the
tariff rate column, which are divided into column 1 and column 2. Column 1 is divided into general tax rate and special tax rate.
The general tax rate column lists general or normal trade relations tax rates, which apply to all products, but do not include countries with products that are eligible for special tariff treatment (such as countries with free trade agreements, trade bills, preferential plans, etc.).
The special tax rate column reflects the tax rate under one or more special tariff treatment programs. The applicable countries are in brackets after the tax rate listed in this sub-column. These rates apply to those products that are appropriately classified in accordance with the regulations and indicate the special rate and have met all legal requirements for such program or program eligibility. If no special tax rate is provided, the general tax rate shall apply.
The tax rate in column 2 applies to products originating from Cuba and North Korea.
Let’s refer to the figure above and give an example to illustrate the retrieval steps.
1. If you are not sure what the local tax number in the United States is, you can first conduct a fuzzy query based on the tax number in China's export customs declaration. The exported products are radio navigation equipment/GPS locator receiving devices, tax number 8526919090. Usually the first six digits are internationally accepted. If the first six digits do not match, you can also search for the first four digits. We search for 852691 and can see that the product description under 85269100 matches our product. The receiving device selects subheading 20, so the final tax number used during customs clearance in the United States is 8526910020.
2. The tariff rate of this product, through the general tax rate sub-column under column 1, can be seen as Free, which is 0 tariff, but the following 1/ shows See 9903.88.01. We search again and you can see the picture below. This means that for goods originating in China, the tariff rate marked under the general tax sub-column plus 25%. This is the tariff imposed by the United States on China after the China-US trade war .
The conclusion is that the tax number used for radio navigation receivers when clearing customs in the United States is 8526910020, and the tariff required is 25% of the value of the goods.
’s final reminder is that the above is only the tariff rate, and does not include fixed expenses such as port maintenance fees and cargo handling fees in the United States.
