How to find your HTS code

To find your Harmonized Tariff Schedule (HTS) code, describe the product precisely, find the heading whose words and notes fit it, work down to the 10-digit line, and check how U.S. Customs and Border Protection (CBP) has ruled on similar products. If the answer is still unclear, or a lot of duty depends on it, you can ask CBP for a binding ruling.

The choice is the importer's responsibility. U.S. law requires the importer of record to declare the classification "using reasonable care" (19 U.S.C. 1484).

Step 1: Describe the product the way the tariff does

Catalog names may not match tariff wording. Before searching, write down:

• What the product is and what it does.
• What it is made of. For products of two or more materials, the share of each by weight, by volume and by value.
• How it is mainly used in the United States.
• Whether it is complete or unfinished, assembled or not, and whether it is sold as a set.

This list follows what CBP asks for in a ruling request: the article's "chief use in the United States, its commercial, common, or technical designation," and for mixed materials "the relative quantity (by weight and by volume) and value of each" (19 CFR 177.2).

Step 2: Search, then read the headings and notes

Start with a keyword search in our HTS code search, or browse the schedule by chapter in HTS codes. The official schedule is at hts.usitc.gov.

A keyword hit is only a lead. The first General Rule of Interpretation says that titles of sections, chapters and subchapters "are provided for ease of reference only." Classification is decided "according to the terms of the headings and any relative section or chapter notes." So read the section and chapter notes. They can include or exclude products in ways the heading text doesn't show.

Step 3: Apply the General Rules of Interpretation

The General Rules of Interpretation (GRI) are six rules printed at the front of the schedule. GRI 1 comes first. The rules after it apply only when the headings and notes don't settle the question, and GRI 6 applies the same approach to subheadings.

1. GRI 1: Classify by the terms of the headings and any section or chapter notes.
2. GRI 2: A heading for an article also covers it incomplete or unfinished, if it has "the essential character of the complete or finished article," and unassembled or disassembled. A heading for a material also covers mixtures and combinations with other materials.
3. GRI 3: When goods fit two or more headings: (a) prefer the most specific description; (b) classify mixtures, composite goods and retail sets by the material or component that gives them "their essential character"; (c) if still tied, use the heading that "occurs last in numerical order."
4. GRI 4: Goods that fit no heading go in the heading for the goods "to which they are most akin."
5. GRI 5: Cases made for a specific article (camera cases, gun cases and the like) and normal packing go with the goods, with exceptions.
6. GRI 6: Choose among subheadings using the same rules, comparing "only subheadings at the same level."

The U.S. schedule adds its own rules of interpretation. For example, a provision for "parts" covers products "solely or principally used as a part" of the article, but "shall not prevail over a specific provision for such part or accessory."

Here is GRI 6 in a simple case. Subheading 8471.30.01 covers portable computers "weighing not more than 10 kg, consisting of at least a central processing unit, a keyboard and a display." A laptop with all three parts that weighs 10 kg or less fits those words. A machine that lacks one of the parts, or weighs more, has to be classified elsewhere.

For hard cases, the World Customs Organization (WCO) publishes Explanatory Notes to the Harmonized System (HS), the international base of the HTS. The WCO calls them "the official interpretation of the HS." They are available by subscription.

Step 4: Check CBP rulings in CROSS

CBP publishes its rulings in the Customs Rulings Online Search System (CROSS), which it describes as "a database of published rulings." Search by product words or by a candidate code, and read the reasoning, not only the answer.

Two cautions from CBP's rules:

• A ruling applies only to the product it describes. A classification ruling covers articles "identical to the sample submitted" or to "the description set forth in the ruling letter" (19 CFR 177.9(b)).
• Other people's rulings don't bind CBP for your goods. CBP says "no other person should rely on the ruling letter" (19 CFR 177.9(c)). They show you how CBP thinks, and rulings can be modified or revoked, so check the date and status.

Step 5: Ask CBP for a binding ruling

A binding ruling is CBP's written answer for your exact product. The rules are in 19 CFR Part 177.

• Who can ask: anyone with "a direct and demonstrable interest" in the question, such as an importer or exporter, or an authorized agent (19 CFR 177.1(c)).
• When: generally only for future shipments, "transactions which are not already pending" before CBP because of arrival or entry. CBP won't rule on entries that have already been liquidated (19 CFR 177.1(a)).
• How: by letter to CBP's National Commodity Specialist Division in New York, or online through CBP's eRulings template (19 CFR 177.2 and CBP's eRulings page).
• What to send: a full description, the information from step 1, photos or drawings, and a sample when possible (19 CFR 177.2(b)). CBP's eRulings page says one request may include no more than five items "of the same class or kind."
• How long: CBP says its New York office will "generally" issue eRulings "within 30 calendar days of the date of receipt," longer if lab tests or other agencies are involved. Rulings referred to headquarters are issued within 90 days of receipt.
• What you get: a ruling letter that "is binding on all Customs Service personnel" for the transaction it describes, until modified or revoked (19 CFR 177.9(a)). Report the ruling number under the HTS number on your entry summary, as CBP's Form 7501 instructions require.

Spoken advice from CBP staff is not binding. CBP's rules say "oral opinions or advice of Customs Service personnel are not binding" (19 CFR 177.1(b)).

When to bring in a licensed customs broker

A licensed customs broker can research a classification, draft a ruling request, and file your entries. It is worth asking one when a product combines several materials or functions, when the candidate codes carry very different duty rates, or when an additional tariff applies to one code but not the other. Once you have a code, check its full duty by country in our duty calculator.

Questions

Can I use the HTS code my supplier gave me?

Treat it as a starting point, not an answer. Foreign suppliers often give their own country's code, which matches the U.S. code only in the first six digits. Under U.S. law the importer of record must classify the goods using reasonable care, so check the code against the U.S. schedule yourself.

How long does a CBP binding ruling take?

CBP says its National Commodity Specialist Division generally issues rulings requested through eRulings within 30 calendar days of receipt. Lab analysis or consultation with another agency can add time, and rulings referred to CBP headquarters are issued within 90 days of receipt.

Can I rely on a CBP ruling issued to another company?

Not as binding. CBP's regulations say no other person should rely on a ruling letter or assume its principles will be applied to a different transaction. Other rulings are still useful evidence of how CBP classifies similar products. A ruling issued to you binds CBP for the transaction it describes, until it is modified or revoked.

Can I get a binding ruling after my goods have arrived?

Generally no. Binding rulings under 19 CFR Part 177 are issued for prospective transactions, meaning shipments not already pending before CBP through arrival or entry. Questions about entries already before CBP are handled by that CBP office, and completed, liquidated entries can't be the subject of a ruling request.