How to find the HTS code for my product before the factory ships

How to find the HTS code for my product: HTSUS structure, USITC search, the General Rules of Interpretation, CROSS rulings and the Chapter 99 tariff stack.

The HTS code is the ten-digit number from the Harmonized Tariff Schedule of the United States (HTSUS) that CBP uses to set your duty rate, decide which Chapter 99 tariffs stack on top, and flag partner agency requirements. You find it by describing the product the way the tariff does, searching the USITC schedule at hts.usitc.gov, applying the General Rules of Interpretation, and checking CBP's CROSS database for rulings on similar goods. If the answer is still uncertain, you ask CBP for a binding ruling, which normally takes about 30 days.

Do this before the factory ships. The code decides whether a $4 product carries 3.4% or 40% in duties, and you cannot fix a bad landed-cost assumption after the container is on the water.

How an HTS number is built

Take a backpack with an outer surface of man-made textile fibers:

The first six digits are the same in China's export declaration and the US import entry. Digits seven to ten are US-only. That is why the factory's code gets you into the right neighborhood but not to the right door.

Step 1: describe the product the way the tariff does

Before you search, write down: what the item is made of (by weight and by value if mixed), what it does, how it is sold (single item, set, with accessories), whether it is finished or a part, and its principal use in the United States. Classification turns on these facts, not on your marketing name. "Eco lunch kit" is not a tariff term; "set consisting of a stainless steel container, a plastic lid and a nylon carry bag, put up for retail sale" is.

Step 2: search hts.usitc.gov

The USITC hosts the current schedule (Revision 18 of 2026 as of September 2026) with a search box that accepts words or numbers. Search a material or a function term, open the chapter, and read the heading text and the chapter notes at the top of the chapter. The notes exclude things ("This chapter does not cover...") and define terms; they carry the same legal weight as the headings.

For each candidate line note three columns:

• General: the rate that applies to products of China.
• Special: reduced rates under free trade agreements and preference programs, none of which apply to China.
• Column 2: the rate for a small number of countries such as Cuba and North Korea, not China.

Step 3: apply the General Rules of Interpretation

The GRIs are the legal method, printed at the front of the HTSUS. In plain words:

• GRI 1. Titles of sections and chapters are for reference only; "classification shall be determined according to the terms of the headings and any relative section or chapter notes". Start with the heading text and the notes. Most products end here.
• GRI 2(a). An incomplete or unfinished article is classified as the finished article if it "has the essential character of the complete or finished article", and so is a complete article shipped unassembled. Flat-pack furniture is furniture.
• GRI 2(b). A reference to a material includes mixtures and combinations of it; mixed goods go to GRI 3.
• GRI 3(a). When two headings could apply, "the heading which provides the most specific description shall be preferred". A "travel bag" heading beats "articles of plastics".
• GRI 3(b). Mixtures, composite goods and "goods put up in sets for retail sale" are classified by the component "which gives them their essential character". For a lunch kit that is usually the container.
• GRI 3(c). If 3(a) and 3(b) do not settle it, use the heading that "occurs last in numerical order among those which equally merit consideration".
• GRI 4. Goods that fit nowhere go with the goods "to which they are most akin".
• GRI 5. Fitted cases sold with their articles (a camera case with the camera) and ordinary packing are classified with the goods; packaging "clearly suitable for repetitive use" is not.
• GRI 6. Apply the same rules again at subheading level, comparing only subheadings at the same level.

The Additional US Rules add that a classification controlled by use follows the principal use in the United States of that class of goods, and that a "parts" provision does not beat a specific provision for that part.

Step 4: check CROSS

CBP publishes its classification rulings in the Customs Rulings Online Search System at rulings.cbp.gov. Search your product term and your candidate heading. A ruling on a near-identical product tells you how CBP's specialists read the headings and which GRI they applied. It also tells you when your candidate is wrong: if every silicone spatula ruling lands in 3924.10 and you were about to use 8205, stop.

A ruling issued to someone else is not binding for you (19 CFR 177.9(c)), but it is strong evidence of reasonable care when you follow it and document why.

Step 5: ask CBP for a binding ruling

If the product sits between two headings, or the duty difference is large, request a ruling under 19 CFR Part 177 through CBP's eRulings template. The request must contain a complete statement of the facts: full description, materials by weight and value, principal use, how it is sold, the port of entry, purchase and US selling price when relevant, and photographs or a sample (19 CFR 177.2). A single request may cover no more than five items of the same class or kind. CBP says the National Commodity Specialist Division typically issues eRulings within 30 calendar days; requests referred to Headquarters take up to 90 days.

A ruling letter "represents the official position" of CBP and is binding on CBP personnel for transactions involving articles identical to the sample or description (19 CFR 177.9(a) and (b)(2)). Give the ruling number to your broker and cite it on the entry.

Why the supplier's code is not enough

• The factory classifies for Chinese export rules and Chinese VAT rebates. Its digits 7 to 10 do not exist in the US schedule.
• Suppliers sometimes pick a code because it carries a lower US rate or avoids a Section 301 list. You sign the entry, not the factory.
• CBP's Tips for New Importers put it directly: even when you use a broker, "you, the importer of record, are ultimately responsible for the correctness of the entry documentation".
• 19 CFR 141.90(b) requires the importer or broker to show the HTS subheading and duty rate on the invoice or with the invoice data. It is your notation.

Chapter 99: the tariffs that stack on the base rate

The General column rate is only the first layer for products of China. Chapter 99 of the HTSUS holds temporary headings that add duty on top. The broker reports them in a fixed order on the entry line (Section 301 first, then Section 122, Section 232 and Section 201 headings, then the ordinary Chapter 1 to 97 number). Each layer is a percentage of the same customs value, so they add rather than compound.

As of 3 September 2026 the layers are:

Dated example, illustrative only: a backpack of man-made fibers, 4202.92.31, entered on 3 September 2026 carries 17.6% (General) plus 25% (List 3, heading 9903.88.03) plus 12.5% (heading 9903.05.31) = 55.1% of customs value. A plastic drawer organizer, 3924.90.56, carries 3.4% plus 7.5% (List 4A, heading 9903.88.15) plus 12.5% = 23.4%. Goods subject to Section 232 are excluded from the forced-labor duty but pay the Section 232 rate on full value instead.

Check every layer on the day you classify, not the day you read this. The rates and lists changed repeatedly in 2025 and 2026. The primary places to look are the USTR Section 301 pages, the Chapter 99 notes in the current HTSUS revision, and CBP's Cargo Systems Messaging Service (CSMS) bulletins, which give the heading numbers and effective dates for each change. Antidumping and countervailing duty orders are a further, product-specific layer; search the ACE AD/CVD case list for your subheading and "China" before you order.

Put the code where it belongs

Once you have the ten digits, the ruling or CROSS references, and the Chapter 99 headings:

• Put the eight-digit subheading and rate on the commercial invoice data (19 CFR 141.90). The invoice fields that support this are in Commercial invoice requirements for US customs.
• Give the ten-digit number to whoever files the ISF; the "commodity HTSUS number" is one of the ten elements.
• Build the duty stack into your per-unit cost: Landed cost calculator for Amazon FBA sellers buying from China.

What to keep on file

For each SKU keep a classification worksheet: the product description and materials, the headings you considered, the GRI you applied, the CROSS rulings you relied on, the binding ruling if you obtained one, the Chapter 99 headings and rates on the entry date, and the CSMS or Federal Register notice that set them. Keep it for 5 years from the entry date (19 CFR 163.4). It is the evidence of reasonable care that 19 U.S.C. 1484 asks of you.

Frequently asked questions

Sources

• USITC, Harmonized Tariff Schedule of the United States, search and current revision
• HTSUS General Rules of Interpretation (USITC, current release)
• 19 CFR Part 177, Administrative rulings (eCFR)
• 19 CFR 141.90, Notation of tariff classification and value on invoice (eCFR)
• CBP, Requirements for Electronic Ruling Requests (eRulings)
• CBP, Customs Rulings Online Search System (CROSS)
• CBP, Informed Compliance Publications (Tariff Classification, Reasonable Care)
• USTR, Section 301 tariff actions on China (Lists 1 to 4)
• USTR, Four-Year Review of the China Section 301 action, including the May 2024 modifications
• USTR, Notice of Actions in Section 301 Investigations (forced labor, 60 economies), Federal Register, 28 July 2026
• CBP CSMS 69326983, Guidance: Section 301 Forced Labor Import Duties (24 July 2026)
• Supreme Court, Learning Resources, Inc. v. Trump, No. 24-1287 (20 February 2026)
• CBP CSMS 67834313, Ending Collection of IEEPA Duties (effective 24 February 2026)
• Proclamation, Imposing a Temporary Import Surcharge (Section 122), Federal Register, 25 February 2026
• Proclamation, Strengthening Actions Taken To Adjust Imports of Aluminum, Steel, and Copper (Section 232), Federal Register, 9 April 2026

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