Know Your Tariff Rates

Before exporting to any country it is necessary to determine any applicable tariff rates or other import fees that may be imposed on the goods by the importing country. A tariff is a tax imposed by governments on the value of imported goods. The purpose of the tariff is to increase the price of imported goods in the importing country markets thus making them less competitive with domestic goods. The tariff rate is determined at the time the goods are imported and other fees such as state and sales tax often apply in addition to the tariff.

To determine the appropriate tariff rate that will apply to imports there are two general steps to follow:

1) Find your product's HS or Schedule B number. The US Census Bureau provides an online website to help classify product's Schedule B Codes.
*Note that duty amount will also depend on the terms of trade that have been negotiated with the buyer, such as FOB, CIF, etc.

2) Using your product's HS or Schedule B number, you will be able to find the applicable tariff rate. Click here for country-specific tax information to determine various tax and tariff rates for 97 countries.