The US schedule
Harmonized Tariff Schedule: search the HTS without the squint
The Harmonized Tariff Schedule of the United States runs to 99 chapters and thousands of numbered lines, written in legal language and organized by rules most people have never read. Below is what it actually is, how a 10-digit line breaks down, and an AI search that reads the schedule for you.
What a schedule line looks like
CHAPTER 61
- 6109
- T-shirts, singlets and similar garments, knitted or crocheted
- 6109.10
- Of cotton
- 16.5%
- 6109.90
- Of other textile materials
- 32%
Two lines apart, nearly double the duty. The schedule is full of splits like this: the fiber, the construction or the function moves a product between lines, and the rate moves with it.
What the Harmonized Tariff Schedule is
The HTS is the United States' national extension of the global Harmonized System. The first six digits of any line are the international Harmonized System code, identical in every member country; the US appends four more digits that carry its own duty rates and statistical detail. The result is the 10-digit number a customs entry is filed under, published and revised by the US International Trade Commission several times a year as rates and rules change.
How a 10-digit HTS number breaks down
Digits one and two name the chapter, the broad family: knitted apparel in 61, electrical machinery in 85, coffee and spices in 09. Digits three and four form the heading, digits five and six the international subheading, and the last four digits are the US rate and statistical lines. Reading it right to left, every extra pair of digits narrows the product and sharpens the duty. The HTS code lookup page walks the US-specific half of this in more detail.
Why reading it by hand goes wrong
The schedule is arranged by legal logic, not by shop-floor names. A power bank files under electric accumulators, not chargers. A vacuum-insulated bottle leaves stainless-steel housewares entirely and lands with vacuum flasks. The General Rules of Interpretation decide ties, section and chapter notes override headline text, and a word-matching search box finds a plausible wrong answer with total confidence. Classifying against the schedule properly is a skill, which is why brokers charge for it per line.
Let the AI read the schedule instead
The classifier below takes a plain-English product description, applies the same chapter-heading-subheading logic, and returns the most likely code with the official heading text, a written rationale, the two nearest runner-up codes with the factor that would flip them, and the estimated duty on your shipment value. Every result is an AI best-effort estimate for guidance, not a binding ruling; for a contested case, a broker or a binding ruling from customs remains the right tool.
Try it on your product
The schedule, searched by meaning
Customs declaration · AI classifier
FORM TW-01
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