How it works
Tariff code lookup in three steps: describe, classify, cost
A tariff code lookup with Tariffwise starts from a plain-English product description, not a 5,000-line schedule. Here is exactly what happens between typing a sentence and getting a defensible HS/HTS code with the duty and landed cost attached.
STEP 1
Describe the product like a human
Write what the product is, the way you would explain it to a colleague: what it is made of, what it does, how it is constructed. "Men's cotton t-shirt". "Lithium-ion power bank, 20,000 mAh". "Single-wall stainless steel water bottle". No chapter numbers, no legal phrasing, no guessing where the schedule filed it.
The three details that decide most classifications are material, function and construction. Include them and the classifier rarely needs a second try.
STEP 2
The AI classifies, and shows its work
The engine reads your description against the Harmonized System the way a classifier would: chapter first, then heading, then the subheading splits that separate near-identical codes. You get back the most likely code, the official heading text, and a plain-English rationale naming the factors that drove the call.
Just as important: the runner-up codes. Classification disputes live in the gap between two plausible codes, so Tariffwise always shows the nearest alternatives and the single distinguishing factor that would flip the result. If that factor is wrong in your case, you know exactly what to check. The Harmonized System code guide explains how those digits nest.
STEP 3
Duty, tax and landed cost for your lane
Pick the origin, the destination and the shipment value. Tariffwise estimates the duty rate for that code into that destination, applies the destination's import VAT or GST where one exists, and totals the estimated landed cost. The arithmetic is computed exactly; the rates are the AI's best reading of the schedule, labelled as guidance.
Want the full formula with freight, insurance and fees? That is the landed cost calculator. For the duty math on its own, see the import duty calculator or the worked example in how to calculate import duty.
Then what
Early access turns answers into a workspace
Saved history
Every classification stored with its rationale, so the same SKU never gets classified twice, differently.
Bulk CSV runs
Upload a product list and classify the whole catalog in one pass, with review flags on the low-confidence rows.
Audit trail
Who classified what, when, and on what reasoning: the paper trail a customs audit actually asks for.
Try the whole loop now
The classifier below is the real engine
Customs declaration · AI classifier
FORM TW-01
Keep going: the Tariffwise tariff tools