US import duty calculator: every layer, every fee

A shipment, layer by layer

Take $10,000 of textile sneakers made in China, on line 6404.19.90, which is the example loaded in the calculator. The ordinary duty at 9% comes to $900. The line is on List 4A of Section 301, which adds $750. The 60-economy Section 301 duty adds $1,250. Together that is $2,900, or 29% of the value, before fees. Make the same shoes in India and the list disappears: $1,900 (19%). Make them in the European Union and the ordinary duty counts toward a total of 10%, so the bill is $1,000 (10%). Nothing about the shoes has changed, only the rules that apply to where they were made.

This is why a “tariff rate” cannot be quoted for a product on its own. The table shows the same value and the same method for several common goods from three origins.

Step one: the HTS code

Everything starts with classification. The Harmonized Tariff Schedule sorts goods into chapters, headings and subheadings, using a ten-digit number. The first six digits follow the international Harmonized System, and the rest are American. Getting that number right is the importer’s job, even when a supplier or a broker suggests it. Legally, classification follows the text of the headings, the section and chapter notes and the General Rules of Interpretation, so a similar name on a website proves nothing. Our lookup searches every rate line by words or digits. For common families, the code pages explain how the lines split: shoes, clothing, furniture, electronics and many others listed below. A binding ruling from CBP is the way to settle a real doubt.

Step two: the value

Most rates are a percentage of customs value. In the United States, that is the price actually paid or payable for the goods, generally without international freight and insurance when they are identified separately, as 19 CFR 152.102 provides. Many countries charge on a price that includes freight; the US does not. Certain additions go the other way, such as packing paid by the buyer, assists and royalties. So a clear invoice has real value. The customs value page sets out the list, and the Incoterms page shows how the terms of sale affect it.

Step three: origin

The country of origin is where the goods were made or last substantially transformed, not where they were shipped from. This one input decides the country duty, the China lists, column 2 and whether a trade agreement can apply. A further step in another country only moves the origin if it creates a new article, and clothing has its own rules. Misdeclaring origin is a serious offense. Read the rules of origin page before you move a supply chain for tariff reasons.

The ordinary rate, and three columns

Each line has a General rate, a Special column with lower rates under agreements and programs, and Column 2 for goods of Belarus, Cuba, North Korea and Russia. In the release we read, 4,315 of 11,415 rate lines print free. High rates remain, mostly in clothing, footwear and glassware: a cotton T-shirt pays 16.5%, and glass-ceramic ware pays 26%. Some rates are per kilogram, per liter or per pair, which is why the calculator may ask for a quantity. Claim a free trade agreement and the Special column applies, if your goods meet its rules. The agreements page lists the symbols.

Section 301: origin duties

Section 301 now has two families. The China lists in U.S. note 20 add +25% or +7.5%, and note 31 adds up to +100% on strategic goods such as electric vehicles. A newer action covers 60 economies and took effect on July 24, 2026, with 10% or 12.5% on value, or a total for five partners. It has real exemptions: 863 codes for everyone in note 52(b), and further lists per country. It generally remains on free trade agreement goods, with an exception for USMCA goods entered free. Read Section 301, rates by country and the China rate.

Section 232: product duties

Section 232 follows the product rather than the country. Steel, aluminum and copper goods pay up to +50% on their full value under U.S. note 16; passenger vehicles and parts +25% in note 33; wood products under note 37; trucks under note 38; semiconductors under note 39; and drones under note 43. Goods under most of these programs leave the 60-economy duty, while the China lists stay on top. Being listed may not be enough: a metal derivative outside the metal chapters counts only if the metal reaches 15 percent of its weight. So the calculator offers the program and leaves that choice to you in most cases. See Section 232.

What happened to the earlier tariffs

Pages written in 2025 describe another system. The reciprocal and fentanyl duties under emergency powers were ended by an executive order of February 2026, and their headings remain printed in chapter 99, though no longer in force. A temporary Section 122 surcharge of 10% expired at the close of July 23, 2026. Check the date on anything you read about tariff rates, including this site.

Customs fees

Two fees apply even to goods with no duty. The merchandise processing fee is 0.3464% of value for formal entries, between $34.58 and $670.86 in fiscal 2027, and the harbor maintenance fee is 0.125% on ocean cargo. Originating USMCA goods are exempt from the first. The limit for an informal entry is $2,500, but 19 CFR 143.21 excludes articles over $250 classified in the parts of chapter 99 that hold these additional duties, so many small shipments now need a formal entry. The fee page has the bands.

Small parcels and de minimis

Until 2025, shipments of up to $800 could enter free. That exemption is now suspended for every origin and value, and a statute repeals the commercial exception from July 1, 2027. A low-value parcel therefore owes duty on the same layers as a container.

What the calculator leaves out

Being clear about this matters as much as the result. It does not include antidumping and countervailing duties, which are set case by case. It does not apply USTR exclusions, Brazil’s note 50 exemptions, tariff-rate quotas, or the lower totals for certain partners inside the Section 232 programs. It takes a list at face value where a code is fully listed, and warns you where only part of it is. It also reads chapter 99 from a PDF with a program, which can make mistakes. Any action published after the release, such as a change in the Canadian Section 338 list on October 30, 2026, may not be reflected. State taxes and other agencies’ requirements are out of scope. Use it to plan, then confirm with a broker or CBP before you commit.

Freight, containers and pallets

Duties are one part of landed cost. Freight, insurance, broker and delivery are private prices, so you enter your own quotes in the costs panel and we estimate none of them. Container sizes are your input too: the container page explains why we print none and what to ask your carrier. The Euro pallet page cites EPAL’s published measures. The CBM, pallet and chargeable weight tools do the arithmetic. Where a figure could not be verified, as with container measures, parcel divisors and freight class tables, the page says so.

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