us-import-duty-facts

Fact-check a circulating claim about US import duties against the dated official record. Returns a verdict, why, and the sources. Covers the four figures still repeated everywhere in 2026: the $800 de minimis exemption, the $80–$200 postal flat duty, the ~54%/$100 courier rule, and 'reciprocal' baseline tariffs. Use this when a user quotes a number for US imports.

Search CBP's own binding classification rulings (CROSS) for a product in plain words and get what CBP actually decided: ruling number, date, subject, the HTS codes it assigned — including any chapter 99 heading, which is what carries a Section 301 addition — and whether the ruling has been revoked or modified. This is precedent from the agency that decides, not a guess: it is how you check whether the code your supplier gave you matches what CBP has ruled on comparable goods. Queried live at call time from rulings.cbp.gov; nothing is mirrored here.

Candidate HTS headings for a consumer product category, pulled daily from the official USITC HTS REST API: the candidate line, its general rate, every rated line in the heading, and the Section 301 status to verify on USTR. These are candidates chosen by category reading, not a classification ruling — the importer of record classifies.

The current China→US import duty stack, rule by rule, each with the record that establishes it and the date it was decided or published: HTS base rate, Section 301, Section 232, the struck-down IEEPA tariffs (2026-02-20), the indefinite de minimis suspension (2026-06-24), the expired postal flat rate (2026-02-28), and the MPF/HMF fee rates. Use this before quoting any US import rule from memory — the 2025 guidance that dominates training data is superseded.

What changed in the general US import rules, newest first, from the official Federal Register API: presidential tariff actions, CBP and DHS rules, USTR notices — each with its publication date, document number and federalregister.gov link. Use `since` to get only what is new to you, the same way you would poll a changelog. Case-specific antidumping, ITC and Foreign-Trade Zone paperwork is out of scope by design and the response says so.

Itemise a US landed cost from rates you supply: duties (HTS base + Section 301 + Section 232 on the customs value), MPF 0.3464% with the CBP floor disclosed, HMF 0.125% on ocean entries, plus freight and insurance. Deterministic arithmetic with the assumptions and sources attached. This tool never invents a product's duty rate: omit hts_base_rate_pct and it refuses and points you at the official schedule.

Official US product recalls (CPSC saferproducts.gov API) touching a product category in the last 365 days: date, title, hazard and the cpsc.gov URL. A keyword hit means the words appear in a recall title, not that a particular supplier or SKU is affected. Use before recommending or sourcing a category.

The Section 301 (China) additional-duty ladder, read straight from the official USITC HTS export of chapter 99 subchapter III: which 9903.88 / 9903.91 heading carries which addition (7.5%, 10%, 15%, 25%, 50%, 100%), which U.S. note defines its list, and — where the schedule states it — the date that heading took effect. It tells you the possible rates and where coverage is defined; it never asserts that a particular HTS8 code is on a list, because that lives in U.S. note 20/31 and the USTR annexes.