Trade compliance · United States

How to read an HTS code

A U.S. import classification is a ten-digit number, and each part of it means something specific. Read it correctly and you know the duty rate and which trade measures apply; read it wrong and the whole landed-cost calculation is off. This is a plain-language map of what the digits mean and how a good is actually classified.

Classification is legally significant and code-specific, so this page does not list individual codes or their rates. To find the rate for an exact code — or search the schedule by description — use the live lookup linked below; it derives the numbers from the maintained USITC HTS data.

The anatomy of a 10-digit HTS code

Read left to right, the code narrows from a broad family of goods to one precise tariff line. Each pair of digits adds detail:

1. 01

   Chapter — the first 2 digits

   The HTSUS is organised into 99 chapters, themselves grouped into 22 broad sections (live animals and food in the low numbers, machinery and vehicles in the middle, art and special provisions at the end). The first two digits name the chapter — e.g. 85 is electrical machinery, 09 is coffee, tea and spices. This is the widest bucket; it tells you the family a good belongs to, not its rate.

2. 02

   Heading — the first 4 digits

   Adding the next two digits gives the four-digit heading, the product category within the chapter. Headings are where classification starts to bite: a good must be described by the terms of one heading before you can go deeper, and the legal section and chapter notes can include or exclude it here.

3. 03

   Subheading — the first 6 digits

   The six-digit subheading is the internationally harmonized level: these digits are the World Customs Organization's Harmonized System, shared by every member country, so the first six digits of a U.S. code match the first six of the equivalent code abroad. Beyond six digits, each country adds its own detail — so a foreign supplier's code is only reliable up to this point.

4. 04

   Tariff-rate line — digits 7 and 8

   The U.S. extends the international subheading with two more digits to form the eight-digit tariff line. This is the legally operative level for duty: the rate of duty in the HTSUS is set against the eight-digit line, so two goods that share six digits can owe different duty if they split at the seventh or eighth digit.

5. 05

   Statistical suffix — digits 9 and 10

   The final two digits are the statistical reporting suffix. They do not change the duty rate; they let the government collect more granular trade statistics (units, varieties, end-uses). You still must report the full ten digits on a formal entry, but for the rate it is the eight-digit line above that governs.

How a good is actually classified

Knowing what the digits mean is not the same as picking the right ones. Classification follows a legal method, not a keyword guess:

• Classify by the General Rules of Interpretation (GRIs), in order The HTSUS is not a keyword search. Six General Rules of Interpretation, applied in sequence, decide the correct code — starting from the terms of the headings and the legal section/chapter notes (GRI 1), and only moving to later rules (incomplete or mixed goods, the most specific description, essential character, the last applicable heading) when the earlier ones do not resolve it.
• The legal notes can override the obvious heading Each section and chapter carries legally binding notes that include or exclude goods, define terms, and redirect items to another chapter. A product that looks like it belongs in one heading can be sent elsewhere by a note — which is why reading the notes is part of classifying, not optional background.
• When in doubt, a CBP ruling is the authority U.S. Customs and Border Protection issues binding classification rulings and publishes past ones in its CROSS database. Searching how CBP has classified a similar good — or requesting a ruling for yours — is how importers get certainty, because the importer is legally responsible for using reasonable care to classify correctly.

Why the code decides everything

The classification is the input the rest of the import charge is built on. The eight-digit tariff line sets the base duty rate; the code and the country of origin together decide whether Section 301/232/122 surcharges or an antidumping/countervailing duty order apply. Get the code right and the landed-cost math follows; get it wrong and every layer downstream inherits the error.

Where to verify (authoritative sources)

These are the official sources. The schedule and its notes change between revisions, so confirm a classification against them — and, where it matters, against a CBP ruling — before relying on anything, including this page.

• USITC — Harmonized Tariff Schedule (HTSUS) The official schedule: chapters, headings, the General Rules of Interpretation and the General Notes, searchable by code or description.
• CBP — CROSS rulings database Customs and Border Protection’s searchable archive of binding classification rulings, and how to request one.
• CBP — Informed Compliance & reasonable care CBP’s guidance on the importer’s legal duty to classify with reasonable care.
• World Customs Organization — Harmonized System The international 6-digit HS that the first six digits of every HTSUS code are built on.

Related: Browse the HTS chapter by chapter — every chapter, what it classifies and how its codes are built · How U.S. import duty is calculated — what the classified code feeds into · Canada's surtax on U.S. goods, explained.

This is an independent, plain-language explainer produced by an autonomously operated software workshop under human oversight. It is not legal, customs or tax advice, is not the official version of the tariff schedule, and may be out of date. Classification is the importer's legal responsibility — always verify against the USITC HTS, CBP rulings and the section/chapter notes. No affiliation with, or endorsement by, any U.S. government agency is implied.