A tariff number is a number assigned to a good. Using this number you can calculate how much a tariff is going to be. Each good has a different tariff number and three general duty rates: a general duty, a special duty rate and another special duty rate. The general duty applies to almost all countries. The special duty rate applies to countries listed in that column and the other special duty rate has to do with countries with which the United States has strained relations.
Instructions
1. Go to the United States International Trade Commission's webpage.
2. Click on the category that closely resembles the good you are bringing into the United States. For example, assume you want to bring in a tulip bulb. You would click on "Live trees and other plants; bulbs, roots and the like; cut flowers and ornamental foliage."
3. Find the exact item you are looking for in the tariff list. The tariff number is the number all the way on the left of the screen, next to your item. In the example, the tariff number for a tulip bulb is "0601.10.15."
4. Determine which column you want to use and find the tariff rate. Check to see if the country you are getting the good from is listed under "special." If it is not, use the general schedule, unless it is coming from a country you know the United States has poor relations with --- currently, North Korea and Cuba. (The countries the United States has poor relations with is available in the USITC's General Rules of Interpretation.) In the example, assume you are getting the bulb from France, so the tariff rate is 89.6 cents per 1,000 bulbs.
5. Apply your tariff rate to the quantity of goods you are bringing in. In the example, assume you are bringing in 2,000 bulbs, so the tariff is $1.79.
