How to classify
an HTS code

Classifying a product isn't a lookup — it's applying a specific legal method to your item until one, and only one, code is correct. Here's the actual method, called the General Rules of Interpretation (GRI), in the order you're required to apply it.

Why the code matters this much

The classification code is the foundation everything else stands on. It sets your duty rate on import. It determines whether a Partner Government Agency (FDA, EPA, USDA, and others) needs to review the shipment. It decides your Section 301 or antidumping exposure. Get it wrong, and every downstream number — the landed cost you quoted, the duty you accrued for — is wrong along with it, sometimes not discovered until months later at reconciliation or audit.

HTS vs. Schedule B — not the same thing

HTS (Harmonized Tariff Schedule) codes classify goods coming into the U.S. and set the duty rate. Schedule B codes classify goods going out of the U.S. for trade statistics. The first six digits of both are internationally harmonized and identical for the same product — that part is shared globally. The digits after that diverge, because import codes need to carry duty-rate precision and export codes need to carry statistical precision, which aren't the same job.

The General Rules of Interpretation

These are the actual legal rules — not a suggestion, not a style guide — that govern how every product must be classified under the Harmonized System:

The actual steps

1. Identify what the article actually is — its construction, material, and function — not what it's marketed as or what industry buys it.
2. Find the chapter and heading that matches, reading the legal text of the heading itself, not just a short description.
3. Read the Section and Chapter Notes for that area — these carry real legal weight and frequently include or exclude specific items you wouldn't guess from the heading text alone.
4. Apply GRI 1 first. Most items resolve here. Only move to GRI 2 through 6 if the heading and notes genuinely don't settle it.
5. Write down the reasoning — which GRI applied and why — so the classification is defensible later, not just remembered.

The mistake that causes most wrong classifications

Classifying by use or application instead of by what the article actually is. The same physical component can sell into completely different industries — the classification doesn't change because the buyer changed. A related trap: assuming "we've classified something like this before" is good enough. A vendor sourcing the same part number from a different manufacturer, a small material change, or a different intended market can all change the correct code even when the product looks the same on the outside.