Since its inception in 2007, WTCeurope.com has been serving the international trade
Community. The WTCeurope portal provides value-added trade specilist research data,
by pooling information from diverse sources and incorporating it into en easy accesible
online database. All duty and tax information is updated regularly for most important
international trade countries. The kind of information our database offers you includes
Most Favored Nations (MFN) applied duty rates, origin-to-destination preferential tariff
rates and important taxes, including Value Added Tax (VAT), Excise, and other fees
assessed at importation
The Harmonized Tariff System
All import
and export codes used around the world are based on the Harmonized Tariff
System (HTS). The HTS assigns 6-digit codes for general categories. This 6-digit
code is known as the Harmonized System number.
Harmonized System (HS) numbers are used to
classify products for customs purposes. By international agreement, most countries recognize the same first 6 "harmonized" digits.
Countries
that use the HTS are allowed to define commodities at a more detailed level than
6-digits, however all definitions must be within that 6-digit framework. The
U.S. and the E.U., for example, defines products using 10-digit HTS codes.
To find out the duty rate, you
need to have the complete product number used by the importing country.
Schedule B
Numbers are used to classify exported products in the United States and are
based on the international HS system. HTS numbers and Schedule B numbers will be
the same up to the first 6 digits as the importing country's classification
code, after which, they will likely be very close or the same.
Why you
need to know your product’s HS numbers
Exporters
need to know their product’s HS numbers for the following
reasons:
-
To determine
the import tariff rates applicable and whether a product qualifies for a
preferential tariff under a Free Trade Agreement;
-
The HS
Number may be needed on shipping documents, such as certificates of origin, Single Administrative Document, etc.
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