Harmonized Tariff Schedule of the United States (HTSUS)
The Harmonized Tariff Schedule of the United States (HTSUS) is the comprehensive legal document that classifies every category of goods imported into the United States and specifies the applicable duty rate for each. Published and maintained by the U.S. International Trade Commission (USITC), it is the foundation of all U.S. import compliance.
In Detail
The HTSUS is organized into 22 sections and 97 active chapters, with Chapter 77 reserved and Chapters 98 and 99 set aside for special provisions and temporary duty measures, respectively. Its architecture follows the international Harmonized System (HS) developed by the World Customs Organization (WCO): the first six digits of every HTS code are internationally standardized, while digits 7–10 are U.S.-specific additions that provide greater duty and statistical precision.
The USITC updates the HTSUS at least once a year—typically effective January 1—incorporating changes to the international HS (which revises on a five-year cycle), amendments from U.S. trade legislation, and new or modified Chapter 99 temporary provisions. Each annual update produces a distinct version of the tariff schedule. Classification determinations are always made against the specific corpus version in effect at the time of importation.
Reading the HTSUS correctly requires following a prescribed legal sequence. Section notes take precedence over chapter notes, which take precedence over heading text. No heading can be evaluated in isolation from the notes that govern its section and chapter. The six General Rules of Interpretation (GRI) then determine how heading text and notes are applied when a single, unambiguous classification does not emerge from the text alone.
Classification Significance
Every classification decision—which heading applies, which duty rate governs, which trade remedies are owed—flows from the HTSUS. Using the wrong version, skipping applicable notes, or misreading heading text are the most common sources of classification error and audit liability. Because the HTSUS is a living document that changes every year, maintaining an accurate, version-controlled corpus of the schedule is a prerequisite for defensible classification.
How Kanon Handles This
Kanon maintains an immutable, version-controlled corpus of the HTSUS—section notes, chapter notes, subheading notes, heading text, and duty rates—parsed into a structured database. Every classification is pinned to the specific corpus version in effect at the time, ensuring that the same product evaluated against the same version always produces the same result.