How to Classify One Product Step-by-Step: From Description to 10-Digit Code Under HTSUS and TARIC
By Jason Kim · Branch Manager · 15 years in freight forwarding · Los Angeles · Frankfurt · Chicago Published on TradeEdge | Practical freight forwarding, customs, and import/export guidance written from 15 years of real logistics operations. In Fiscal Year 2025, U.S. Customs and Border Protection recovered $26 billion in additional duty from entry summary reviews — the audits CBP conducts to confirm imported goods were correctly classified and valued. The year before, that number was $667.5 million . That is a 39× jump in twelve months . If you import into the United States and have not changed the way you classify your products, you are walking into the most aggressive customs enforcement environment in modern American trade history armed with a 10-digit code that you probably guessed. This post is the antidote. Why I'm writing this now There are roughly 11,000 licensed customs brokers in the United States. There are nearly 25,000 freight forwarders. There ar...