Accio Import Tariff & HS Code Calculator
Instantly calculate import tariffs, classify HS codes, and estimate landed costs for products imported into the US. AI-powered — just describe your product in plain English, no need to know the HS code.
No local setup. No API key. No database. Just ask a question and get results.
Powered by accio.com — AI-first global sourcing platform.
Quick Demo
User: What's the import tariff for ceramic coffee mugs from China to the US?
Agent:
Field Value Product Ceramic coffee mugs HS Code 6911.10.45 Description Tableware, kitchenware — Mugs and other steins (porcelain or china) Origin → Destination CN → US Total Tariff Rate 24.0% General Duty 14.0% Additional Tariff 10.0% (Section 301) Calculation Type Ad Valorem (by value) For a $5.00/unit mug, estimated duty is $1.20/unit, landed unit cost ≈ $6.20 (before shipping).
Capabilities
| Capability | Description |
|---|---|
| HS Code Classification | Enter a product name in plain English → get the correct HS/HTS code via AI |
| CN→US Tariff Rates | Total duty rate including General tariff + Additional tariffs (Section 301/232/AD-CVD) for Chinese products imported to the US |
| Tariff Formula Breakdown | See each tariff component separately (general duty vs. additional duties) |
| Global HS Classification | HS code lookup works for any origin → any destination (200+ countries) |
| Batch Processing | Up to 100 products per session |
| Landed Cost Estimation | Combine tariff rate + unit price → total landed cost |
Important: Coverage Notes
- Full tariff rate data (rate + formula + breakdown) is currently available for China → US (originCountryCode =
"CN", destinationCountryCode ="US") only - HS code classification works for any origin → any destination (200+ countries) — the HS code and English description are always returned
- For non-CN origins or non-US destinations, the API returns the HS code and description, but
tariffRate,tariffFormula, andtariffCalRuleDetailListwill benull
Who Is This For?
- Amazon FBA sellers — calculate duties on products sourced from China to the US
- Shopify & eBay sellers — estimate true landed costs before listing
- Dropshippers — factor in Section 301/232 tariffs when evaluating product margins
- DTC brand founders — understand tariff impact on Chinese-sourced products
- Import/export businesses — bulk tariff analysis and HS code classification
- Freight forwarders & customs brokers — quick HS code lookup for any country pair
How It Works
This skill calls the accio.com Tariff Classification API. No API key required.
API Endpoint
POST https://www.accio.com/api/turtle/classify
Content-Type: application/json
Request Body
{
"source": "alibaba",
"originCountryCode": "CN",
"destinationCountryCode": "US",
"productName": "ceramic coffee mugs",
"digit": 8
}
Request Fields
| Field | Required | Type | Description | Example |
|---|---|---|---|---|
productName |
✓ | string | Product name or description in English | "Women's cotton dress" |
originCountryCode |
✓ | string | Origin country, ISO 3166-1 alpha-2 | "CN", "VN", "IN" |
destinationCountryCode |
✓ | string | Destination country, ISO 3166-1 alpha-2 | "US", "DE", "GB" |
source |
✓ | string | Always set to "alibaba" |
"alibaba" |
digit |
— | integer | HS code precision: 8 (recommended) or 10 |
8 |
productProperties |
— | object | Extra attributes for better classification | {"material": "leather"} |
productKeywords |
— | array | Keywords to improve accuracy | ["organic", "handmade"] |
Response Structure
The API returns a nested JSON object (NOT a JSON string — parse directly):
{
"success": true,
"responseCode": "200",
"responseMsg": "ok",
"data": {
"success": true,
"code": "200",
"data": {
"hscodeInfo": {
"hscode": "69111045",
"descriptionEn": "Tableware, kitchenware ... Mugs and other steins"
},
"tariffCalculateType": "ByAmount",
"tariffRate": 24.0,
"tariffFormula": "一般关税[14%] + 附加关税[10%]",
"tariffCalRuleDetailList": [
{
"htsCode": "6911104500",
"fixedRate": 14.0,
"tariffType": "GEN",
"tariffTypeDesc": "一般关税",
"tariffCalculatorType": "ByAmount"
},
{
"htsCode": "99030120",
"fixedRate": 10.0,
"tariffType": "ADT",
"tariffTypeDesc": "加征关税",
"tariffCalculatorType": "ByAmount"
}
],
"hscodeStr": "69111045"
}
}
}
Response Field Reference
Navigate to the tariff data at response.data.data:
| Path | Type | Description |
|---|---|---|
hscodeStr |
string | HS code (use this as the primary code) |
hscodeInfo.hscode |
string | Same HS code |
hscodeInfo.descriptionEn |
string | Full English description of the HS classification (segments separated by |) |
tariffRate |
number | Total applicable tariff rate (percentage), sum of all components |
tariffFormula |
string | Formula in Chinese showing how total is calculated (e.g. 一般关税[14%] + 附加关税[10%]) |
tariffCalculateType |
string | "ByAmount" = Ad Valorem (percentage of value) |
tariffCalRuleDetailList |
array | Detailed breakdown of each tariff component |
Tariff Detail List Fields (tariffCalRuleDetailList[])
| Field | Type | Description |
|---|---|---|
htsCode |
string | HTS code for this specific tariff rule |
fixedRate |
number | Rate for this component (percentage) |
tariffType |
string | "GEN" = General duty, "ADT" = Additional tariff (Section 301/232 etc.) |
tariffTypeDesc |
string | Chinese description: 一般关税 = General duty, 加征关税 = Additional tariff |
tariffCalculatorType |
string | "ByAmount" = Ad Valorem |
genTariff |
boolean | true if this is a general tariff component |
adtTariff |
boolean | true if this is an additional tariff component |
Translating tariffFormula
The tariffFormula field is in Chinese. Translate for English-speaking users:
一般关税→ General Duty附加关税/加征关税→ Additional Tariff (Section 301/232/AD-CVD)从价计税→ Ad Valorem (by value)
Agent Instructions
When the user asks about tariffs, duties, HS codes, import costs, or landed costs:
Step 1 — Extract and Validate Parameters
- productName (required): the product the user is asking about. Must be a descriptive text (e.g. "ceramic coffee mugs"), not a pure number. Non-English input (e.g. Chinese) is accepted but English is recommended for best results.
- originCountryCode: default
"CN"if user doesn't specify. Must be a valid ISO 3166-1 alpha-2 code. The API does NOT validate country codes — invalid codes like "XX" will silently returnnulltariff rates. - destinationCountryCode: default
"US"if user doesn't specify. Same validation note as above. - source: always
"alibaba" - digit: always use
8(recommended).10may occasionally cause transient system errors.
If the user doesn't specify countries, assume China → US and mention this assumption.
Important: If the route is not CN→US, inform the user upfront that only HS code classification will be available (no tariff rates).
Step 2 — Call the API
curl -s -X POST https://www.accio.com/api/turtle/classify \
-H "Content-Type: application/json" \
-d '{"source":"alibaba","originCountryCode":"CN","destinationCountryCode":"US","productName":"ceramic coffee mugs","digit":8}'
Parse the response: navigate to response.data.data to get tariff information.
Step 3 — Present Results
Always present as a clear table. Translate Chinese tariff terms to English:
| Field | Value |
|-------|-------|
| Product | ceramic coffee mugs |
| HS Code | 6911.10.45 |
| Description | Tableware, kitchenware — Mugs and other steins |
| Origin → Destination | CN → US |
| Total Tariff Rate | 24.0% |
| ├ General Duty | 14.0% (HTS 6911104500) |
| └ Additional Tariff | 10.0% (HTS 99030120, Section 301) |
| Calculation Type | Ad Valorem (by value) |
Formatting the HS code: Insert dots for readability. For 8-digit code 69111045 → 6911.10.45. For 10-digit 6911104500 → 6911.10.4500.
Formatting the description: The descriptionEn field uses :| as a separator between classification levels. Replace :| with — or show as a hierarchy for readability.
If the user provided a unit price, add:
- Duty per unit = price × tariffRate / 100
- Landed cost = price + duty per unit
Step 4 — Handle Non-CN→US Routes
Tariff rate data is only available for CN → US. For any other origin or destination, tariffRate, tariffFormula, and tariffCalRuleDetailList will be null.
This includes:
- Non-CN origins (VN→US, IN→US, BR→US, etc.) — no tariff rate
- Non-US destinations (CN→DE, CN→GB, etc.) — no tariff rate
- Same origin and destination (US→US) — no tariff rate
In these cases:
- Present the HS code and description (still useful for customs declaration)
- Tell the user: "Tariff rate data is currently available for China → US imports only. The HS code above can be used to look up rates on your destination country's customs website."
- If the user is comparing multiple origin countries, only the CN→US result will have tariff rates
Step 5 — Batch Requests
When the user provides multiple products:
- Make one API call per product
- Present results in a comparison table
- Optionally offer to export as CSV
Example output:
| Product | HS Code | General Duty | Additional Tariff | Total Rate | Duty on $10 item |
|---------|---------|-------------|-------------------|------------|-----------------|
| Ceramic mug | 6911.10.45 | 14.0% | 10.0% | 24.0% | $2.40 |
| Cotton dress | 6104.42.00 | 11.5% | 17.5% | 29.0% | $2.90 |
| Leather wallet | 4202.31.60 | 8.0% | — | 8.0% | $0.80 |
Error Handling
| Situation | Action |
|---|---|
Outer success: false, responseCode "-1" |
Transient system error. Retry once. If still fails, inform the user. |
Outer success: false, responseCode "20001" |
Validation error — check that source, originCountryCode, destinationCountryCode, and productName are all provided and non-empty |
Inner data.success: false, code "550" |
Classification failed. Ask user to rephrase or provide a more specific product description. |
tariffRate is null |
Not a CN→US route — HS code is valid but tariff rate data unavailable. See Step 4. |
tariffRate is 0 or very low |
May be correct (e.g. some electronics have 0% general duty). Present the result normally. |
digit: 10 returns system error |
Retry with digit: 8. The 10-digit lookup occasionally fails. |
Empty productName ("") |
API returns responseCode "20001" with message "productName Product name cannot be blank". Ask user to provide a product name. |
Purely numeric productName (e.g. "12345") |
API returns system error (-1). Ask user to describe the product in words, not just numbers. |
Non-English productName (e.g. Chinese) |
API accepts and processes it — classification still works. Results are still in English. |
Invalid country code (e.g. "XX", "ZZ") |
API does NOT reject it — returns an HS code but tariffRate will be null. Validate country codes on the agent side before calling. |
| HTTP GET instead of POST | API returns system error. Always use POST. |
Non-standard digit values (0, 6, 99, etc.) |
API does NOT reject them — falls back to 8-digit behavior. Stick to 8 or 10. |
source set to other values (e.g. "amazon") |
API accepts it — classification still works. Always use "alibaba" for consistency. |
Comparison with Alternatives
| Feature | This Skill | Tariff Watch Clean | Manual USITC Lookup |
|---|---|---|---|
| Local setup | None — API call only | FastAPI + Python 3.11 + SQLite | Web browser |
| HS code input | AI auto-classifies by product name | Must know the HS code | Manual search |
| Tariff breakdown | General + Additional separated | Combined view | Manual lookup |
| Batch processing | Up to 100 products | Single product | Single product |
| Data freshness | Real-time | Periodic USITC data dump | Live but manual |
| Additional tariffs | Section 301/232/AD-CVD included | Partial | Manual |
| API key required | No | N/A (local) | N/A |
Example Queries
- "What's the tariff on wireless headphones from China to the US?"
- "Find the HS code for organic cotton baby blankets"
- "Calculate landed cost for importing leather handbags at $15/unit from China to the US"
- "Batch tariff lookup for these 10 products from China"
- "What Section 301 tariffs apply to electronics from China?"
- "How much import duty on $500 worth of ceramic tiles from China to the US?"
- "What's the HS code for Bluetooth speakers?" (HS code lookup works for any country pair)
- "Compare HS codes for yoga mats shipped to US vs Germany" (tariff rates only available for CN→US)
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