We started TariffsChart in 2024 because we kept seeing the same spreadsheet.
It would have a column for HTS code, a column for duty rate, a column for "China surcharge," and a column for "estimated landed cost." None of the cells had links. None of them had dates. The duty rate that was right in March 2024 was wrong by August 2024, when the four-year Section 301 review changed the line for half a dozen consumer categories. By the time the importer realized, the spreadsheet had been driving pricing decisions for four months.
The team building the spreadsheet wasn't sloppy. They were running a real business, with real margins, in an environment where the tariff rules change two or three times a year and the consequences of being wrong show up at the entry filing — too late to do anything about it. What they needed wasn't a smarter calculator. They needed a workflow where the answer always came with the source attached.
That's the problem we built TariffsChart to solve. This piece is about what we made, what we deliberately didn't make, and who it's actually for.
What we noticed
A few patterns showed up consistently across the importers we talked to in 2024:
The HTS lookup was happening on three different sites — flexport.com, the official USITC HTS, and whatever the supplier had quoted — with no record of which version was being used. When a number got challenged, no one could remember where it had come from.
The Section 301 layer was being treated as a single rate (often "25%") regardless of the actual list, the actual product, and the actual exclusion status. Real review meant looking up Chapter 99 codes, which most calculators didn't expose.
The landed-cost models weren't including MPF and HMF, weren't separating freight from goods value for the duty calculation, and were producing per-unit numbers that were 10–25% optimistic — which is the kind of error that quietly destroys gross margin without ever showing up as a "problem" anyone can point at.
The broker handoff was painful. When a broker asked "why did you classify it this way?" the answer was usually "the supplier said so" or "we've been using that code for two years" — neither of which is a defensible position.
We built TariffsChart to address those four pain points, in that order.
What TariffsChart is
Three connected tools, built around one workflow.
HS / HTS lookup. A search interface against the current HTSUS that surfaces the 10-digit subheading, the chapter notes, and the General Rules of Interpretation context — and captures the source URL and retrieval date by default whenever you save a result. The point isn't that we have a better HTS database than USITC. The point is that USITC's database doesn't capture that you looked at it on a specific date, which is the metadata that matters when you're trying to reconstruct a planning decision six months later.
Landed-cost calculator. Takes goods value, Incoterm, HTS, and origin, and produces the duty stack — MFN, Section 301 (with the 9903.88.xx exclusion check exposed, not buried), Section 232 if relevant, MPF, HMF, fees — with each layer's source captured. It distinguishes between the dutiable transaction value (goods only) and the cash-flow landed cost (goods plus freight plus everything else), because those are two different numbers with two different uses.
Tariff Tracker. A working record of which HTS lines you care about, how their rates have changed, and what's pending (next four-year review, scheduled exclusion expiration, posted Federal Register notices). Most importers don't need to read the Federal Register every day; they need to know if anything changed for the 30 lines that matter to them.
Underneath all three is a workspace where the source URLs, retrieval dates, classification reasoning, and open questions for each SKU live together. Export a broker-ready packet from any SKU in two clicks.
That's it. We're not a customs broker. We don't file entries. We don't issue rulings. We're the tool that gets you ready to file an entry, hand a broker something they can review in three minutes, and reconstruct your reasoning if CBP ever asks.
What we deliberately didn't build
A few decisions we made early that have shaped the product since:
No "automatic classification." A few products in this space promise to identify the right HTS code from a product description. We've watched these systems make confident wrong picks on borderline cases, which is exactly the situation where confidence is most expensive. Classification is a reasoning task, and we'd rather give you the GRIs and the chapter notes and the relevant CROSS rulings and let you reason than tell you the answer with false certainty.
No legal opinions. TariffsChart will not tell you whether your structure qualifies for first sale, whether your substantial transformation argument holds, or whether you have AD/CVD exposure. Those are questions for licensed counsel, and we'll point you at the official source materials so you can have a more productive conversation with counsel — but we don't pretend to be counsel.
No "tariff rate as a single number." Every duty calculation is a stack: MFN base + Section 301 + (sometimes) Section 232 + (sometimes) AD/CVD + MPF + HMF. We expose every layer separately, on purpose. A "total tariff rate" hides the layer you'll need to defend if asked.
No promises that we have the latest data. We have the latest data we can verify against official sources, and we tell you the date of last verification. If you're filing tomorrow, the right thing to do is re-verify the rate against USITC and USTR yourself, and we make that easy. The thing we won't do is claim our cached number is current when we haven't checked.
The product is opinionated about the workflow because we think the workflow is the actual problem. A faster calculator isn't worth much if its outputs aren't reviewable.
Who it's for
We built TariffsChart for three groups, and the product is shaped around the overlap between them.
FBA sellers and Shopify merchants running their own import operations. Usually $1M–$20M annual import value, no in-house customs counsel, working with a freight forwarder and a broker but doing the planning math themselves. For this group the value is making sure the landed-cost number that drives pricing decisions actually reflects the duty stack.
Small and mid-sized importers with internal logistics teams but limited compliance bandwidth. Usually $5M–$100M annual imports, with one or two people responsible for tariff planning across hundreds of SKUs. For this group the value is the SKU database — moving from a sprawling spreadsheet to a structured record that updates when rates change.
Customs brokers and consultants working with multiple importer clients. For this group the value is the broker-ready packet — getting clients to hand over documentation that's reviewable in minutes rather than hours.
If you're doing $500M+ in annual China imports with an internal trade compliance team and a six-figure subscription to a global trade management system, you're not our user. The big enterprise GTM platforms are well-built for that scale. We're for the importers who are too small for those platforms but too big to be running everything off a Google Sheet.
What we're working on
The roadmap, briefly. More CROSS ruling integration, so the relevant rulings show up in line with classification rather than requiring a separate search. Better tracking of administrative review schedules for AD/CVD orders. A simple workflow for binding ruling requests, because the Part 177 process is genuinely intimidating the first time. Tools for origin documentation, especially substantial transformation analysis, which is going to matter more as importers diversify away from single-country sourcing.
What we're explicitly not building: a "tariff agent" that files entries on your behalf. That work belongs with a licensed broker, and we'd rather make brokers more effective than try to replace them.
If you want to try it: the HS / HTS lookup, the landed-cost calculator, and the Tariff Tracker are all free to use without an account. Save a few SKUs, try the broker-ready packet export, and tell us where it falls short.
TariffsChart is a planning workspace, not a customs broker. We don't file entries, issue rulings, or provide legal advice. For entry-specific decisions, work with a licensed customs broker. For first sale, AD/CVD, or substantial transformation questions, consult licensed trade counsel.
