Every product you import gets an HTS code — the ten-digit classification number that decides the duty rate you pay, and someone likely picked yours in about ninety seconds. When a duty bill jumps or an audit letter lands, CBP (U.S. Customs and Border Protection) reaches back five years and asks one thing: show your work — why this code, not another? Most importers have nothing written down. We give you that written record — the code, the CBP rulings behind it, and the duty math, in plain dollars. New to the terms (HTS, CBP, duty, FTA)? There's a one-line plain-English glossary in the estimator on the right.
Already got a bill, a CF-28 letter, or a code from your broker? Start there. A jumped bill is usually one of two things: a new tariff surcharge stacked on top of your existing rate (the Section 122 line below), or the wrong classification code. Enter the code or product from your bill in the free check and it tells you which one you're looking at — and whether that code holds up against CBP's own rulings. Different problems, different fixes.
Read this before you invest any time: the free check runs now (no signup), but the full $295 advisory is not an instant card checkout. You send your details, we reply the next business day with payment instructions (card or wire), then deliver within two business days of payment — roughly 3–4 business days end to end. If your deadline is inside a day or two (demurrage, a CF-28 date this week), this path likely can't hit it — email us the date first and we'll tell you honestly before you fill in a thing.
We'll email you these estimator inputs and results plus a 1-page HTS reasonable-care checklist. Fulfilled manually for now — expect a reply within one business day. No signup, no charge.
An LED face mask reads as a textile "mask" (7%) to a quick lookup, but CBP's own rulings since 2017 place the device in electrical apparatus (2.6%). The precedent is settled — the gap is that most importers never check which line was actually entered against theirs.
CBP can reopen five years of entries. Penalties for negligent misclassification run to twice the duty loss. "My broker chose it" is not a defense. A written analysis is.
Misclassify by negligence and CBP can assess a penalty up to twice the lost duty — on top of the duty itself. The one thing that rebuts a negligence finding is documented reasonable care: a written classification you can produce on request.
You describe the product. Our engine searches CBP's own rulings for how they've classified goods like yours, then verifies the live rate, and a practitioner writes the analysis.
One sentence to start. For the full advisory, the same facts CBP asks for in a ruling request: materials with percentages, principal use, origin, commercial name.
We pull CBP rulings on similar goods from CROSS, rank them by relevance, and verify each candidate code's rate live against hts.usitc.gov. Codes come from real rulings, not a guess — so every candidate carries a citation.
A seven-section advisory: the recommended code, the rulings behind it, the candidates rejected and why, the full 2026 duty stack in dollars, and a reasonable-care checklist. Dated, sourced, and stamped with its current review status.
The gap in the market is a written, defensible analysis at a flat price. Everything else is either a bare code or a four-figure invoice.
| Free HTS lookup / $10 gig | Customs broker | Customs attorney | TariffClear | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| What you get | A code, no reasoning | Entries filed under a code — their expertise, but usually not a standalone written memo for your file | Written substantiation | A written 7-section advisory |
| CBP rulings cited in a document you keep | No | Varies — often the reasoning stays with the broker, not in your records | Yes | Yes — engine-pulled, linked |
| Rejected candidates explained | No | No | Sometimes | Yes — adopted & rejected |
| Full 2026 duty stack in $ | Base rate only | On the entry | If asked | Base + 122 + MPF + FTA |
| What it stands on | Nothing — a bare code | The broker's own license and judgment | An attorney's license; legal advice you can rely on | Cited CBP precedent + live-verified rates, in writing — documentation, not a credential. It stands on the sources it cites, not a license, and doesn't claim the standing of a broker's or attorney's sign-off* |
| Price | $0–10 | Bundled / per entry | $400–600/hr | $295 flat |
| Turnaround | Minutes | Per shipment | ~1 week | 2 business days after payment (~3–4 total) |
* Read the table for what each option actually is, not as a claim of equivalence. TariffClear is a source-cited written analysis — it doesn't carry a broker's or attorney's license, and isn't sold as a substitute for one. Exactly what the review status is, and how it's stamped on the report, is spelled out once in the pricing section.
CBP reads its ruling letters in this order — facts, then reasoning, then holding. So does yours. It's the document your broker, your auditor, and your future self can act on. Read the full sample →
Recommended code, rate, confidence band, and duty math — one table.
Your product in its imported condition, to the 19 C.F.R. §177.2 standard. Missing facts are named, not guessed.
GRI reasoning. Every candidate adopted or rejected, with the CBP rulings that say why.
Base + Section 122 + MPF, and the 301/232 footnote overlay — in dollars per shipment.
FTA claim, entry-timing scenario, IEEPA refund eligibility, and when a binding ruling is worth it.
The CBP Informed-Compliance checklist, mapped and checked off. This advisory is the written record it asks for.
Who completed it, who reviewed it, on what data, dated. Sources named so it stands on audit.
Every code, rate, and ruling number is an API-verified value. The engine writes the prose; it never invents the numbers.
View sample →This is the real worked example behind the sample. Same fields you fill in, same output the engine produced against live government data.
The whole market prices classification by "contact us for a quote." We publish the number. Ordering is by email invoice, not instant card checkout yet — you place a request, we reply within one business day with payment instructions (card or wire) and a locked delivery date, and the advisory follows within two business days of payment. Plan on this being a considered order, not a same-hour turnaround.
Two things to know before you order, up front:
Why the wait, and why by email. This is an owner-operated practice, not a self-serve SaaS with a card form yet. Each advisory is written and checked by hand, so we invoice you directly (card or wire) and give you a named delivery date rather than auto-charging on submit. If your accounts-payable team needs an entity name, tax ID, or W-9 to raise a PO, email us before ordering and we'll sort the billing paperwork — see the Terms.
Review status. A licensed customs-broker countersign is being stood up. Until it's live, every advisory ships marked [PENDING — licensed review] — the written analysis, rulings, and duty math are the deliverable today, sold as an informational analysis, not customs brokerage or legal advice. You'll never be surprised by this: it's stamped on the report itself.
If policy moves after we deliver — we watch it, not you. The Section 122 surcharge and its ~July 24 sunset are contested and could shift within days. Your advisory is generated against live sources on the day it's written, so it reflects the status then. We track the surcharge and sunset ourselves, and if a material change (the sunset landing, a court ruling) hits within 14 days of your delivery, we email you and reissue the re-run duty stack at no charge — you don't have to notice it or ask. (You can email us for a re-run any time after that too; we just won't have flagged it for you automatically.)
On the $199 catalog tier: there's a real path for you today — email us your SKU list and we quote and deliver each advisory by hand through the exact same engine and $295 process, at the $199/SKU volume rate for 5+ SKUs. Every advisory in a catalog order is a full, standalone 7-section advisory — the multi-SKU job is done the same way as a single one, just batched and priced down. The only thing not built yet is the self-serve CSV upload and SKU library, so for now we run catalog orders as a hands-on, quoted engagement rather than a checkout button — you get a firm quote by email before any work starts. The $199/SKU figure is our published volume rate set from the $295 single price; the $295 and $750 figures are the published flat prices.
| If your situation is… | The lever in the advisory | Indicative payback |
|---|---|---|
| Korean-origin goods, FTA not being claimed | KORUS claim + MPF exemption | ~$294 saved per $10k entered |
| A CF-28 or CF-29 letter on your desk | The written substantiation CBP asks for | Avoids attorney draft at $400–600/hr |
| Booking freight against the Section 122 sunset | Entry-timing scenario in dollars | Up to $1,000 per $10k, per shipment |
| Paid IEEPA duties Aug 2025 – Feb 2026 | Refund-eligibility screen | Depends on your entry records |
| Unsure your broker's code is right | Precedent check + rejected candidates | Guards a 5-year, 2× duty-loss exposure |
Payback figures are methodology-derived from the public HTS schedule and the duty math the engine runs. Actual results depend on your product, origin, and entry history. Nothing here is a guarantee of savings.
Describe your product. We search live CBP rulings and the USITC schedule and show you the likely code, confidence, and estimated duty — no signup, no email. The full advisory is one click from there.
On a hard deadline? Shipment held on demurrage, or a CF-28 / protest response date in the next few days? Email us that date at inha.journey@gmail.com before you order and we'll tell you honestly whether the ~3–4 business day path can meet it — before you spend time filling in the forms.
The full advisory adds the GRI analysis with adopted and rejected candidates, the complete 2026 tariff stack, the FTA and refund screen, and the reasonable-care section — $295 flat, delivered within two business days of payment (~3–4 business days end to end).
Order the full advisory → See a finished sample firstWhat happens when you submit: we email you within one business day with payment instructions and a delivery date — nothing is charged here, and this is the first step of a roughly 3–4 business day process, not an instant download. The fields below are the facts CBP itself requires (19 C.F.R. §177.2). The more complete, the stronger the advisory — but you don't need everything on hand right now. A best guess on materials is fine, and anything you leave blank we simply name as a follow-up rather than guess. Your product description from the free check carries over — no need to retype it.
Often on one shipment. If your Korean-origin goods qualify for KORUS and you're not claiming it, that's about $294 back per $10,000 entered — the fee covers itself before the second container. If you're deciding whether to ship before or after the Section 122 sunset, the timing scenario is worth up to $1,000 per $10,000. And if a CF-28 letter is on your desk, the alternative is a customs attorney at $400–600 an hour writing the same substantiation from scratch.
We don't promise savings. The advisory shows you the levers in dollars so you can decide.
The method is precedent-first. We don't ask a model to guess a code. We search CBP's own published rulings (CROSS) for goods like yours, and the candidate codes come only from those rulings — so every code we suggest already carries a real citation. We then verify each rate live against the USITC schedule (hts.usitc.gov). The engine writes the reasoning; it never invents the numbers, codes, or ruling references. A quality gate re-checks the top code's rate against the live schedule before anything ships.
Straight answer: no licensed customs broker has reviewed your advisory yet. We are recruiting one to countersign every deliverable, and until that's in place, each one is marked "Reviewed by: [PENDING — licensed review]" and sold as an informational analysis, not customs brokerage.
What stands behind the rigor in the meantime is the method, not a bio. Every candidate code comes from an actual CBP ruling on a comparable good (CROSS), every rate is verified live against the USITC schedule at generation time, and a quality gate re-checks the top code's rate before anything ships — the engine writes the reasoning and never invents a code, rate, or ruling number. So the classification is precedent-backed and source-cited today; the one thing it does not yet carry is a licensed professional's countersign, and we tell you that plainly rather than after you've paid.
"Why not just ask my broker to write up their reasoning?" You can, and if they will, do it. In practice most brokers file the entry under a code and keep the reasoning in their head, not in a memo in your file — and a countersigned opinion from them, if they offer one at all, is a paid engagement, not free. What you're buying here is the written artifact itself: the rulings pulled and cited, the rejected candidates named, the full duty stack in dollars, in the format CBP's reasonable-care guidance asks importers to retain. It doesn't replace your broker's licensed judgment or a legal opinion; it gives you the documented record most importers simply don't have, at a flat price, whether or not your broker ever puts theirs in writing.
The advisory mirrors the format of CBP's own ruling letters — facts, GRI analysis, holding — and cites the rulings CBP itself published. Your broker enters goods under whatever code you instruct; this gives them a defensible one instead of a 90-second guess. For CBP, it's the written record their reasonable-care checklist asks importers to keep. For binding certainty CBP is legally bound to honor, you file a Part 177 ruling request — which we prepare as the $750 tier.
US importers and operations leads who own landed cost and answer for the duty line — especially anyone with Korean, Vietnamese, or Chinese sourcing, a CF-28 or CF-29 letter, a duty bill that jumped this year, or freight to book against the Section 122 sunset. If your whole product line already lives cleanly in a broker's system with documented classifications, you may not need us. If you can't show your work when CBP asks, you do.
If you're the licensed pro — a broker or trade attorney who already classifies for a living — you're not the "buy the memo" customer; you are the credentialed alternative, and nothing here reviews or second-guesses your judgment. The only thing it might save you is time on the mechanical part: it pulls the on-point CROSS rulings and computes the full 2026 stack (base + 122 + MPF + FTA) to the dollar faster than doing it by hand, so you have the citations and the arithmetic in front of you before you write your own opinion. You keep the liability and the sign-off; treat it as a research shortcut, not a check on your work.
The advisory itself is written and delivered within two business days of payment; because ordering is by email invoice (we reply next business day with payment instructions), plan on roughly 3–4 business days end to end. $295 is the flat price because the engine has already done the precedent search and the live-rate lookup — the cost is the written analysis, not a bespoke consulting engagement. The market runs from $10 gigs with no methodology to attorneys at four figures; the defensible written analysis in between had no flat price until now. Tariff policy moves weekly, so every advisory is stamped with its data version and re-verified at generation time.
Scope & disclaimer. TariffClear advisories are informational classification and duty analyses. They are not customs brokerage, legal advice, or a binding CBP determination. Final classification responsibility rests with the importer of record. A licensed customs-broker countersign is being stood up; until it is in place, each deliverable is marked [PENDING — licensed review] and provided for informational use only — we do not represent that a licensed review has occurred when it has not. Binding certainty is available solely through a CBP ruling under 19 C.F.R. Part 177. Tariff policy is changing on a weekly basis in 2026; every figure is stamped with its data version and re-verified at generation time.