Tariff Code & Duty Lookup API: US HTS and UK Tariff

Send a US HTS code and get the official description hierarchy, the general (MFN) duty rate, preferential rates, linked Chapter 99 references and units, with a source link. No code yet? Send a plain product description and get up to 5 candidate codes from the official USITC search. Built for AI agents, customs brokers and e-commerce teams who need a sourced duty rate, not a guess. UK Trade Tariff too: send a UK 10-digit commodity code (or a description) with "market": "UK" for the UK duty, preferential rates, VAT and trade remedies, read live from HMRC.

Pricing (pay per event): $0.005 per code lookup (code-lookup) and $0.005 per description search however many candidates it returns (code-search). Same price for US and UK. Bad input, unknown or non-declarable codes, searches without results and source outages fail in seconds and cost nothing. The data is free from USITC (hts.usitc.gov) and HMRC (trade-tariff.service.gov.uk); you pay for the one-call summary across both tariffs and the hosted API.

Not a binding classification ruling. Candidates come from the official search and must be confirmed; binding rulings come from U.S. CBP or an HMRC Advance Tariff Ruling.

What you get

One JSON item per code. Real output for {"code": "8712.00.15", "market": "US"} (6 Nov 2026):

{
  "schema_version": "1",
  "match_type": "code",
  "query": null,
  "candidate_rank": null,
  "market": "US",
  "code": "87120015",
  "code_formatted": "8712.00.15",
  "description": "Bicycles having both wheels not exceeding 63.5 cm in diameter",
  "hierarchy": [
    { "code": "8712.00", "description": "Bicycles and other cycles (including delivery tricycles), not motorized:" },
    { "code": "8712.00.15", "description": "Bicycles having both wheels not exceeding 63.5 cm in diameter" }
  ],
  "declarable": null,
  "general_rate": "11%",
  "rate_line": "8712.00.15",
  "column_2_rate": "30%",
  "special_rates_text": "Free (A+,AU,BH,CL,CO,D,E,IL,JO,KR,MA,OM,P,PA,PE,S,SG) 5.5% (JP)",
  "preferential_rates": [
    { "rate": "Free", "applies_to": ["A+", "AU", "BH", "CL", "CO", "D", "E", "IL", "JO", "KR", "MA", "OM", "P", "PA", "PE", "S", "SG"] },
    { "rate": "5.5%", "applies_to": ["JP"] }
  ],
  "preferential_rates_total": 2,
  "additional_duties": [],
  "temporary_reductions": [
    {
      "reference": "9902.17.07",
      "rate": "Free",
      "description": "Bicycles each with no seat, no seat tube and no seat stay, designed to be pedaled by a user in a standing position only, such bicycles having both wheels not exceeding 63.5 cm in diameter (provided for in subheading 8712.00.15)."
    }
  ],
  "vat": [],
  "units": [],
  "origin_country": null,
  "edition": "2026 HTS Revision 22",
  "source_url": "https://hts.usitc.gov/search?query=8712.00.15",
  "provided_by": "Bosco Labs (boscolabs.dev)",
  "api_url": "https://hts.usitc.gov/reststop/exportList?from=8712&to=8712.99.99.99&format=JSON",
  "attribution": "Source: Harmonized Tariff Schedule of the United States (HTS), U.S. International Trade Commission, hts.usitc.gov. A U.S. Government work, not covered by copyright in the United States. Text and rates reproduced as published (HTML tags removed); not endorsed by USITC.",
  "warnings": [
    "Chapter 99 measures applied by note lists (Section 301 duties on goods of China, Section 232, IEEPA and other temporary duties) are usually not linked to the line in the HTS data, so additional_duties can be incomplete. Check HTS Chapter 99, subchapter III and IV.",
    "temporary_reductions (HTS 9902) apply only to the goods each one describes, within their effective dates; check eligibility before using that rate instead of general_rate."
  ],
  "disclaimer": "Not a binding classification ruling. Reference data only, not legal advice; the importer is responsible for the correct HTS classification. Binding rulings: U.S. Customs and Border Protection (CBP).",
  "as_of": "2026-11-06",
  "retrieved_at": "2026-11-06T08:58:34+00:00",
  "duration_seconds": 0.76
}

So: small-wheel bicycles pay 11% (general), free under most US FTAs, 5.5% from Japan, 30% from column 2 countries. The 9902 line is a narrower temporary reduction (standing-only bicycles), kept apart from the duties.

UK. Real output (6 Nov 2026, live HMRC API, one code-lookup charge) for {"code": "8712003010", "market": "UK", "originCountry": "DE"} (shortened):

{
  "market": "UK",
  "code": "8712003010",
  "description": "Consigned from Indonesia, Malaysia, Sri Lanka or Tunisia",
  "hierarchy": [
    { "code": "87", "description": "Vehicles other than railway or tramway rolling stock, and parts and accessories thereof" },
    { "code": "8712", "description": "Bicycles and other cycles (including delivery tricycles), not motorised" },
    { "code": "8712003000", "description": "Bicycles with ball bearings" },
    { "code": "8712003010", "description": "Consigned from Indonesia, Malaysia, Sri Lanka or Tunisia" }
  ],
  "declarable": true,
  "general_rate": "14.00%",
  "preferential_rates_total": 1,
  "preferential_rates": [
    { "rate": "0.00%", "applies_to": ["European Union (1013)"], "measure_type": "Tariff preference", "quota_order_number": null }
  ],
  "additional_duties": [
    { "reference": null, "type": "Definitive anti-dumping duty", "rate": "48.50%", "applies_to": "ERGA OMNES (1011)", "additional_code": null, "description": null }
  ],
  "vat": [{ "rate": "20.00%", "additional_code": null, "description": null }],
  "units": ["items (p/st)"],
  "origin_country": "DE",
  "source_url": "https://www.trade-tariff.service.gov.uk/commodities/8712003010",
  "attribution": "Contains public sector information licensed under the Open Government Licence v3.0 (https://www.nationalarchives.gov.uk/doc/open-government-licence/version/3/). Source: UK Trade Tariff, HM Revenue & Customs, trade-tariff.service.gov.uk. Not endorsed by HMRC.",
  "as_of": "2026-11-06"
}

Description search: {"query": "bicycle", "market": "US"} returned (real run, 2.6 s, one code-search charge): 8712.00.15 (11%), 8712.00.44.00 (5.5%), 8712.00.48.00 (11%), 8712.00.25.00 (5.5%), 4012.90.30.00 "Bicycle rim strips" (Free). Each candidate is a full row like the one above with match_type: "search_candidate", candidate_rank and a warning that it must be confirmed.

• general_rate: US column 1 General, or the UK third-country duty that applies to all origins. A US 10-digit statistical line inherits the rate of its 8-digit line (rate_line).
• preferential_rates: US special-program codes (AU = Australia FTA, S = USMCA, A+ = GSP, ...) with their rate; UK tariff preferences, preferential quotas (with quota order number) and suspensions, per country or group.
• additional_duties: US Chapter 99 references from footnotes and 9903 lines that name the code; UK anti-dumping, countervailing, additional duties (e.g. Russia/Belarus 35%) and excise, with additional codes. A rate of null means it depends on conditions; follow source_url.
• temporary_reductions (US): HTS 9902 lines that name the code. Each covers only the narrower goods it describes, within its effective dates, so it is never mixed into the duties.
• preferential_rates_total: a UK line can carry 50+ preferences; without originCountry the first 10 are listed and this field gives the full count.
• Origin filter (originCountry): UK lists only measures that apply to that country (group membership and exclusions resolved). US keeps programs named by that country code (plus USMCA for CA/MX) and adds column 2 and China Section 301 notes.

Input

{ "code": "8712.00.15", "market": "US" }

Field	What it does
code	US HTS 8 or 10 digits, or UK 10-digit commodity code. Dots/spaces ignored. 4/6 digits or a non-declarable UK code fail free with the codes under it.
query	A product description instead of a code: up to 5 official search candidates.
market	US (default) or UK (GB accepted).
originCountry	Optional ISO alpha-2 origin, e.g. CN, DE.

Pass either code or query. Bad input fails at once with an example; for instance {"code": "87120030", "market": "UK"} answers "8712003000 is not a declarable 10-digit UK commodity code. Declarable codes under it: 8712003010 (...); 8712003020 (...); 8712003090 (Other)."

Use from an AI agent (MCP)

Agents can call this Actor as a tool through the Apify MCP server. Add this server URL to your MCP client (Claude, Cursor, VS Code, ...):

https://mcp.apify.com?tools=bosco_labs/tariff-lookup

It loads this Actor as a tool, plus the tools that read its results (get-actor-run, get-dataset-items). The hosted server signs you in with OAuth, or accepts your Apify token as Authorization: Bearer <APIFY_TOKEN>.

Example prompt: "What US import duty applies to kids' bicycles (wheels under 63.5 cm) from Vietnam? Give the HTS code and cite the source." The agent passes:

{ "query": "bicycle", "market": "US", "originCountry": "VN" }

and then, once it has picked a candidate, {"code": "8712.00.15", "market": "US"} for later calls.

Output for agents: one 2-5 KB JSON item per code, stable snake_case fields, rates exactly as published (strings like "11%", "Free", "£26.00 / 100 litre (hl)"), null for unknown, a source link, the API call, the licence notice and the disclaimer per row. A US lookup takes about 1 s; a search 1-3 s. Each request has a 20-second limit with two retries.

Cost: $0.005 per lookup or search, billed to the Apify account the MCP server is signed in with. US and UK cost the same. Failed lookups and source outages are free.

FAQ

Is this a classification? No. A code lookup returns what the official tariff says for the code you give. A search returns the official search engine's hits (for the US, ranked by us: lines under a heading that matches your words first). Neither is a binding ruling; the importer or declarant remains responsible. Get a binding ruling from U.S. CBP or an HMRC Advance Tariff Ruling.

Does it give the total duty I will pay? No. It gives the rates the tariff publishes. It does not apply rules of origin, quotas, end-use relief, valuation or the duty calculator.

US: are Section 301, 232 and IEEPA tariffs included? Only where the HTS data links them to the line: Chapter 99 footnotes on the line and Chapter 99 lines whose text names the code. Duties applied through Chapter 99 note lists (most Section 301 China lists, Section 232 derivatives, IEEPA reciprocal tariffs) are not linked per line in the HTS data, so every US row says so in warnings. Check HTS Chapter 99 for goods of China and for steel, aluminium and autos.

How is UK read? Live from HMRC's production Trade Tariff API with Bosco Labs' own developer-portal credentials (OAuth 2.0); you need no HMRC account. A UK lookup takes about 1-2 s.

UK: what is left out? Import controls and prohibitions (licences, certificates) are counted in warnings, not listed. Excise and some company-specific anti-dumping rates depend on conditions and come back with rate: null; follow source_url. Export measures, quotas' balances and Northern Ireland (XI) tariffs are not included.

How fresh is it? Each run reads the current US HTS edition (named in edition) live. UK responses are cached for up to 24 hours, as HMRC recommends ("It is recommended you cache requests for 24 hours"): within a run on Apify, and per server process in the Bosco Labs API.

Where does the data come from, and may I reuse it? USITC's HTS REST API (a U.S. Government work, public domain in the US) and HMRC's UK Trade Tariff API (Open Government Licence v3.0: keep the attribution text when you republish UK data). USITC's disclaimer says the site is "only intended to be general summary information to the public. It is not intended to provide legal advice". HMRC's terms say "If you use the Trade Tariff APIs, you must follow published guidance and usage limits", which we do: managed OAuth credentials on HMRC's production host, the 24-hour cache, retries with backoff and a 20-second limit. Neither forbids automated access within those limits.

Which codes work? US: 8- and 10-digit HTS lines (description searches skip Chapters 98 and 99, which are special provisions). UK: declarable 10-digit commodity codes; anything shorter lists the declarable codes under it for free.