CBP CROSS Customs Rulings Scraper

Search the US Customs and Border Protection CROSS database (Customs Rulings Online Search System) and extract binding tariff classification rulings as structured JSON — ruling numbers, subjects, ruling dates, cited HTS codes, and revocation status.

CROSS contains more than 200,000 legally binding rulings issued by CBP Headquarters and the New York ruling branch since the late 1980s. Every ruling answers a real importer's question — "what HTS code does this product fall under, and what duty does it pay?" — and serves as precedent for classifying similar merchandise. Searching this precedent manually is slow; this Actor turns any keyword, product name, or HTS number into a clean dataset in seconds.

Who uses this data?

• Customs brokers validating classifications against existing precedent before filing entries
• Trade compliance attorneys researching ruling history for protests, prior disclosures, and ruling requests
• Importers checking how CBP has classified competitor products and components
• Tariff engineering consultants finding rulings that distinguish adjacent HTS lines
• Supply chain analysts monitoring new rulings in their product categories

Data fields

Field	Description
rulingNumber	CROSS ruling number (e.g. N341205, H328000)
subject	Official ruling subject — typically "The tariff classification of X from Y"
rulingDate	Date the ruling was issued
collection	Ruling collection (HQ headquarters or NY New York)
tariffs	HTS codes cited in the ruling
tariffCount	Number of HTS codes cited
categories	Ruling category (Classification, Valuation, Marking, etc.)
isUsmca	Whether the ruling involves USMCA
operationallyRevoked	Whether the ruling has been revoked
revokedBy / revokes / relatedRulings	Cross-references to related rulings
rulingUrl	Direct link to the full ruling text on rulings.cbp.gov

How to scrape CBP customs rulings

1. Enter a search term — a product (lithium battery), material (aluminum), or HTS prefix (8501).
2. Pick a collection (All, HQ, or NY) and a sort order (newest first by default).
3. Set Max Results and click Start.
4. Download the dataset as JSON, CSV, or Excel.

Input example

{
    "searchTerm": "lithium battery",
    "collection": "ALL",
    "sortBy": "DATE_DESC",
    "maxResults": 200
}

Output example

{
    "rulingNumber": "D81830",
    "subject": "The tariff classification of round aluminum alloy rods from the United Kingdom.",
    "rulingDate": "1998-09-01T00:00:00",
    "collection": "ny",
    "tariffs": ["7604.29.3010", "7604.29.5060"],
    "categories": "Classification",
    "operationallyRevoked": false,
    "rulingUrl": "https://rulings.cbp.gov/ruling/D81830"
}

Pricing

You pay a small fee per result plus standard Apify compute. The default run (200 newest rulings for a term) finishes in well under a minute at the smallest memory setting.

FAQ

How current is the data? The Actor queries the live CROSS API on every run. New rulings appear in CROSS shortly after CBP issues them.

Can I get the full ruling text? This Actor returns the ruling metadata and a direct rulingUrl to the complete ruling text on rulings.cbp.gov.

What's the difference between HQ and NY rulings? NY rulings are issued quickly for straightforward classification questions; HQ rulings handle complex or contested issues and carry more precedential weight.

Legal disclaimer

This Actor extracts publicly available data published by US Customs and Border Protection, a US government agency. The data is in the public domain. This Actor is not affiliated with or endorsed by CBP. Rulings data is provided for research purposes; consult a licensed customs broker or trade attorney for binding advice.