What is an HTS code?

The Harmonized Tariff Schedule is a legal document, not a lookup table. Classification follows the General Rules of Interpretation, which set out how to handle composite goods, sets, incomplete articles, and cases where two headings could apply. This is why the same physical object can be classified differently depending on its function, its material, and how it is presented for sale.

For duty purposes, the eight-digit subheading is what matters — that is where the legal rate attaches. The final two digits are statistical suffixes used for trade data and do not change the rate. Additional-duty programs generally target eight-digit subheadings too, which is why a blanket country rate is almost always wrong: two products from the same country can sit in different subheadings with different treatment.