Import duty by product category
The rate attaches to a subheading in the tariff schedule, not to a product category. These pages explain what decides which subheading your item falls into.
Two items that look identical can sit in different subheadings and carry very different rates. A knit cotton shirt and a woven cotton shirt are classified in different chapters entirely. A handbag with a plastic outer surface is a different subheading from a leather one, whatever the marketing copy calls it. Getting this wrong is the single largest source of surprise on a customs bill.
Each page below sets out the factors that actually decide the classification, shows the subheadings the category tends to split across, and notes the country programs most likely to apply on top.
Popular personal imports
- Korean Skincare
Korean skincare is one of the highest-volume personal import categories into the U.S., and the questions it raises are specific: whether KORUS makes it duty-free, whether a sunscreen or a treatment essence is classified differently from a moisturiser, and what happens now that every parcel is dutiable..
- Skincare
Skincare products generally fall under heading 3304 (beauty or make-up preparations and preparations for the care of the skin).
- Cosmetics
Colour cosmetics sit close to skincare in the tariff schedule but split across several headings depending on where on the body the product is used and what it does.
- Clothing
Apparel is one of the most classification-sensitive import categories.
- Shoes
Footwear duties vary more widely than almost any other consumer category.
- Handbags
Handbags and similar containers fall under heading 4202.
Everything else
- Electronics
Many consumer electronics carry a zero general rate, which makes people assume they are duty-free.
- Jewelry
Jewellery duty turns almost entirely on material — precious metal, base metal clad with precious metal, or imitation — and the distinctions in the schedule are finer than most sellers' product descriptions..
- Supplements & Vitamins
Supplements are the category where a second agency most often matters more than the duty.
- Toys & Games
Many toys carry a zero general rate, which leads people to assume the category is duty-free.
- Furniture
Furniture classification follows the room and the function first, then the material.
- Auto Parts
Automotive parts are where product-scoped Section 232 actions most often surprise importers.