A few months ago a friend asked me to help figure out the tariff on a synthesizer he wanted to buy from a shop in Japan and ship to the US. Simple question, right? How much duty will this actually owe?
Six tabs and an hour later, I still didn't have a clean answer. The official sources exist — they're just buried in HS-code tables written for customs brokers, not humans. You're expected to know that a "synthesizer" maps to a specific harmonized code, then cross-reference the MFN rate, then remember that the rate depends on where the thing was made, not where you bought it.
So I built the thing I wished existed: TariffPedia. You type a product name or paste an HS code, pick the destination (US, EU, UK, or China for now), and it shows the representative MFN duty rate with a link straight to the official government source behind each number. No account, no paywall, no "sign up to see the result."
The part I cared about most was the source links. Anyone can quote a percentage; the useful thing is being one click from the page that actually says it, so you can verify before you rely on it. Last week I used it to sanity-check a camera lens I was importing, and the ten seconds it took beat the alternative of guessing and hoping the courier didn't slap on a surprise fee.
One honest caveat: these are representative MFN rates. The real number shifts with the product's country of origin, trade agreements, and the occasional exemption, and I'm not a customs broker. For anything with real money behind it, check the official source (TariffPedia links to it) or ask a licensed broker. I just wanted the guessing to stop for the small, everyday "wait, will this get taxed?" questions.
If you've ever stared at a customs form wondering what number goes where, it's here: https://tariffpedia.com
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