How to Calculate US Duty
- 1). Calculate the total cost of the item you are importing. The item's cost includes the price you paid, plus to the cost of any insurance or shipping.
- 2). Locate the "Duty Rate" for the type of item you are importing. You can find the duty rate from U.S. Customs officials at any border checkpoint, or in advance by purchasing a book like the US Harmonized Tariff Schedule. The United States International Trade Commission's Interactive Tariff and Trade DataWeb Internet site usually also contains this information.
- 3). Convert your duty rate percentage to a decimal by dividing by 100. For example, if the duty rate on your item is 6%, 6/100 = 0.06.
- 4). Multiply the total cost of your item from "Step 1" by the decimal from "Step 3." The number you get as the result is the duty rate you must pay in order to import the goods into the United States.
