What is your product’s commodity number?
You can look this up in the appropriate directory at your local international small business association office. A commodity number (generally known as an “HS/Schedule B product description”) allows for easy classification by customs officials. It’s important to be as specific as possible when determining your product classification because transportation rates vary widely, even among products you’d expect to fall in the same category. If you’re unable to determine the appropriate number, the logistics specialist will calculate an accurate shipping quote based on your product description.
If your product is already a standard export, but you’re sending it to a new market, a logistics specialist will take your commodity number and assign an appropriate tariff number. That number will be filed as the industry standard for all subsequent exports of that commodity to that location. Every time you export that product to that country, you must use the assigned tariff number to ensure you get the same rate. The same is true when you reverse the transaction and import the product.