Tariff glossary

Terms that recur in the tariff schedule, in proclamations and on an entry summary, defined as they are used in those documents.

Rates and the schedule

What a rate is and where it comes from.

Column 1 General. The ordinary rate of duty for a classification, applying to any origin with normal trade relations. Also called the most-favored-nation or MFN rate.
Column 1 Special. Reduced rates available under a trade agreement or preference program, identified by letter code, and available only on a claim.
Column 2. The higher schedule of rates applying to goods of countries without normal trade relations with the United States.
Ad valorem. A rate expressed as a percentage of the customs value, as distinct from a specific rate charged per unit of quantity.
Compound rate. A rate carrying both an ad valorem and a specific component, such as "$1.104/kg + 14.9%".
Chapter 99. The chapter holding temporary modifications to the schedule. Subchapter III carries the trade remedies.
U.S. note. Legal text at the head of a subchapter that defines what its headings reach. The notes to subchapter III enumerate the provisions each trade remedy covers.
Statistical line. The ten-digit code duty is assessed at. A four- or six-digit heading is a group of statistical lines whose rates can differ.

What happens at the border.

Entry for consumption. The filing that releases imported goods into United States commerce. Its date is what decides which tariff actions apply.
Entered value. The customs value declared on the entry, and the amount ad valorem rates are charged against.
Transaction value. The primary basis of customs value: the price actually paid or payable for the goods when sold for export to the United States, plus specified additions.
Liquidation. The final computation of duties on an entry by Customs and Border Protection. Until an entry liquidates, the amount collected is provisional.
Cash deposit. The amount collected at entry against an antidumping or countervailing order, at the rate then in effect. The duty finally assessed is set at liquidation.
Importer of record. The party responsible for the entry, for the accuracy of its classification and valuation, and for the duty owed.
Binding ruling. A written determination from Customs and Border Protection on the classification, valuation or origin of a specific article, on which the requester may rely.

What decides which duties reach a shipment.

Country of origin. Where goods were made or last substantially transformed. Not where they were shipped from.
Substantial transformation. Processing that produces a new and different article of commerce, with a name, character or use distinct from what went in.
Rules of origin. The tests set out in a trade agreement for whether goods qualify for its preferential rates. Distinct from the substantial transformation test.
Trade remedy. A duty imposed under an authority outside the ordinary schedule. Sections 232, 301 and 338, and antidumping and countervailing duties.
Exclusion. A grant excusing particular goods from a trade-remedy duty they would otherwise carry.
Non-stacking rule. A provision making two actions mutually exclusive on the same article, so that only one applies.
Derivative article. An article outside the primary chapters of an action that the action nonetheless reaches, typically because it contains a covered material.

Elsewhere on this site.