The HTS classifies products using the general rules of interpretation (GRI), additional U.S. rules of interpretation (found at the beginning of the HTS), and the appropriate legal descriptions and notes in chapters one through 97. A key concept in determining product classification is to start at the top: find the most specific four-digit heading that describes your product, then look only at the subheadings under that heading. Our common analogy is to a pinball game, in which winning the game can happen only if your ball is in the right path initially.  This answer is written to be independent of the HTS search tool. 

Example: Find the classification of a purebred dog being imported for breeding. 

Step 1: Find the four-digit heading describing the product. Start in the table of contents. Chapter 1, is “Live Animals.” (Note that according to GRI 1, some provisions in the tariff schedule, e.g., chapter titles, are useful to help you find appropriate headings, but these titles have no legal significance.)

Step 2: Read and compare the descriptions at the four-digit heading level, until you decide which one best covers your product. 

This process requires some reasoning.  For example, a search for “purebred” leads you to 0101.10 “Purebred breeding animals.”  However, the 4-digit heading for that result is 0101 (“Live horses, asses, mules and hinnies”). So, subheading 0101.10 only relates to purebred equines – not dogs. 

Step 3:  “Dogs” are not specifically named in any of the four-digit headings in chapter one, but they are described by the category “other live animals” (heading 0106). This heading is a residual or basket category, which includes everything that hasn’t been named in the headings before it (headings 0101 through 0105). 

Note: If a product is comparably described by more than one four-digit heading, whether in one chapter or across multiple chapters, check relevant section and chapter notes for definitions or exclusions.  They may eliminate some four-digit headings or direct you to the correct one. If necessary, apply GRI's to decide which of the remaining four-digit headings applies.

Step 4: After selecting the appropriate four-digit heading, compare the subheadings’ descriptive texts that appear at the first level of indentation under that heading to find the most specific category (in this case, “mammals”). Then compare all the descriptions at the second level of indentation within that provision, and so forth. In the table below, the last 8-digit subheading (0106.19.91) is the provision which would determine any duty you would owe, but you would report all 10 digits (0106.19.9120) on your entry.

Note that goods are classified in the provisions of chapters 1 through 97, although many shipments may be eligible for different duty treatment under U.S. chapters 98 or 99 on proper documentation.