Line by Line Insights

How the Tariff Calculator Works

Input an HTS code, country of origin, entry date, and shipment value — get back a customs-style line breakdown in under a second. Base MFN duty plus every active trade action layered on top (Section 301, 232, 201, 122, IEEPA, plus MPF, HMF, and cotton fees), with stacking rules pre-encoded and every duty line linked to the CBP CSMS bulletin or Federal Register notice that authorizes it. The same engine that prices a forward-looking shipment can also audit a historical one — connect ACE import history and Caspian compares what was paid against what should have been paid, surfacing overpayments, missed exclusions, and broker inconsistencies at scale.

Importers

Know your landed cost. Defend every dollar.

Importers use it to price shipments before a PO commits, model sourcing alternatives (Vietnam vs. China vs. Mexico in minutes, not days waiting on a consultant), and reconcile what their broker filed against what should have been due. The audit mode is the biggest unlock — most importers don't realize how much overpayment is sitting in their last 12 months of entries until they see it line by line. Five- and six-figure refunds have been recovered on a single program miscoding.

Brokers

File faster. Defend every line.

Brokers use the calculator at the entry desk. Output returns in ACE filing sequence so it slots directly into their workflow. Stacking rules that trip up junior staff (Section 232 Auto Parts suppressing Steel/Aluminum and IEEPA Canada/Mexico) are pre-encoded with no manual gating. Junior brokers produce senior-level filings; new hires onboard in weeks instead of months. When a client pushes back on a duty, the citation does the work — "prove it" becomes "got it."

Caspian's Tariff Calculator

Why It's Different

Explainable, not a black box.

Every duty line shows the Chapter 99 code, rate, amount, and CSMS reference — not a blended percentage.

Source-backed in context.

The relevant CSMS message or federal notice surfaces inside the workflow, so users never leave to research the HTS code themselves.

Audits real entries.

The same engine connects to historical ACE data to find overpayments and missed exclusions — not just forecast future shipments.

Real Time Data

How the Calculator Stays Current

A twice-daily automated monitor scans CBP CSMS, the Federal Register, and White House proclamations. New rules are reviewed by the Caspian team before they ship — nothing publishes automatically. A 221-test regression suite ensures calculations never silently drift between releases, and every change is version-controlled and reversible.

Tariff Calculator

Real time understanding of what an import have paid, and why.