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DDP Solutions: Duties, Tariffs & HTS Codes

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📦 Shipping to the US

To take advantage of Chit Chats DDP (duties paid postage). You must be able to:

  1. Tell us where it’s from 🌍 (Country of origin)
  2. Tell us what it is ⚙️ (Provide a valid 10 digit HTS code)
  3. Tell us who made it 🏭 (The manufacturer’s name and address)

Don’t know this information? The package can’t go!

  • ❌📦 Do not provide incorrect information or just write unknown this will cause delays or you will see an error message ‘no postage rates’.

📬 What is DDP?

DDP means duties paid postage. All applicable duties and tariffs are paid before it ships. So essentially you the shipper will need to pay at the time you buy postage. 

Duties and Tariffs are determined by:

  • 🔢 The 10-digit HTS number
  • 🌍 The country it comes from (COO = Country of origin)

❗An item could be duty free but country of origin blanket tariffs can apply to your product.

⚙️How to find your HTS 10-digit code

HS vs HTS code – what is the difference? click to learn more

HS (Harmonized System) codes are a globally standardized system for classifying traded products, while HTS (Harmonized Tariff Schedule) codes are a more detailed, country-specific version of the HS code, used for imports into the United States. The 10-digit HTS code is required when creating DDP shipments on the Chit Chats’ platform.

There is a difference between HS and HTS codes. While they do share the first six digits, they are not interchangeable. If you enter only an HS code when an HTS code is required it could result in incorrect duties, customs delays, or compliance issues. The same goes for the Country of Origin failure correctly declare can lead to customs and border fees of up to $50,000 USD.

  • HTS Codes are 10 digits and mandatory to ship to the US
  • HS codes are mandatory for:
    • Overseas military addresses (APO/DPO/FPO)
    • U.S. territories (e.g. Guam, Puerto Rico, etc.)

🇨🇦 Special Rule – CUSMA

To apply for CUSMA certification you must meet these 2 requirements:

  • ✅ The 10 digit HTS code must be valid (appear on https://hts.usitc.gov/)
  • ✅ It shows S or S+ in the Special duty column

👉 If your product meets both of these requirements then you can submit for certification approval. Learn how

If not — no need to submit CUSMA. If your HTS code is duty free you’ll see that when you buy postage but remember country of origin blanket tariffs may apply. 

  • Examples of items that are exempt and duty free: informational materials and some artwork. The 10 digit HTS code will determine if it is duty free.

📚 Some Things Are Duty-Free

There are exemptions based on the 10 digit HTS code that qualify an item as duty-free but country of origin blanket tariffs may apply. Just because something is duty-free doesn’t mean there aren’t tariffs. 

Additional fees:

  • ➡️ Merchandise processing fee (MPF) is calculated by U.S. Customs and Border Protection and may change at their discretion. It is a flat fee per shipment (1.35 USD flat fee*).
  • ➡️ Shipment item fee is the individual item processing fee for broker to process the individual HTS coded items in the shipment (0.15 USD / line item*). Example: You are shipping 1 tshirt, 2 mugs and 3 pen = 3 shipment items
FAQs – click to expand

My HTS Code says the item is Free under Rates of Duty/General but it does not have anything under Rate of Duty/Special is it still CUSMA?

  • No, if there is no note under the ‘Special’ column (S), then the product is not eligible for preferential tariff treatment under CUSMA. Your product may still be subject to the US administration’s IEEPA Tariffs which is determined by the tariff code (i.e. 35% for items originating from Canada). There are some exceptions to this tariff, such as informational materials (books, newspapers, etc.)

Postal services do have to collect duties as of Aug 29th, they just have 6 months during which they can charge a flat rate (which is outrageously high). Can you please reference where you saw that they will NOT be collecting any duties for up to a 6-month period? 

  • The recent executive order published by The White House details that postal services will have the option to either collect duties or charge a duty ranging from $80 to $200 per item depending on the IEEPA tariff rate.

Will the $80-200 per package or ad valorem starting Aug 29 apply to all packages even if CUSMA eligible and what about “postal will enjoy a temporary no duties” period” as CBP gets procedures ready. However there is contradictory information. There is other info saying – no – there will actually be.

  • Given that our postal services are disabled, this would not apply for Chit Chats shipments. This $200 charge is only for postal products from agencies that cannot collect duties to remit to CBP, so this would not affect Chit Chats shipments, as all of our US-Bound shipments would require tariffs and duties to be collected in advance.

So this means that Americans do not pay the tariffs?

  • When shipping using DDP postage, the seller assumes the cost, but that doesn’t necessarily mean the cost comes out of the seller’s pocket. The tariff fees can be baked into the price of your products when selling, included with your shipping costs, or you can choose to explicitly show estimated tariff fees as a separate line item if your selling platform allows for it. This is completey your choice based on what is best for your business.