US Duty-Free Imports: The Complete Zero-Tariff HTS Map (2026)

Last updated October 11, 2026·Data: official USITC HTS export

Short answer: 1,171 of the 3,362 dutiable eight-digit lines in the US Harmonized Tariff Schedule carry a Free general rate — 35% of the schedule enters the United States at zero base duty. Six entire chapters are duty-free across the board, led by pharmaceuticals (Chapter 30). Yet almost half of all four-digit headings mix Free and dutiable lines, which is exactly why a chapter-level map beats a guess.

“What is the US tariff on my product?” usually gets answered with a single percentage. The schedule itself tells a more interesting story: nearly a thousand distinct lines admit their goods with no base duty at all, while neighboring lines in the same chapter can carry double-digit rates. This page maps where the zero-tariff territory actually sits — computed line by line from the official USITC HTS export, not summarized from memory.

Zero-duty knowledge is commercial leverage. If your category sits in free territory you can price landed cost more aggressively than a competitor who assumes “everything imported pays duty.” If it does not, knowing the nearest genuinely Free sibling line is often the starting point of a lawful classification review. Work through the map below, then verify your exact ten-digit code with the free landed-cost duty calculator.

What “Free” means (and what it does not)

The HTS General column (“Column 1”) lists the nondiscriminatory MFN rate applied to goods from World Trade Organization members and countries with normal trade relations. When that cell reads Free, the base customs duty is zero percent of customs value. Three boundaries matter:

General Free ≠ nothing owed. Additional tariffs layered through Chapter 99 (Section 301 China measures, Section 232 steel and aluminum derivatives) attach by origin and program regardless of the base rate, and customs charges MPF/HMF processing fees on formal entries.
Special-column Free is different money. Preferential programs (Korea, Morocco, Peru, Singapore and others) put their own “Free” in the Special column; here we count the General column, and separately note that 2,191 otherwise-dutiful lines become Free under at least one preference program.
Specific and compound lines never appear as Free. A cents- per-kilo component always taxes, however small; they are excluded from the Free census by construction.

The whole-chapter view: 6 chapters with zero duty on every line

These chapters are Free from first to last statistical suffix (chapters shown with five or more lines):

HS chapter	Sector	Eight-digit lines
Chapter 30	Pharmaceutical products	18
Chapter 47	Pulp of wood or fibrous material	5
Chapter 48	Paper, paperboard and paper-pulp articles	56
Chapter 49	Printed books, newspapers and print	8
Chapter 88	Aircraft, spacecraft and parts	11
Chapter 97	Works of art and collectors' pieces	5

The pattern is deliberate policy rather than accident. Pharmaceuticals (Chapter 30) have been admitted free since the 1960s to keep medicine costs down; paper, pulp and print (Chapters 47–49) form a vertically consistent duty-free chain from raw pulp to the printed book; aircraft (Chapter 88) reflects the 1979 Agreement on Trade in Civil Aircraft; and works of art (Chapter 97) are free to keep American collections supplied with culture. Importers of medical consumables, print media and aviation parts routinely underestimate how favorable this territory is.

The full map: zero-duty share of every HS chapter

Share = zero-duty lines divided by all eight-digit lines in the chapter. Bold rows are the fully-free chapters above.

Chapter	Description	Lines	Zero-duty lines	Share
Chapter 48	Paper, paperboard and paper-pulp articles	56	56	100%
Chapter 30	Pharmaceutical products	18	18	100%
Chapter 88	Aircraft, spacecraft and parts	11	11	100%
Chapter 49	Printed books, newspapers and print	8	8	100%
Chapter 47	Pulp of wood or fibrous material	5	5	100%
Chapter 97	Works of art and collectors' pieces	5	5	100%
Chapter 31	Fertilisers	4	4	100%
Chapter 14	Vegetable plaiting materials	2	2	100%
Chapter 75	Nickel and articles of nickel	1	1	100%
Chapter 72	Iron and steel	112	109	97%
Chapter 03	Fish, crustaceans, molluscs	83	79	95%
Chapter 53	Other vegetable textile fibres; paper yarn	9	8	89%
Chapter 33	Essential oils, perfumery, cosmetics	7	6	86%
Chapter 25	Salt, sulphur, earths and stone	13	11	85%
Chapter 90	Optical, photographic and medical instruments	53	44	83%
Chapter 09	Coffee, tea, mate and spices	11	9	82%
Chapter 05	Products of animal origin	10	8	80%
Chapter 01	Live animals and animal products	13	10	77%
Chapter 26	Ores, slag and ash	20	15	75%
Chapter 71	Precious stones and metals; jewellery	16	12	75%
Chapter 73	Articles of iron or steel	104	75	72%
Chapter 36	Explosives and pyrotechnics	3	2	67%
Chapter 44	Wood and articles of wood	83	54	65%
Chapter 68	Articles of stone, plaster, cement	14	9	64%
Chapter 94	Furniture, lighting and prefab buildings	65	39	60%
Chapter 13	Lac, gums, resins and saps	5	3	60%
Chapter 95	Toys, games and sports requisites	22	12	55%
Chapter 56	Wadding, felt, cordage and rope	17	9	53%
Chapter 85	Electrical machinery and electronics	160	82	51%
Chapter 57	Carpets and textile floor coverings	14	7	50%
Chapter 78	Lead and articles of lead	2	1	50%
Chapter 80	Tin and articles of tin	2	1	50%
Chapter 84	Nuclear reactors, boilers, machinery	343	171	50%
Chapter 27	Mineral fuels and mineral oils	21	10	48%
Chapter 93	Arms and ammunition	13	6	46%
Chapter 19	Preparations of cereals and flour	11	5	45%
Chapter 22	Beverages, spirits and vinegar	21	8	38%
Chapter 40	Rubber and articles of rubber	32	12	38%
Chapter 23	Food-industry residues; animal fodder	16	6	38%
Chapter 21	Miscellaneous edible preparations	8	3	38%
Chapter 41	Raw hides, skins and leather	35	13	37%
Chapter 16	Preparations of meat and fish	33	12	36%
Chapter 12	Oil seeds and oleaginous fruit	33	11	33%
Chapter 43	Furskins and artificial fur	6	2	33%
Chapter 50	Silk	6	2	33%
Chapter 87	Vehicles other than railway	74	24	32%
Chapter 37	Photographic and cinematographic goods	19	6	32%
Chapter 38	Miscellaneous chemical products	20	6	30%
Chapter 28	Inorganic chemicals	37	11	30%
Chapter 65	Headgear	17	5	29%
Chapter 82	Tools and cutlery of base metals	34	9	26%
Chapter 18	Cocoa and cocoa preparations	8	2	25%
Chapter 59	Impregnated and coated textiles	8	2	25%
Chapter 34	Soaps and surface-active agents	4	1	25%
Chapter 35	Albuminoidal substances; adhesives	4	1	25%
Chapter 08	Edible fruit and nuts	50	12	24%
Chapter 29	Organic chemicals	89	20	22%
Chapter 69	Ceramic products	27	6	22%
Chapter 58	Special woven and tufted fabrics; lace	23	5	22%
Chapter 10	Cereals	14	3	21%
Chapter 74	Copper and articles of copper	24	5	21%
Chapter 11	Products of the milling industry	10	2	20%
Chapter 24	Tobacco and tobacco substitutes	41	8	20%
Chapter 89	Ships, boats and floating structures	12	2	17%
Chapter 63	Other made-up textile articles	51	8	16%
Chapter 92	Musical instruments and parts	8	1	12%
Chapter 96	Miscellaneous manufactured articles	17	2	12%
Chapter 91	Clocks and watches	97	11	11%
Chapter 06	Live trees and other plants	9	1	11%
Chapter 76	Aluminium and articles of aluminium	29	3	10%
Chapter 02	Meat and edible meat offal	30	3	10%
Chapter 20	Preparations of vegetables and fruit	54	5	9%
Chapter 17	Sugars and sugar confectionery	11	1	9%
Chapter 70	Glass and glassware	56	5	9%
Chapter 15	Animal or vegetable fats and oils	23	2	9%
Chapter 55	Man-made staple fibres	70	6	9%
Chapter 32	Tanning and dyeing extracts	15	1	7%
Chapter 83	Miscellaneous articles of base metal	18	1	6%
Chapter 39	Plastics and articles of plastic	48	2	4%
Chapter 54	Man-made filaments	60	2	3%
Chapter 52	Cotton	140	4	3%
Chapter 64	Footwear, gaiters and similar	91	2	2%
Chapter 07	Edible vegetables and roots	49	1	2%
Chapter 62	Apparel, not knitted or crocheted	233	3	1%
Chapter 61	Apparel, knitted or crocheted	138	1	1%
Chapter 60	Knitted and crocheted fabrics	26	0	0%
Chapter 42	Leather articles; travel goods; handbags	17	0	0%
Chapter 51	Wool and animal hair	13	0	0%
Chapter 04	Dairy produce; birds' eggs; honey	9	0	0%
Chapter 81	Other base metals; cermets	5	0	0%
Chapter 86	Railway locomotives and rolling stock	3	0	0%
Chapter 46	Manufactures of straw and basketware	1	0	0%

Where duties concentrate instead

The opposite pole is just as instructive. Among large chapters, the tightest duty walls are Chapter 52 cotton (4 of 140 lines Free); Chapter 62 apparel, not knitted or crocheted (3 of 233 lines Free); Chapter 61 apparel, knitted or crocheted (1 of 138 lines Free). This is textbook tariff escalation: finished consumer goods that compete directly with domestic manufacturing carry the schedule's most protected rate structures, some stacking a compound cents-per-unit component on top. We documented the full line-level picture for garments in the Chapter 62 deep dive; the same architecture repeats across Chapters 50–67.

The de minimis era: why zero-rate lines matter more now

Since August 29, 2025 the United States has suspended duty-free de minimis treatment, so low-value shipments no longer skip customs the way they did under the old $800 threshold, and postal shipments face prepayment rules introduced in 2026. The practical consequence: every parcel competes on its true landed cost, and a genuinely zero-rated HTS line is a structural price advantage for e-commerce exporters. Pair the zero-tariff map with our October report on additional tariffs to see both layers at once.

Practical playbook

Locate your line. Classification attaches to the eight-digit subheading and its statistical suffixes, never the chapter average; follow the classification workflow until the code is certain.
Read both columns. Even a dutiable line may be Free for your origin under a preference program in the Special column; origin documentation unlocks it.
Stack the overlays. Search Chapter 99 for your origin and program before quoting a customer; the base rate is only layer one.
Model dollars, not percentages. Convert everything into landed cost including fees with the calculator, then re-verify each quarter — the schedule modernizes and remedy lists rotate.

Frequently asked questions

Which HS chapters are completely duty-free?

In the current schedule 6 whole chapters carry a Free general rate on every eight-digit line: Chapter 30 (Pharmaceutical products), Chapter 47 (Pulp of wood or fibrous material), Chapter 48 (Paper, paperboard and paper-pulp articles), Chapter 49 (Printed books, newspapers and print). These chapters share a pattern: public-health goods (pharmaceuticals), print-media inputs (paper, pulp, print) and capital assets (aircraft, original art) that US policy deliberately admits at zero duty.

Does 'Free' in the tariff schedule really mean I pay nothing?

It means the base customs duty (the Column 1 general rate) is zero. On top of the base rate you may still owe additional country-specific tariffs such as Section 301 or Section 232 measures, plus user fees: the Merchandise Processing Fee and, by sea, the Harbor Maintenance Fee. Check your exact line against our trade-remedy chapter map before assuming a $0 bill.

If the general rate is Free, why does my broker quote a duty?

Two common reasons. First, origin overlays: 5-style additional tariffs attach to certain countries of origin even when the MFN rate is Free. Second, classification drift: many headings mix Free and dutiable lines (1000 of 2338 four-digit headings contain at least one zero-duty line), so an error of one statistical suffix can move you from 0% to double digits. Verify the full ten-digit code.

Is my product duty-free if its heading appears in this table?

Only if your specific eight-digit line shows Free. Roughly 43% of four-digit headings contain at least one zero-duty line, but few headings are Free across the board. Drill down to the statistical suffixes in the HS browser and confirm the exact line.

Where does this data come from and how current is it?

All figures are recomputed at generation time from our in-house copy of the official USITC Harmonized Tariff Schedule REST export covering all 3,362 eight-digit lines. Each record keeps its source URL and timestamp; the database is refreshed quarterly, so the map mirrors the latest published schedule.

Verify your own line

Use these tools to move from the map to your shipment:

Open the landed-cost duty calculator.
Open the how to find the right HS code for your product.
Open the browse every HS chapter down to the 8-digit line.
Open the full Chapter 62 woven-apparel duty table.
Open the active US trade-remedy actions mapped to HS chapters.

Calculate duty on your HTS code — free