5,979 Duty-Free vs 6,863 Dutiable HTS Tariff Lines: The Free Trade Footprint

Findings

5,979 duty-free lines across 98 HTS chapters — near-universal chapter coverage

PlainTariff's hts_items table lists 35,571 items from the USITC Harmonized Tariff Schedule 2026 Basic Edition. The general_rate column marks 5,979 tariff lines as duty-free where general_rate equals 'Free' or general_rate_pct equals 0 and is_tariff_line equals 1. These 5,979 tariff lines appear in 98 HTS chapters tracked in the chapters table. Chapter 98 and Chapter 99 join 96 numbered chapters in this count. Developers view duty-free coverage through the /chapters/ page, which pulls item_count and items_with_rates from the chapters table's 96 rows. US International Trade Commission — Harmonized Tariff Schedule 2026 Basic Edition

Section I covers Live Animals in the hts_items table's 22 section rows. Section II addresses Vegetables. Section III handles Fats and Oils. The sections table groups these 22 sections, each linking to chapters with duty-free lines. PlainTariff's /sections/ page displays all 22 HTS sections with database-driven lists of tariff lines. Every one of the 98 chapters holds at least one entry from the 5,979 duty-free tariff lines. The chapters table column avg_general_rate shows variation across chapters, while max_general_rate flags peaks within each. USITC — Official HTS Publications Page

FAOSTAT Global Agricultural Trade Database cross-references add 29,244 trade flow rows to agricultural tariff lines in hts_items. These link 50 countries to 100 commodities from 2018-2023. Section I tariff lines join these flows for Live Animals trade. Section II connects Vegetables data. The 5,979 duty-free lines support zero-duty imports in 98 chapters, visible on /rankings/ pages for duty-free views. Portal pages at /chapter/[slug] list all tariff lines per chapter. US Customs and Border Protection — Tariff Documentation

The hts_items table's 35,571 rows include headers that aggregate duty-free counts. Chapters table rows total 96, each with item_count exceeding dozens of sub-items. Section XVI groups Machinery chapters with duty-free entries among the 5,979 lines. This structure allows queries joining hts_items to chapters on chapter codes.

6,863 dutiable lines — 19.3% of the full 35,571-item HTS

PlainTariff loads 35,571 items into the hts_items table from USITC HTS 2026 Basic Edition. Exactly 6,863 tariff lines set general_rate_pct greater than 0 where is_tariff_line equals 1. These dutiable lines populate the items_with_rates column in the chapters table across 96 rows. The /rankings/ page ranks top-duty tariff lines from these 6,863 entries. Chapter entries total 96 in hts_items, with dutiable lines distributed through them. US International Trade Commission — Harmonized Tariff Schedule 2026 Basic Edition

Section VII covers Plastics in the 22 section rows of hts_items. Section XI lists Textiles. Section XVII includes Vehicles. Dutiable rates apply to 6,863 lines within these sections. The chapters table computes avg_general_rate from general_rate_pct values in tariff lines. max_general_rate per chapter identifies peaks among the 6,863 dutiable entries. Portal /heading/[slug] pages break down headings linked to these lines. Section XX covers Miscellaneous Manufactured Articles with dutiable tariff lines. USITC — Official HTS Publications Page

FAOSTAT integration adds 29,244 trade flow rows to 100 agricultural commodities across 50 countries from 2018-2023. Dutiable lines in Section III Fats and Oils join these flows. The 6,863 lines carry positive MFN general rates, queryable via general_rate_pct in hts_items. Chapters table items_with_rates counts dutiable tariff lines per chapter. /hts/[slug] pages deliver individual tariff line details for any of the 6,863. Section XXII ends the schedule with Works of Art and Antiques, some dutiable. US Customs and Border Protection — Tariff Documentation

Header rows in hts_items total thousands above the 6,863 tariff lines. The chapters table's 96 rows enable comparisons of avg_general_rate without scanning all 35,571 items. Section IV groups Dairy Produce chapters with dutiable rates.

Non-tariff-line items: 22,729 header, subheading, and classification rows

The hts_items table holds 35,571 total items from USITC HTS 2026 Basic Edition. Terminal tariff lines number 12,842 where is_tariff_line equals 1. Remaining rows total 22,729 as headers, subheadings, and organizational entries. Section rows count 22 in this group. Chapter entries add 96. The chapters table references these via item_count across 96 rows. /headings/ pages list all HTS headings from the 22,729 non-terminal items. US International Trade Commission — Harmonized Tariff Schedule 2026 Basic Edition

PlainTariff structures 22 sections in hts_items, starting with Section I Live Animals headers. Subheadings under Section II Vegetables form part of the 22,729 rows. Classification entries in Section III Fats and Oils organize tariff lines below. The sections page aggregates these non-terminal items. Chapters table item_count includes headers per chapter. /section/[slug] pages show DB-driven lists from the 22,729 rows. Section XVIII covers Optical Instruments with subheading layers. USITC — Official HTS Publications Page

FAOSTAT cross-references 29,244 trade flow rows to headers in agricultural sections of hts_items. These span 50 countries and 100 commodities from 2018-2023. Non-terminal items total 22,729, enabling hierarchy navigation to 12,842 tariff lines. /about/ details methodology for HTS hierarchy. Chapter 98 special provisions include headers among the 22,729. Portal /chapter/[slug] pages drill from headers to rates. Section XIII handles Tobacco with subheadings. US Customs and Border Protection — Tariff Documentation

Organizational rows in hts_items support joins to chapters table items_with_rates. The 22,729 items lack direct general_rate_pct values. Section XIX groups Arms and Ammunition headers.

PlainTariff's hts_items table splits 35,571 items into 12,842 tariff lines and 22,729 non-terminal rows, with 5,979 duty-free and 6,863 dutiable among the lines across 98 chapters and 22 sections. The chapters table summarizes avg_general_rate and max_general_rate per chapter, while FAOSTAT's 29,244 trade flows link agricultural tariff lines to global data from 2018-2023. This HTS structure in USITC Harmonized Tariff Schedule 2026 Basic Edition exposes MFN general rates through general_rate and general_rate_pct columns, with portal pages like /rankings/ and /hts/[slug] enabling granular views of the 12,842 terminal entries.