CROSS BORDER
ON PROTOCOL.

1. What is it, exactly?

The HS code classifies the goods and decides the duty rate, the licences required and whether the product is restricted at all. Classification is the seller's responsibility and getting it wrong is not a clerical error — it is a misdeclaration, with penalties attached.

• The first six digits are international; the rest are national
• A product with two plausible codes has one correct one — get a ruling if it matters
• Duty is charged on the classification, not on what you called it

2. Where is it from?

Origin is not where it shipped from. It is where it was made or last substantially transformed, and it decides whether a trade agreement applies. Preferential treatment always requires documentary proof of origin, never a claim.

3. Who pays what, and where does risk pass?

Incoterms answer both in three letters. EXW and DDP on identical goods can differ by a third of the value once freight, duty and clearance are counted. Agreeing a price without agreeing an Incoterm is agreeing a number without saying what it includes.

• EXW — buyer collects and bears everything from your door
• FOB — seller loads at port; risk passes there
• DDP — seller delivers duty paid, bearing import costs in the buyer's country

4. What tax applies, and to whom?

This is the question with four different answers depending on where you are standing. GRAJ computes it for the United States, Canada, Mexico, the EU and the UK, and declines to guess elsewhere.