Landed cost questions, answered plainly

Yes. Single calculations are free with no signup, forever. The free account (Google or Microsoft sign-in, no credit card) adds what a calculation can't do alone: rate-change alerts on your routes, bulk SKU mode, saved calculations, PDF reports, and error flags. You will never get a bill for using the calculator.

It applies the current average effective duty stack for your origin — base rate plus the special tariffs in force — to your values, with MPF, HMF, and typical brokerage. Your exact figure depends on your HTS classification, and the final duty is determined by CBP. For most planning purposes the estimate is within a few points, and it always beats costing off the FOB price alone. Treat it as a planning number, not a filing number.

No. Import Cost Desk is an educational software tool. We are not a licensed customs broker, law firm, or government agency, and nothing here is legal, tax, or customs advice. We don't classify your goods and we don't file entries. Confirm classifications with a licensed customs broker before filing.

Finance people at US import/export SMBs — controllers, bookkeepers, CFOs, ops leads — who have to make landed-cost numbers add up. Also useful for buyers comparing supplier quotes across origins. If you need line-by-line classification or entry filing, that's a licensed customs broker's job, not ours.

The calculation inputs you type (product, origin country, shipment value, units, freight) and, if you create an account, your work email. The site also uses the Meta Pixel and ad click IDs to measure our advertising. We never sell or share your data. Full details are in the privacy policy.

When you create a free account, we save your calculation's routes — the origin countries and product types you costed. When duty rates change on those routes, we email you the day it happens, with what changed and what it does to your numbers. Duty policy has shifted repeatedly since 2025; the alert is how your costing keeps up.

Usually classification. A one-digit HTS difference can swing duty from 0% to 25%, and brokers file from the data they're given, at speed. The estimate uses the average effective stack for your origin; your broker's entry uses a specific code. If the two are far apart, that's worth a conversation — our PDF report gives you the breakdown to have it with.

Our estimates reflect the rates in force today, including the post-IEEPA regime. Court rulings and tariff rounds change what applies on a given entry date — which is exactly why the rate landscape matters more than any single number. For questions about past entries or legal claims, talk to a licensed customs broker or trade attorney; that's outside what an educational calculator can tell you.

Email [email protected] from the address you used and ask. We honor deletion requests within 30 days, and usually much faster.