Who Runs Import Cost Calculator?
I'm Saurav. I build and run this free landed-cost calculator for people importing from China to the USA, and on a regular schedule I re-check every tariff rate it uses against the official sources.
Why does this site exist?
The most expensive mistake in small-scale importing isn't a missed fee: it's treating the supplier invoice as the product cost. The real cost of getting goods from a factory in China onto a shelf in the US includes base duty, layered tariffs, customs fees, freight, and marketplace fees, and most people find that out from their customs invoice, after the deposit is already wired.
So this site is built around one question: after every duty, tariff, fee, shipping cost, and selling fee, does the order still make money? The calculator answers with a landed cost per unit and a plain GO / TIGHT / NO-GO verdict, before you commit money.
Who am I?
A few years back, I was looking at importing from China and trying to decide which of 10 different products would be worth going for. With numerous duties and marketplace fees on top, it's hard to stay on top of it all and get a simple answer to "should I even consider importing this?" or "do the margins actually make sense?"
That's why I built this: a resource that helps importers answer those questions before committing money.
What I do now is make sure the rates on the site stay up to date by checking Federal Register notices, USTR actions, and CBP messages, so the calculator and the site's pages use numbers that are as accurate as possible. This is a one-person site: nothing ships until I've checked it, and no tariff alert goes out until the change is confirmed against the official text.
How do the rates stay current?
On a regular schedule (and again around known deadline dates, like a tariff layer's scheduled expiry) I re-check each layer the calculator models against the official sources: the USITC tariff schedule, USTR, the Federal Register, and CBP.
Every page carrying dated tariff claims is on the review list. Worked dollar examples get recomputed, not just re-dated. And when a check completes, the "rates last verified" date you see on the calculator moves across the whole site together.
The full detail is on how we verify these rates.
What will this site never do?
It will never auto-publish a rate change. Automation watches the official sources and flags what moved, but a person (me) confirms the change against the official text before any number on this site changes.
It will never treat your email as a marketing asset. The tariff change alerts are short emails sent only when a rule changes or is scheduled to, with double opt-in on the way in and one click out. And if the site ever recommends a partner service, the commission is disclosed right next to the link.
Get in touch
Questions, corrections, or a number that looks stale: email hello@importcostcalculator.com and I'll check it against the official source.