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 (and who am I not)?
I'm not a customs broker, and this site never pretends to be one. Final duties depend on facts this site cannot know: a licensed customs broker can help, but the importer stays responsible and CBP determines the final treatment. Every page here says so.
I've been on the buyer's side of this problem. A few years back I was looking at importing from China, trying to decide which of 10 different products would be worth going for. With the multitude of duties and marketplace fees on top of it, it's hard staying on top of it all and getting a simple answer to "should I even consider importing this?" or "do the margins actually make sense?" I never went ahead with an order in the end, and that's why I built this: a resource that helps any importer get that answer before committing money.
What I actually do now is make sure the rates stay up to date with the Federal Register notices, USTR actions, and CBP messages, so the calculator has as accurate a number 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 one-line emails sent only when a rule actually moves, 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. I'd rather fix a figure than have you price an order on it.