Editorial policy

This page sets out where the information on airliftusa.com comes from, who checks it, how often it is refreshed, and how to tell us when something is wrong.

What we publish

Three kinds of content, produced in different ways:

• Reference data — the tariff simulator, import duty pages, HTS code finder, US import data and tariff updates. Generated from published government datasets, not written by hand.
• Explanatory guides — the glossary, commodity guides and lane pages. Written by our operations team from how the work is actually done, then checked against the rules they describe.
• Articles — the blog. Written and published by Airlift USA staff through our CMS, with the publication date and, where the post has been revised, the last-updated date shown on the post.

Sources

Duty, tariff and trade figures on this site come from primary government sources only:

• Harmonized Tariff Schedule of the United States (HTSUS), published by the U.S. International Trade Commission — tariff line descriptions and Column 1 duty rates.
• U.S. Customs and Border Protection CSMS messages — implementation guidance and effective dates for additional duties, exclusions and quota actions.
• Federal Register — the presidential proclamations, executive orders and agency notices that create Chapter 99 measures, and the dates they take effect.
• U.S. Census Bureau import statistics — import value, quantity and calculated duty by HTS number and country of origin.

Where a page reports a figure, it names the dataset and the period it covers. Where a rate comes from our tariff engine, the page shows the measures version that produced it.

How the tariff engine is checked

The engine behind the tariff simulator and the import-duty pages is checked against what importers actually pay, in two ways.

• Against U.S. Census duty data. For every HTS subheading and origin we publish, the effective rate the engine produces is compared with the duty the U.S. Census Bureau reports as calculated on real imports of that subheading from that origin over the period covered. The comparison is not hidden: each import-duty page prints the Census effective rate next to our figure and says what a gap in either direction usually means. A gap we cannot account for is investigated before the affected pages are regenerated.
• Against entries filed for our customers. Airlift USA does not file customs entries itself. Where we coordinate an entry through our licensed broker network, the duty assessed on the entry is the reference point: if it does not match what the engine estimated, the entry paperwork decides which is right, and a defect on our side is fixed in the engine rather than on the page.

Two limits on all of it. CBP determines the final duty on any entry — every figure here is an estimate for planning. And antidumping, countervailing, excise and quota charges are outside the engine's scope; they are not included in any figure on this site.

Review cadence

• Tariff measures are reviewed whenever a Federal Register notice or CBP CSMS message changes a rate or an effective date, and the generated duty pages are rebuilt against the new measures version.
• Trade statistics are refreshed when the U.S. Census Bureau publishes a new monthly release. Each page states the period it covers.
• Guides and glossary entries are reviewed when the underlying rule, form or filing deadline changes, and at least once a year otherwise.
• Articles are dated. We correct them in place rather than silently deleting them, and a corrected post shows an updated date alongside its publication date.

Corrections

If a figure, definition or date on this site is wrong, tell us and we will fix it. Email contact@airliftusa.com with the page URL and what you believe is incorrect, or use the contact form. Where it helps, quote the HTS number and country of origin, or the CSMS or Federal Register citation you are working from.

A correction to a data-driven page is applied by fixing the source of the error and regenerating the page, so the same fix reaches every page derived from it. A correction to an article is applied to the article, which then carries an updated date.

Independence and disclosure

Nothing on this site is paid placement. We do not accept payment to feature a carrier, a port, a lane or a product, and no page carries sponsored content or affiliate links. Airlift USA is a freight forwarder and licensed NVOCC, so pages about services we sell are written by people with a commercial interest in you buying them; the reference data those pages link to is generated from the government sources listed above and is the same whoever you ship with.

Content on this site is general information, not legal, customs or tax advice. Classification is the importer's legal responsibility.

Who writes it

Articles and guides are produced by the Airlift USA editorial team — our operations, customs coordination and trade-compliance staff. Where a post has a single named author, the byline links to that person's profile. Company background, licences and offices are on the about page.