Imagine trying to balance on one leg, make a cup of coffee with one hand, order your groceries on your phone with the other, trying to herd your loose dogs chasing squirrels back into the house, while also getting yelled at by your spouse that the dishwasher is leaking. This is the current state of global trade. Chaotic. Impossible. Overwhelming.
How are trade professionals supposed to handle the daily barrage of chaos, regulatory changes, tariff announcements, and countermeasures? How are businesses importing products from affected regions supposed to ensure compliance, while avoiding uncertainty and resulting financial strain?
E2open understands these challenges and wants to help you quiet the noise. Our Import Cost Calculator is designed to help you quickly simulate the duty impact of trade lanes and simplify the process of calculating import costs.
In this blog, we’ll dive into what the Import Cost Calculator is, how it works, and why it’s a key tool for businesses engaged in international trade.
What is the import cost calculator?
The Import Cost Calculator is an innovative tool that leverages e2open’s Global Knowledge® to provide companies with detailed trade lane information around duties, exemptions, and current import costs. The best part of this calculator is that you are not limited to existing trade lanes – you can provide alternate trade lanes into the tool and see what the future looks like based on the current duty rates maintained by our team!
What is Global Knowledge®?
Global Knowledge® is the industry leading regulatory content database that is maintained and updated by our team of 250 trade professionals, via an ISO 9001 certified update process to ensure accuracy and quality, in collaboration with over 3,500 government agencies and former officials that provide regulatory data worldwide. Global Knowledge® includes regulatory data for 236 countries, territories, and islands and the rules of origin for over 240 free trade agreements around the world. That information includes import controls, export controls, classification data for import, export, and ECN, and import cost calculations that are supported by the regulatory data that is maintained. There is so much power in being able to use this level of thorough regulatory content data in your analysis and duty impact reporting.
How does the calculator work?
The Import Cost Calculator operates in several steps:
- Data collection: Gather and provide trade lane information from the customer or importer about the commodities being traded, including details such as the country of origin, country of export, country of import, HTS number, value, and currency code.
- Simulation of duty impact: Next, the tool simulates the duty impact based on the trade lane information provided, identifies and applies potential secondary tariff HS codes, calculates past and current duty rates, and determines any applicable trade agreements.
- Output generation: The output is a file of raw data that allows you to see the duty impacts of tariffs on your goods. The data can be integrated into various reporting tools such as Power BI or Snowflake, allowing businesses to analyze it effectively.
- Analysis and reporting: Businesses can conduct a before-and-after tariff comparison, segmenting the data to understand the previous duty versus the current duty. The tool also identifies Free Trade Agreements (FTAs) and calculates the duty impact for each FTA, providing opportunities for cost savings.
Key features and benefits of the import cost calculator
- Real-time data: The Import Cost Calculator provides real-time data on duty impacts, ensuring businesses have the latest information for decision-making.
- Comprehensive analysis: The tool offers detailed breakdown, including secondary HS codes, default duties, derivative and reciprocal duties, and potential FTAs.
- Cost savings: By identifying FTAs and calculating duty impacts, businesses can find opportunities for significant cost savings.
- Graphical views: The tool provides raw data so you can create visual representation of the duty impacts making duty liability easier to understand and analyze the information.
- API integration: Businesses can directly call the API to receive information and perform analysis on their site, allowing for rapid response and automation.
Practical application
Let’s look at a practical example of how the Import Cost Calculator works. For scenario depiction’s sake, we are Cody Co. business importing night vision goggles from China to the United States.
Our trade lane input for the Import Cost Calculator is provided as shown in the table below.
| Country of Import | Country Of Export | Country Of Origin | Primary HS | FOB Value | FOB Currency Code |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| US | CN | CN | 8525830000 | 400.00 | USD |
The first step for our impact analysis is identifying which tariffs applied before IEEPA, Derivative and Reciprocal duties were enforced earlier this year.
| HS Code | HS Type | Duty Rate | Eff. Date | Notes |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 8525830000 | Primary | 0% of FOB Value | 1/27/2022 | 0% duty paid on FOB value for the primary HS number |
| 99038803 | Section 301 | 25% of FOB Value | 5/10/2019 | 25% on duty FOB Value for Section 201 HS that was enacted on May 10, 2019 |
Now that we have identified our tariff numbers, we can calculate the duty that we use to pay when importing these goggles.
| Description | COO | FOB Value | HS Code | HS Type | Duty Rate | Duty Value | Total Duty Liability |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Night vision goggles | CN | $400.00 | 8525830000 | Primary | 0% | $0 | $100.00 |
| 99038803 | Secondary (Section 301) | 25% | $100.00 |
We now know we used to pay $100 for every unit that was imported into the US from China.
The next step for our impact analysis is identifying which tariffs apply from the IEEPA Fentanyl, IEEPA Reciprocal and Section 232 (on steel, aluminum, derivatives) duties that were enforced earlier this year.
| HS Code | HS Type | Duty Rate | Eff. Date | Notes |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 99030124 | IEEPA Fentanyl | 20% of FOB Value | 3/4/2025 | 20% duty paid on FOB Value for the IEEPA Fentanyl HS that was enacted on March 4th, 2025. |
| 99030163 | IEEPA Reciprocal | 125% of FOB Value | 4/10/2025 | 125% duty on FOB Value for IEEPA Reciprocal HS that was enacted on April 10th, 2025. |
Now that we have identified our additional tariff numbers, we can calculate that duty that we use to pay when importing these goggles.
| Description | COO | FOB Value | HS Code | HS Type | Duty Rate | Duty Value | Total Duty Liability |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Night vision goggles | CN | $400.00 | |||||
| 8525830000 | Primary | 0% | $0 | $680 | |||
| 99038803 | Section 301 | 25% | $100 | ||||
| 99030124 | IEEPA Fentanyl | 20% | $80 | ||||
| 99030163 | IEEPA Reciprocal | 125% | $500 |
That’s an increase of a whopping 145% duty created by IEEPA tariffs! We are paying 580% more to import night vision goggles today than just a few months ago.
There are obviously no trade agreements with China, but the Import Cost Calculator would also identify any trade agreements that are applicable for your specific trade lanes as identified by the Global Knowledge® database.
The Our business can would then use this the tariff impact report to analyze the cost implications, compare tariffs before and after, explore other strategic sourcing opportunities, and identify potential savings through FTAs. This information can be integrated into their our data lake or reporting tools, allowing for comprehensive analysis and informed decision-making to navigate and minimize duty impact..
Why use e2open’s import cost calculator?
In the mind-numbingly complex world of international trade, understanding and calculating import costs is crucial for business success. The Import Cost Calculator simplifies this process, providing real-time data, comprehensive analysis, and opportunities for cost savings. Whether you’re a small business or a large corporation engaged in international trade, this tool can help you streamline import cost calculations and maximize profitability. It’s worth a look.
Feel free to reach out if you have any questions or need further information about the Import Cost Calculator. We’re here to help you navigate the complexities of international trade and ensure your business thrives in the global marketplace.
