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AI brings more efficiency & greater accuracy to product classification

tax.thomsonreuters.com · 1,236 words · saved by 1 readers

If your business imports or exports finished goods, components, or parts, you know firsthand the challenges of product classification. First, cross-border trade requires a plethora of rules and standards — hence, the World Customs Organization (WCO) which includes more than 130 member countries and represents 183 customs administrations that process about 98% of world trade. Next, the Harmonized Schedule (HS) provides guidelines for categorizing products and is the primary factor in determining which tariffs apply and the amount of duty to be paid when goods move across borders. Classification codes streamline the system: WCO uses 6-digits and countries have additional 2, 4, 6 or even 10 additional digits. This would be vastly complex to manage even if circumstances were static — which, of course, they’re not. Regulatory updates to the tariff schedule can occur 10 or 15 times or far more each year. In 2018, for example, the U.S. updated the tariff schedule 270 times and Brazil updated

Thomson Reuters Tax & Accounting March 19, 2026 · 11 minute read Share Facebook Twitter Linkedin Email Thomson Reuters Tax & Accounting March 19, 2026 · 11 minute read Share Facebook Twitter Linkedin Email Highlights AI-powered classification systems learn from your decisions, building institutional knowledge that improves accuracy over time. ONESOURCE Global Trade Research powered by CoCounsel delivers instant, cited answers by synthesizing 100,000+ pages of authoritative government sources. Modern AI classification integrates seamlessly with existing ERP systems and trade manag

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