CROSS-BORDER COSTS
Are you paying too much to trade?
Check your costs. Find ways to save. Tariffs, duties, taxes and shipping can change the cost of international trade. Check the full picture and compare your options before you commit.
Your supplier price is only the beginning.
Different countries have different customs duties, taxes, regulations and trade requirements. Shipping costs change, tariffs can rise, and unexpected expenses can wipe out profit. Finding the real cost of a deal and comparing your options often means checking several sources and spreadsheets.
UtilityPilot brings these factors together in one place, helping you understand your options, spot ways to save money and make better-informed decisions before you commit.
Reduce costs
Compare suppliers, sourcing countries and shipping options. Find where you could spend less.
Supplier comparisons · Shipping cost tools · Total product cost
Protect your business
See how duties, taxes, shipping charges and changes in trade conditions could affect a deal before they hurt your margins.
HS code lookup · Tariff information · What-if comparisons
Improve profitability
Know what products really cost, set better selling prices and find opportunities to protect or improve your margins.
Total import cost · Profit and margin analysis · Supplier comparisons
Save time
Bring the numbers together, keep your work and share clear findings rather than starting over in different spreadsheets.
AI assistance · Saved comparisons · Downloadable reports
What can UtilityPilot help you do?
Find HS codes
Get help finding a likely customs classification and what to verify.
Check duties and tariffs
Understand which import charges may apply.
Estimate shipping costs
Work out transport costs before choosing an option.
Compare suppliers
See which option makes more financial sense.
Calculate total import cost
Combine product, freight, tax and duty costs.
Check profit margins
See how costs affect your selling price and profit.
See what changes
Test what happens if duties or other costs go up.
Save and share your work
Keep comparisons and download clear reports.
Duty rates and customs classifications may require confirmation with official sources. Estimates support planning, not an official customs ruling.
For importers, exporters and online sellers
Start with your trade costs.
Tell us what you are buying or shipping and where it is going. We'll help identify relevant tariffs, duties, freight and other costs, then show what still needs checking.
- What will this shipment really cost?
- Could different sourcing or shipping reduce my costs?
- What might change if tariffs increase?
How it works: tell us about your product and where it comes from. Add the prices and shipping details you know. UtilityPilot shows the cost breakdown, flags missing information and helps you compare options. Check any estimated tax or duty rate before relying on it.
See an example — freeCheck your trade costs
What goods are you buying or shipping?
Choose an example to see how this works
Not sure what to enter? Start with a common trade question
What goods are you buying or shipping?
Not ready with your details?
See how a trade-cost check works using sample information.
- Product
- Aluminium brackets
- Origin → Destination
- China → United States
- Likely route
- HS6 7616.99 — confirm the national HTS line
- What you see
- Duty, landed cost per unit and the margin effect of a 10% tariff rise
AI helps interpret the question; transparent calculation engines produce the figures. Pilot shows assumptions and what still needs verification.
Free · No sign-up · Official sources where supported · Assumptions shown
From a trade question to a commercial decision.
Understand whether the deal works, what could change it and what remains unverified. UtilityPilot connects AI-guided questions to explicit assumptions, repeatable calculations and the next step in your sourcing, costing or pricing decision.
1. Frame the business problem
Start with your product and countries. Carry the available details into duty, costing and pricing.
2. Test the economics
Check the inputs and calculation breakdown. Separate a candidate code or illustrative rate from a verified input.
3. Build your decision brief
Compare tariff exposure, see the selling-price impact and copy a decision brief for your own workflow.
Planning support, not a customs ruling. UK general-rate lookup is beta; US/EU duty needs verified manual input. Check data coverage.
The cheaper supplier isn’t always the better deal.
Compare two quotes on landed cost, cash outlay and selling margin. Change a figure and see the difference immediately, then carry the completed comparison into AI-enabled Pilot to work through what to check next.
Illustrative example — every cost and rate below is an editable assumption, not a live or official quote. All figures must use the selected currency; this tool does not convert currencies.
Start faster: paste a supplier quote
Paste labelled figures from an email. This browser-only helper recognises explicit labels; it does not use AI, read PDFs or infer rates. Review every extracted value before applying. Unrecognised details remain blank.
Quote B has lower modelled economic cost by $1,275.00 ($1.28/unit).
| Business measure | Quote A | Quote B |
|---|---|---|
| Economic landed cost / unit | $11.10 | $9.83 |
| Gross cash outlay | $11,100.00 | $9,825.00 |
| Recoverable import tax | $0.00 | $0.00 |
| Gross margin at entered selling price | 44.50% | 50.88% |
| Minimum price for 35% margin | $17.08 | $15.12 |
Lower modelled cost is one input to the decision, not a supplier recommendation. Quality, lead time, inventory, payment terms, FX risk and compliance can change the outcome. Gross margin excludes selling-channel, overhead and financing costs unless you have included them.
Review calculations and copyable brief
Duty applies to the selected customs value. Import tax applies to customs value + duty + additional duty + import fees. Economic cost deducts tax only when marked recoverable. These simplified models must be checked against the destination’s rules.
What would change this decision?
Holding all other inputs fixed, quote B loses its cost advantage after an extra 15.00 percentage points of tariff, or an extra $1,275.00 of freight. These are separate scenarios, not cumulative allowances.
Maximum supplier price per unit for the entered target margin: A $9.58; B $11.52. Other charges and rates stay fixed.
Where the cost difference comes from
Economic costs; recoverable tax is excluded. Largest absolute difference: duty. Cost differences do not establish supplier quality or compliance.
| Cost driver | Quote A | Quote B | A minus B |
|---|---|---|---|
| goods | $8,000.00 | $8,500.00 | -$500.00 |
| freight | $1,500.00 | $900.00 | $600.00 |
| insurance | $0.00 | $0.00 | $0.00 |
| fees | $0.00 | $0.00 | $0.00 |
| logistics | $0.00 | $0.00 | $0.00 |
| duty | $1,600.00 | $425.00 | $1,175.00 |
| non-recoverable tax | $0.00 | $0.00 | $0.00 |
Thresholds use this simplified valuation and tax model, not a forecast or a verified tariff change. FX, financing, supplier quality, lead time and sales costs remain outside this comparison.
Keep the decision: sources, review date, history and export
Keep the evidence with the numbers. Notes are entered by you, not independently verified. Records and history remain in this browser unless you export them. Calendar reminders run in your calendar after import; no reminder email is sent by UtilityPilot.
Want to keep your analysis?
You can continue checking costs here for free. Save your analysis in this browser and reopen it here whenever you return using the same device.
Open my saved analysesOnly analyses you explicitly save are kept here, on this device. They are not automatically saved to an online account.
What Pilot checks
- Likely HS or HTS classification route
- Current tariff information where supported
- Additional measures requiring verification
- Estimated duty
- Freight and import costs
- Landed cost per unit
- Selling-price and margin impact
- Alternative sourcing scenario
Or go straight to a decision
Jump into the part of the import-cost workflow you already know you need.
One connected workflow
- Product
- HS / HTS
- Tariff & duty
- Freight & fees
- Landed cost
- Selling margin
The moments where cost decisions are made
Quote, buy or ship — each is a point where a wrong cost assumption is expensive. UtilityPilot gives you the full picture before you commit.
Before you quote
Know your landed cost and the selling price that protects your margin before you send a customer a number.
Before you buy
Compare two sourcing countries on total cost — not just unit price — before you commit a purchase order.
Before you ship
Check the classification, duty assumptions and freight quote before booking, and identify costs still missing from the estimate.
Everything you need to cost imported goods
Five connected areas take you from a product description to a defendable selling price.
Find HS Code
Describe a product in plain language and narrow the likely six-digit HS family and national HTS extension.
Tariff & Duty
Assess base duty, additional tariffs and import taxes by origin and destination — rates you enter and verify.
Landed Cost
Build a full landed cost from goods value, freight, insurance, duty, import VAT/GST and fees — down to per unit.
Freight Tools
CBM, volumetric and chargeable weight, carton and container capacity, pallets and freight cost per unit.
Trade Guides
Practical guidance on HS classification, duty, Incoterms cost allocation and cross-border landed cost.
Built for cross-border trade
For the teams that need the real, all-in cost of moving goods across a border.
How UtilityPilot calculates
Describe your product in ordinary language and UtilityPilot works out which calculation you need, then runs it with deterministic engines. The same inputs always give the same result, and every answer lists its assumptions and a confidence level. The AI only interprets your wording — it never performs the maths.
Read the full methodology →Current tariff information and official sources
The tariff calculator can request general UK duty and VAT measures from the official UK API. US and EU duty must be checked in official schedules and entered manually; built-in references are not live tariff assessments. Where an automated lookup is not available, you confirm the rate and UtilityPilot does the arithmetic. Every answer separates what you supplied from what still needs official confirmation, and links the authoritative source for your route.
See data sources →Current trade considerations
Tariff schedules, additional trade measures and de-minimis thresholds change frequently and differ by product and route. UK beta retrieval is separate from manual US/EU duty and built-in reference modes. A scenario timestamp does not mean an official rate was retrieved. Always confirm the current treatment for your specific HS code, origin and destination against the official schedule before committing to a price or purchase.
Looking for a specific calculator?
Browse all tools →Freight, customs valuation, Incoterms cost allocation, import VAT/GST and margin-after-tariff calculators are all available individually — or let UtilityPilot pick the right one from your product description above.
Frequently asked questions
Does UtilityPilot use current tariff rates?
The UK beta lookup can request current general-duty and VAT measures from the official UK Trade Tariff API. US and EU base duty rates require manual entry; Singapore and other built-in tax figures are reference data, not live retrievals. Pilot itself does not look up a complete tariff assessment. Enter verified rates to calculate a planning estimate, and confirm classification, origin and any additional measures before shipment.
Is the result an official ruling or an estimate?
It is planning guidance, not a customs ruling. UtilityPilot shows likely classifications, assumptions and confidence so you can verify the final national tariff line with the official source before filing.
Do I need to create an account?
No. UtilityPilot is free to use without an account. Questions may be processed by UtilityPilot’s servers to interpret your wording, but they are not placed in the page address. Avoid entering confidential, personal or sensitive information.
Can I compare origins or tariff scenarios?
Yes. After a calculation you can change a value — increase the duty, switch the country of origin, add freight, change the target margin — and UtilityPilot recalculates deterministically so you can compare landed cost and margin side by side.