You moved your sourcing. Here's the duty math

A seven-step play for a customs broker or sourcing agent. It starts from Tendata, stacks USITC tariff schedule and Shopify stores on top, and ends in a message to the importer that is useful before anyone replies.

Deploy in Glider

Installs this workflow, five project tables and a draft campaign. Source access and any external outputs are checked before research.

Category: Trade, logistics and hardware
Sources: 3
Steps: 7

The workflow

TriggerTendataShipment volumes by origin over time
Evidence
USITC tariff scheduleCurrent duty rates by HS code Shopify storesThe importer's product catalog
Artifact
What you hand overA duty comparison on their recent entries and the classification questions worth checking.
Contact
GliderFinds the importer, with a verified work email and a phone
Message
Send itFrom your own mailboxes, evidence attached

Why it earns attention

An importer that moved production after a tariff change is often still learning the new rates. Running their real shipments through the current schedule can show money they are overpaying.

The play in seven steps

01
Find importers that changed origin
Tendata
What you pull
The importer's shipments by origin country over 24 months: volume, HS codes and product descriptions.
Why it matters
A sharp shift in origin means new suppliers, new paperwork and new classification decisions, often made in a hurry.
Example
Furniture imports from China down 70% · Vietnam up from zero to 60% of volume
02
Price each entry
USITC tariff schedule
What you pull
The current duty rate for each HS code and origin, including any additional tariffs.
Why it matters
This shows what they should be paying. Differences between similar codes can be large.
Example
HS 9403.60 · 0% general · additional tariffs vary by origin
03
Check what they actually sell
Shopify stores
What you pull
The importer's product catalog: materials, construction and use.
Why it matters
Classification depends on what the product is. The catalog shows whether a different code might fit better.
Example
Bestsellers are upholstered chairs with metal frames
04
Build the duty comparison
Your artifact
What you build
Their last six entries with the code used, the duty paid at the current rate, and two classification questions worth a second look.
Why it works
It is concrete, specific, and the kind of thing an importer cannot check without a broker.
Example
6 entries · 2 classification questions · possible savings per container
05
Check before you send
Classification is a legal determination. Present questions, not conclusions, and confirm the codes from their actual entries rather than descriptions.
06
Find the importer in Glider
Glider
Search for
Director of supply chainImport managerLogistics managerCFO
Why them
The import manager deals with the broker. The CFO sees the duty line and wants it lower.
What you get
A work email and a direct phone, with the email verified before it goes into a sequence.
07
Send the evidence, then run the first test
To: the importerEvery line comes from a step above
Your furniture imports from China fell 70% over the last two years, and Vietnam picked up most of it.¹ I ran your last six entries through the current schedule.² Your catalog's bestsellers are upholstered chairs with metal frames, which raises two classification questions worth a second look.³ Here's the duty on each entry and the two questions.⁴ Want to go through them?
- Facts from the data (the number is the step)
- What you built for them
- One small ask
Why it works
It shows you studied their trade, not importers in general, and it points to possible savings without overclaiming.
First test
Twenty importers with a clear origin shift in the last two quarters.
Success looks like
Two broker engagements out of fifteen importers.