Every line in the HTS shows a "Rates of Duty" block with three columns, and most importers only ever read the first one. That's a mistake in both directions: the middle column, Special, can cut your duty all the way to Free — if you can read its cryptic country codes — and the third, Column 2, is a punishing rate you never want to trigger. Here's what each one actually means.

This picks up where the duty columns leave off, so it helps to have read how to read a 10-digit HTS code and how to check the HTS for Section 301 first.

The Special Column: "Free," If You Can Read the Codes

The Special column lists preferential duty rates — usually Free, sometimes reduced — available under the United States' free trade agreements (FTAs) and trade preference programs. But it doesn't apply to everyone. Next to the rate sits a list of letter symbols in parentheses, and each one names a program the rate is good for:

Decoding the HTS Special column symbols RATES OF DUTY · 1 · SPECIAL Free (S, AU, BH, CL, CO, IL, JO, KR, MA, OM, P, PA, PE, SG) Each letter is a trade program the Free rate covers: S / S+ — USMCA (Canada & Mexico) IL — Israel KR — Korea (KORUS) AU — Australia · SG — Singapore CL, CO, PE, PA — Chile, Colombia, Peru, Panama A / A* / A+ — GSP (currently lapsed) Full key to every symbol: HTS General Note 3(c). You get the Special rate only if BOTH are true: ① the product’s country of origin qualifies for that program, and ② you claim it — the symbol goes on your entry. Unclaimed = you pay General.
The Special column: a preferential rate, and the program symbols that unlock it. (Illustration.)

Those symbols are Special Program Indicators (SPIs). If your product's country of origin belongs to one of the listed programs, you may claim that Special rate instead of the General one. The common ones fall into two buckets:

  • Free trade agreements: S / S+ (USMCA — Canada & Mexico), IL (Israel), KR (Korea), AU (Australia), SG (Singapore), CL (Chile), CO (Colombia), PE (Peru), PA (Panama), BH (Bahrain), MA (Morocco), OM (Oman), JO (Jordan).
  • Preference programs: D (African Growth and Opportunity Act, AGOA), E / E* (Caribbean Basin Initiative), P / P+ (CAFTA-DR), and A / A* / A+ (Generalized System of Preferences, GSP).

The full, authoritative key to every symbol lives in the HTS's General Note 3(c) — when you hit a code that isn't on the short list above, that's where you look it up.

A watch-out on GSP. The GSP symbols (A, A*, A+) still print in the schedule, but the program itself lapsed on December 31, 2020 and has not been reauthorized. Until Congress renews it, goods that would qualify for GSP pay the General rate — so don't budget for "Free" on the strength of an "A" alone.

Free Is Not Automatic

Two things have to be true before you actually pay the Special rate, and both are on you:

  1. Your goods have to qualify. They must meet the program's rules of origin, which are stricter than simply "made there." (Origin is its own subject — see understanding country of origin.)
  2. You have to claim it. The Special Program Indicator has to be entered on your customs filing, per shipment. Nobody applies it for you. An unclaimed FTA rate is money handed to Customs — you pay General when you could have paid Free.

Column 2: The Rate You Hope Never Applies

The third column is the one most importers glance past — until it applies to them.

One product, three very different duty rates Same product (6109.10.0012 — cotton T-shirt), three very different duties: COLUMN 1 · GENERAL 16.5% Normal Trade Relations — most countries COLUMN 1 · SPECIAL Free FTA / preference — if you qualify & claim COLUMN 2 90% No-NTR: Cuba, N. Korea, Russia, Belarus Column 2 isn’t “embargo” — it’s the statutory rate for countries without Normal Trade Relations.
One HTS line, three duty outcomes — decided by the country of origin. (Illustration; rates representative.)

Column 2 is the punitive statutory rate, a holdover from the 1930 Smoot-Hawley Tariff Act. It applies only to imports from countries that do not have Normal Trade Relations (NTR) with the United States. As of 2026, that's a short list: Cuba, North Korea, Russia, and Belarus.

Two things to understand about it:

  • It's "no NTR," not "embargo." Column 2 is a tariff rate — a separate thing from sanctions or an outright import ban. A country can sit on Column 2 without being fully embargoed, and the two lists don't have to match.
  • The rates are brutal, frequently several times the General rate. Our cotton T-shirt is 16.5% under General and 90% under Column 2.

And the list isn't frozen. Russia and Belarus were moved to Column 2 in 2022, and importers who hadn't re-checked their origin exposure got a nasty surprise. If any part of your supply chain touches a Column 2 country, confirm the origin consequences before the goods ship.

Why This Matters

These two columns are the gap between your best-case and worst-case duty. The Special column is savings you forfeit every time you fail to claim a rate you were entitled to. Column 2 is a landmine tied entirely to origin — and origin, not the country you bought from, is what decides it. Read both columns before you commit to a cost, not after.

Verify this with your customs broker. Program eligibility, rules of origin, and the current status of preference programs are genuinely complex — and change often — and claiming a rate you don't qualify for is its own kind of problem. Use this to understand what the columns mean; confirm your specific eligibility and the right Special Program Indicators with a licensed customs broker before you file.

The Bottom Line

General is the rate you default to. Special is the rate you earn — by qualifying and by claiming, symbol and all. Column 2 is the rate you avoid, and it's decided by origin, not by where you shopped. Read all three, and the "Rates of Duty" block stops being a single number and starts being a decision.

This is general guidance, not legal or customs advice. Program eligibility, rules of origin, and preference-program status change frequently — confirm your specific classification and duty treatment with a licensed customs broker or CBP before you rely on it.

Do you actively claim your FTA and preference-program rates — with the right Special Program Indicator on every entry — or do some slip through at the General rate? And have you ever been caught out by where a product's origin actually landed it? We'd like to hear.