Incoterms 2020 explained: what each rule allocates and what it does to customs value
What each of the 11 Incoterms 2020 rules allocates between buyer and seller, what they leave to the contract, and how the… Read More →
When the law answers the question, don't keep asking new ones.
Surajit Roy Trade Compliance Professional
Tariff classification specialist and co-founder of TariffWolf. I have worked on HS, HTS and ECCN classification since 2017, and I write case studies on how the GRIs and legal notes decide a code.
In brief
Who I am
I'm Surajit Roy, a trade compliance professional based in India. Most of my work is tariff classification: taking a product description, a drawing or a specification sheet and finding the heading and subheading that the legal texts support.
I started in December 2017 at Portway International, assigning HTS codes and running quality checks. I have since done classification work at Avalara, where I led a team of 23, and at Sandler & Travis Trade Advisory Services, UPS and Baker Hughes, where it also covered export control classification numbers (ECCNs).
In 2026 I co-founded TariffWolf India Pvt. Ltd. and became its CTO. We are building a classification engine for tariff and export control work that keeps a human expert in the loop.
Read my full profile
On this site
What you can read here
Articles in two categories: product case studies and commentary.
Latest
All articles
Recent articles
A Case Study on – Gears or Vehicle Parts?
Are differential gears 'gears' or vehicle parts? A case study on heading 84.83 vs 87.08, the three-condition test for vehicle parts, and… Read More →
Plastic Article or Part of an Analyser? A Case Study on Note 2(b) to Chapter 90
Is a single-use plastic micro-cuvette a plastic article or a part of an analyser? A case study on Note 2(b) to Chapter… Read More →
The Note That Outranks the Whole Nomenclature
The importer said the panels had no scaler IC to prove they were mere spares. That admission confirmed Heading 8524. A CESTAT… Read More →
When a Surfactant Fails Its Own Test
A surfactant that reduces surface tension but separates in water fails Chapter 34 Note 3. How CESTAT sent low-mole alcohol ethoxylates to… Read More →
When an Ore Looks Like a Battery Scrap
CESTAT Ahmedabad rejects lead scrap (7802) reclassification of imported lead concentrate (2607): nine conflicting lab reports, Section XV Note 8(a), burden of… Read More →
Case Study on GRI 2(a) and the “As Presented” Doctrine
How CESTAT applied GRI 2(a)'s "as presented" test to defeat a ₹56 cr CKD reclassification of e-scooter parts—because the battery, an EV's… Read More →
“Parts of General Use” in HS Classification – A Case Study
How CESTAT decided Johnson Lifts: why "parts of general use" like bolts, springs and lift locks follow their own HS heading—not the… Read More →
When a Shelf Is Just a Shelf
Supreme Court (2026 INSC 19): aluminium mushroom shelving classified as structures under HS 7610.90, not parts of machinery — a GRI sequencing… Read More →
Contact
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