What I do
I’m Surajit Roy, a trade compliance professional who specializes in tariff classification. I have worked on HS, HTS and ECCN classification since December 2017, for organizations that range from large e-commerce platforms and Fortune 500 manufacturers to a global internet company.
A typical job starts with a product description, an engineering drawing or a specification sheet and ends with a heading and subheading I can defend. I work out what the goods are made of, what they do and how they are used. Then I test the candidate headings against the General Rules for Interpretation (GRIs), the Section and Chapter Notes and the WCO Explanatory Notes, and I check how customs authorities have ruled on similar goods.
In May 2026 I co-founded TariffWolf India Pvt. Ltd., where I am Chief Technology Officer. TariffWolf is building a human-in-the-loop classification engine for tariff and export control work. AI handles much of the repetitive research, and a classification expert reviews each decision.
Areas of work
- Tariff classification under the Harmonized System (HS) and the Harmonized Tariff Schedule of the United States (HTSUS)
- Applying the GRIs, Section and Chapter Notes and the WCO Explanatory Notes to individual products
- Classifying technical products from engineering drawings and specifications
- Export control classification numbers (ECCNs) under the US Export Administration Regulations
- Country of origin and antidumping and countervailing duty (AD/CVD) checks
- Quality control, audits and training for classification teams
- AI-assisted classification workflows with human review
Career
- Co-founder and CTO, TariffWolf India Pvt. Ltd. (May 2026 to present).
- Risk Analyst, Trade Compliance, Baker Hughes (July 2024 to July 2025). HTS and ECCN classification of exports, country-of-origin determination and AD/CVD checks, with a written justification for each classification.
- Brokerage Supervisor, UPS (September to December 2023). HTS and ECCN classification.
- Brokerage Supervisor, Sandler & Travis Trade Advisory Services (August 2022 to August 2023). HTS and ECCN classification with written justifications.
- Quality Team Lead, Avalara (April 2020 to July 2022). HS code consulting from drawings and specifications, and leading a team of 23.
- Quality Analyst, Avalara (August 2019 to March 2020). HTS code assignment, audits and quality control, and training for new team members.
- Quality Analyst, Portway International (August 2018 to July 2019).
- Associate, Portway International (December 2017 to July 2018). Document review, HTS code assignment and checks for restricted items.
Writing and training
I publish my classification work on this site. The case studies take one product at a time and follow the legal notes and Explanatory Notes to a heading. The insights cover HS updates, tariff policy and export controls. If you want to test your own reading of the interpretation rules, try the GRI self-assessment. I also write Customs Thinking, a newsletter on LinkedIn.
I run tariff classification training for individuals and teams. It covers the GRIs, how to read Section and Chapter Notes, and how to apply both to a company’s own products. I also take on paid consulting for specific classification questions.
Beyond trade compliance: author and literary enthusiast
Outside work, I write books. I have five published books. Two of them are Blue Tick, a short work of fiction, and Love Science: Psychology of Attraction, which looks at love and relationships from a psychological point of view. I also review books and write about books, relationships and life. My books are listed on my Goodreads author page.
Contact
For a classification question, training or consulting, use the contact form. You can also find me on LinkedIn and X.