Estimate UK import duty and VAT for a commodity code using the LIVE GOV.UK Trade Tariff — rates are fetched per request, not from a static table. The CIF value is composed from customs_value + freight_cost + insurance_cost; duty = CIF x the duty rate for the origin country; VAT (typically 20%) applies on the duty-inclusive value.
Provide commodity_code (6-10 digits), origin_country (ISO-2) and customs_value in GBP; freight_cost, insurance_cost and incoterm are optional refinements.
Behavior: live lookup plus deterministic arithmetic on the returned rate; an unknown or non-declarable commodity code errors with HMRC's message (a 6-digit code may need extending to its 8/10-digit declarable line); origin-dependent measures the tariff cannot resolve automatically surface in warnings. Rate-limited (anonymous use: 25 requests/day per IP): a 429 error body carries retry_after_seconds and a Retry-After header — back off and retry, or call get_subscribe_link for higher limits.
Returns: commodity_code and description, origin country, cif_value, duty_rate (+ percent), duty_amount, vat_rate, vat_amount, total_import_taxes, total_landed_cost and warnings under result; validity.as_of marks the live-rate timestamp; plus confidence, _source and citation (the FreightUtils v1 response envelope).
Limitations: an estimate, not a customs ruling — excise, quotas, anti-dumping measures, reliefs and origin-proof requirements can change the outcome; confirm with a customs broker or HMRC before relying on it.
Related: hs_code_lookup (find the 6-digit code first), incoterms_lookup (who actually pays these costs).