Tariff and trade data

WTO Tariff and Trade Data Platform

Through the WTO Tariff & Trade Data platform, users can obtain and compare two sets of customs tariffs:

•  the legally bound commitments on customs duty rates, which act as ceilings on the tariffs that member governments can set and are known as "bound rates", with
•  the rates that governments actually charge on imports, known as "applied rates" and which have a direct impact on trade. Recent tariff actions can also be consulted.

The platform aggregates official information about applied tariffs and import data notified by WTO members to the WTO's Integrated Data Base (IDB), and bound duties (agreed maximum tariffs) and other commitments recorded in the WTO's Consolidated Tariff Schedules (CTS) database. This data is supplemented by the WTO Analytical Database (ADB), which integrates WTO sources such as regional trade agreements (RTA) and external partners such as the International Trade Centre (ITC), UN Comtrade and Trade Data Monitor.

The platform follows a multi-tiered update schedule, with updates ranging from daily to monthly, depending on the data source.

Integrated Database

The Integrated Database (IDB) contains time series of the tariffs applied by WTO members and acceding economies to imports from other WTO members. Data are provided at the most detailed product level (usually the eight to ten digit product level or tariff line code). The database also contains import statistics, including the value and volume of imports by country of origin and by tariff line.

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Consolidated Tariff Schedules Database

The Consolidated Tariff Schedules (CTS) Database contains the agreed maximum tariffs that WTO members can impose on imported products from other WTO members and, if applicable, their specific commitments in agriculture (domestic support, export subsidies and tariff quota information).

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WTO Analytical Database

The WTO Analytical Database is a comprehensive tariff and trade flow database that consolidates most-favoured nation (MFN) bound, applied and preferential tariffs, together with trade flow data from various sources. These include Integrated Database (IDB) tariffs and import data, Consolidated Tariff Schedules (CTS) bound rates, preferential commitments from the WTO Regional Trade Agreements (RTA) Database, ITC data from the World Tariff Profile datasets as well as trade data from UN Comtrade and Trade Data Monitor (TDM).

All data is standardized into time series at the Harmonized System subheading level. The result is a single, ready-to-query dataset showing — by product, partner and year — the legally bound duty, the MFN applied tariff, the preferential tariff a partner could claim, and the value of merchandise that crossed the border, all expressed in the same version of the HS. The data can be accessed through the WTO Tariff & Trade Data Platform.

World Tariff Profiles

The World Tariff Profiles is an annual co-publication by the World Trade Organization, the International Trade Centre, and the United Nations Conference on Trade and Development. This comprehensive statistical yearbook provides detailed information on tariffs and trade, as well as non-tariff measures. It covers over 170 countries and customs territories, including WTO members and non-WTO members for which the most recent tariff data is available. It is designed to facilitate comparisons across countries/territories, between various sectors, and specifically, to allow for comparison between bound and applied tariffs for WTO members.

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Customs codes and product categories 

Harmonized System

Products in the databases are identified using the World Customs Organization's internationally agreed "Harmonized Commodity Description and Coding System" (Harmonized System or HS).

The HS codes are standard up to six digits, the most detailed level that can be compared internationally. Beyond that, WTO members are free to use their own definitions according to their individual requirements.

The Harmonized System is regularly reviewed and amended. Detailed information on the evolution of the HS across its various editions can be found in https://hstracker.wto.org/.

Multilateral Trade Negotiation (MTN) product categories

MTN categories are  key product grouping used by the WTO to classify goods, particularly in the "World Tariff Profiles". These categories encompass 22 primary product groups, which are further subdivided into 72 sub-categories. The relationship between the six-digit HS codes and the WTO MTN product categories is available for download from the Tariff and Trade Data Platform.

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WTO member data

Data are also available through each member's page on the WTO website (see, for example, Argentina). These pages can be reached from the list of members.

The original lists of members' bound commitments remain available. The digit-level of the bound duty rates in these “schedules of commitments” can vary from member to member.