How Claude Researches a U.S. HTS Code for a Cotton T-Shirt: A Complete Walkthrough

Product facts

• Complete adult men's garment
• Knitted
• 100% cotton
• Navy blue
• Short sleeves
• Crew neck
• Hemmed sleeves and bottom
• No pockets, trim, or embroidery
• Not thermal underwear
• Not a tank top or singlet

Those details are not decoration. Knitted versus woven, cotton versus another textile material, and T-shirt versus singlet can change the tariff path.

The request to Claude

Step 1: Select the tariff system

Claude should first ask Tariff Code Compliance for Claude which tariff systems and exact versions are currently available, then select the U.S. HTS version returned by the connector. The historical captured example reported US_HTS / 2026-rev-4 on August 17, 2026. That was the release returned for the dated capture, not a claim about the current default release.

That version is evidence for this example, not a value to hard-code into future prompts. Every new session should discover the then-current system and version at runtime.

Step 2: Find the heading

Heading 6109 covers T-shirts, singlets, tank tops, and similar garments that are knitted or crocheted. The product is knitted and has the ordinary construction of a T-shirt, so heading 6109 is the supported starting point for this fact pattern.

Step 3: Follow the material branch

Subheading 6109.10.00 covers garments of cotton. The product is 100% cotton, so the cotton branch fits. The branch for other textile materials does not.

Step 4: Select the statistical reporting number

The garment is an adult men's “other T-shirt.” It is not the all-white construction, an all-white singlet, a thermal undershirt, or a boys' garment. The captured Tariff Code Compliance evidence therefore selected 6109.10.00.12 for the stated facts.

Rejected alternatives

What could change the answer

• The fabric is woven rather than knitted.
• The fiber content is not cotton.
• The garment is all white and meets a narrower construction description.
• It is sleeveless or is a singlet.
• It is for a boy, woman, girl, or infant.
• It has features that make it another kind of garment.

Classification follows the product, not its storefront title. Tariff Code Compliance tools only read tariff evidence. The recommendation is non-binding research support, not legal advice or a binding customs ruling, and the user controls any downstream use.

Continue the Claude classification series

• Follow the connector setup and first-product guide.
• Read what Claude can and cannot do with HS codes.
• Compare Claude alone, Tariff Code Compliance for Claude, and a customs broker.
• Read the agent guide and MCP documentation.
• Inspect the public hierarchy in the Tariff Code Compliance Explorer.