EU Tariff 2026 and the use of AI
07/11/25
Recently, the 2026 version of the Combined Nomenclature (also known as “the Tariff”) has been published in the Official Journal of the European Union.
The tariff is used for the determination of the commodity code of goods (the basis for duties, but also to be used for reporting trade between the EU member states). This new version of the Tariff shall apply from 1 January 2026 (with the removal of a note on Christmas decoration applying instantly, so per November 2025).
What does this mean for your business?
As mentioned, the Tariff is used for the classification of products. As such a change may have an impact on the classification of your products and therefore have an impact on your business, it is important to verify whether these changes are relevant to business. This year, many changes are related to products that are relevant for the energy transition (from battery components through wind-turbines).
It is recommended to timely evaluate the effects of the changes (e.g. change of a customs authorisation which includes specific commodity codes, master data in systems to be updated) to prevent any surprises, delays and incorrect declarations being filled as of 1 January 2026 (or for Christmas decoration: 1 November 2025).
Classification of products can be a serious struggle for companies, due to missing expertise or simple time constraints. Therefore, we have added an innovative AI solution below that may assist you!
Classification and AI -> traide
Tariff classification is often complex, highly manual and therefore can be time-consuming and error-sensitive. However, the integration of innovative AI technology with customs expertise is transforming this landscape. AI-powered tools enable organisations to efficiently handle large volumes of data and adapt quickly to regulatory changes or updates. By leveraging historical decisions and comprehensive record keeping, these next-generation solutions streamline tariff classification, making the process faster, more reliable, and compliant while reducing manual workloads and minimising risk.
How PwC can help
PwC has a partnership with traide AI, who have developed an AI classification tool to assist companies with the tariff classification of their products. The tool can be used in your regular process of classifying new products/SKUs on a regular basis, but also to check the correctness of your master data.
As indicated tariff classification is complex and time-consuming. In case you would like more information on how traide AI could streamline your process or would like a demo on how the tool works, please contact us.
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