Trimtab US Trade Ledger
What US importers actually paid in tariffs — official duty receipts by product and origin monthly since 2017, plus the HTS rulebook with Federal Register citations, CBP rulings and US trade data. Remote, no API key.
Documentation
Give your AI eyes on the physical economy
AI assistants make claims about trade every day — on data they cannot see or verify. Connecting the ledger gives yours ground truth: every US import origin, commodity, gateway and month — and what each of them actually paid at the border, from official receipts — cross-checked against real ship movements and the US Treasury's own totals, with a citation and a falsification test attached to every number. No key, no account, no charge. Your AI does the reasoning; the ledger supplies the reality.
ChatGPT — one click, zero setup
Open the Trimtab Ledger GPT →
Works on every ChatGPT plan, including free. TapAllow the first time it asks to talk to trimtabist.com, then ask away. Prefer the raw connector? Plus/Pro: Settings → Apps & Connectors → Advanced → Developer mode → Add https://trimtabist.com/mcp, no authentication.
Claude — two clicks, any plan including free
Connect to Claude →
Claude opens with the details filled in. ClickAdd, then Connect — then ask it:“What is happening to US imports from Vietnam?”
What your AI can do once connected
“What did toys from China actually pay in tariffs last year?”→ tariff_burden: monthly duty collected, 2017→now, any origin, any chapter
“What’s the tariff on an upholstered chair from Vietnam?”→ tariff_lookup: statutory rate, every measure in force with its Federal Register citation, and what was actually collected — side by side, disagreeing out loud where they disagree
“What HS code is an electric standing desk?”→ hs_search: candidate codes with hierarchy, rates and CBP ruling counts
“Has CBP ever ruled on a product like mine?”→ rulings_search: classification case law with precedent links
“Show me US furniture imports from Vietnam, monthly.”→ trade_query: the full trade cube — and the ledger tells your AI how to draw it, so the chart looks like this site
13 tools (plus 8 registry/archive sub-tools via the ledger_meta router); every response carries citations, caveats and pointers to the next tool. Tariff answers are records and measurements, not customs or legal advice — duty liability is determined at entry.
Anything else that speaks MCP or REST
MCP (streamable HTTP, no auth): https://trimtabist.com/mcp
REST: https://trimtabist.com/api/trade**?origin=India&commodity=furniture ·/api/studies**?slug=hidden-queue
OpenAPI spec: https://trimtabist.com/openapi.json · Perplexity Pro/Max: Settings → Connectors → paste the MCP URL.
Connected? Ask it something we haven’t — the best engagement each week is printed with your name on it. The bar →