US Tariffs on Chinese Goods: the 2026 Duty Stack

• This is the rate printed next to your HTS code in the Harmonized Tariff Schedule. Everything else is added on top of it.
• Classification is the highest-leverage and highest-risk decision in the whole calculation. A one-line change at the 10-digit level can move the rate by double digits.
• We do not publish a duty-rate table by product category. Enter the rate from the HTS entry for your code, or ask us for a classification review before you book.

Sources: HTSUS Chapter 99 (USITC)

• Section 301 duties are additional to the MFN rate and are assessed on the customs value of the goods.
• Because the lists are product-specific, the same supplier shipping two different SKUs in one container can face two different 301 outcomes. Split the HTS codes, not just the invoice.
• Goods that are already subject to Section 232 are excluded from most of the same Chapter 99 machinery — but the interaction is product-specific, so verify line by line.

Sources: USTR — Section 301 tariff actions · HTSUS Chapter 99 (USITC) · USTR 89 FR 76581 (2024-09-18) — four-year review determinations

• This measure was introduced to replace revenue lost when the IEEPA tariffs were struck down — it is not the same instrument and it does not behave the same way.
• Exemptions at 9903.05.86 cover computers, smartphones, network equipment, most semiconductors, natural rubber, coffee, tea, spices and most finished pharmaceuticals. The exemption list is narrow and product-specific — check your HTS line, do not assume by category name.
• Goods already covered by a Section 232 measure (metals, passenger and light-truck vehicles and parts, medium- and heavy-duty vehicles and buses and parts, wood products, patented pharmaceuticals, the 25% semiconductor tier) are exempt under 9903.05.90.
• This layer stacks on top of Section 301 Lists 1–4A and on top of the MFN rate.

Sources: USTR · HTSUS Chapter 99 (USITC) · USTR notice 2026-15181 · CBP CSMS messaging service

• Section 232 is assessed on the full value of the imported article, not on the metal content. That valuation change is what makes this layer so much more expensive than it looks.
• 232 and 301 overlap in coverage for some products and the Chapter 99 notes resolve the order. Do not model them as simple additions without checking the note.

Sources: HTSUS Chapter 99 (USITC) · Federal Register

• AD/CVD is the single biggest unrecognised risk for importers who buy on price alone. It is not covered by DDP pricing unless the forwarder explicitly agreed to take the case-rate risk, which most do not.
• Scope rulings decide whether your specific product is inside an order. This needs a written scope inquiry before shipment, not a guess.

Sources: CBP — AD/CVD · eCFR — 19 CFR

• The Court held that IEEPA does not authorise the President to impose tariffs. Duties already collected were not automatically refunded by the judgment.
• This is the source of the 2026 refund question for importers. Refund mechanics are separate from the duty calculation and depend on the facts of each entry — see the note on refunds below, and get a trade lawyer involved for material amounts.
• Any 2026 quotation that still adds an IEEPA line is out of date.

Sources: CRS Legal Sidebar LSB11398 (2026-02-23) · CBP CSMS messaging service

• ⚠️ We deliberately do not publish a single definitive rate. Public summaries disagree on whether the operative figure was 10% or 15%, and no source we could verify is authoritative on the point.
• What matters commercially: it is expired. A quote dated between late February and July 2026 may still contain a Section 122 line — that is the fastest way to spot a stale quotation.
• The CIT held on 2026-05-07 that the legal basis for the 10% rate did not hold. That decision is on appeal.

Sources: Federal Register · CBP CSMS messaging service

• This is a dated cliff, not a slow decline. Entries after the deadline lose the exclusion unless it is extended again.
• Exclusions match a product description *and* an HTS line. A near-match is not a match.
• If you are planning a Q4 or Q1 shipment, model the post-expiry cost now rather than discovering it at entry.

Sources: USTR · Federal Register · HTSUS Chapter 99 (USITC)

• This is the item that changed the unit economics of cross-border e-commerce from China more than any tariff rate did. A USD 30 parcel now carries duty, MPF-type charges and a filing obligation.
• The practical consequence: model duty at the line level for every SKU, or change the shipping model (consolidate, or hold stock in a US 3PL) so that entries are commercial-scale.
• We do not quote a flat per-parcel duty figure. It depends on the HTS line and the declared value.

Sources: CBP de minimis fact sheet (Pub. No. 5129) · Federal Register 2026-12670 (2026-06-24) · eCFR — 19 CFR

• ⚠️ Writing that these products "have been relieved" is wrong and will damage trust with any importer who checks. Nothing has changed at the border yet.
• The commercially useful action today is to know whether your product is on the published list, because the goods most likely to be stockpiled or expedited before implementation are on it.

Sources: The White House — U.S.–China Board of Trade release (2026-09) · USTR

• UFLPA is a supply-chain evidence problem, not a paperwork problem. A shipment can be perfectly documented for customs purposes and still be detained.
• The defence is upstream traceability documentation collected before shipment — cotton origin certificates, full manufacturing chain records, supplier declarations.
• Detention costs land on the importer, and they include storage, demurrage and lost sales, not just delay.

Sources: DHS — UFLPA entity list and guidance · CBP — forced labour enforcement

• A second 301 track is the main route by which new product lists could arrive with little notice.
• China has signalled a ceiling of 20% total tariff exposure in the negotiations. Treat that as a reported position, not an agreement.

Sources: USTR