Most importers ask "what's the tariff on my product?" as if the answer is a single percentage. It almost never is. What you actually owe is a stack of separate charges, each set by a different rule, and any one of them can change on its own. If you only know the base rate, you don't know your landed cost — and you can't watch what you're not aware you're paying.
The Base Rate Is Just the Floor
Every product has an HTS (Harmonized Tariff Schedule) code, and that code carries a base duty rate — the "general," or most-favored-nation, rate. For consumer goods it's often low (frequently 0–10%), sometimes zero. That base rate is where importers stop looking, and it's exactly where the mistakes start, because it's the bottom of the stack, not the whole thing.
What Stacks on Top
Depending on your product and where it's made, additional tariffs can sit on top of the base rate:
- Section 301 tariffs — additional duties on goods from specific countries (most prominently China), added by trade action. (To check whether one affects your product, see Section 301 Tariffs: The Process to Review With Your Customs Broker.)
- Section 232 tariffs — national-security duties on certain materials such as steel and aluminum. (These also reach products that merely contain those metals — see Section 232 Tariffs: The Process to Review With Your Customs Broker.)
- AD/CVD (antidumping and countervailing duties) — extra duties on specific products from specific countries found to be sold below fair value or unfairly subsidized. These can be very large. (To check for an order on your product, see AD/CVD Duties: The Process to Review With Your Customs Broker.)
- Other blanket or country-specific tariffs created by executive or legislative action.
Your real duty is the base rate plus every additional tariff that applies. Two products with the same base rate can carry wildly different total duty.
Origin Decides Which Stack You're In
The additional tariffs are keyed to country of origin — so the same product from two different countries can have completely different total duty. This is why origin isn't a paperwork detail; it's a cost driver. (See Understanding COO.)
Why It Matters
You can't calculate landed cost, price correctly, or compare sourcing options on the base rate alone. Ask the right question: not "what's the tariff," but "what's the full stack — base rate plus every additional duty — for this product, from this origin, today."
This is general guidance, not legal advice. Tariff classifications and rates are detailed and change frequently — confirm your specific duty with a licensed customs broker or the official tariff schedule before relying on it.
When you price a product, are you using the full duty stack — base rate plus any Section 301, 232, or AD/CVD — or just the base rate? We'd like to hear how you pin down what you actually owe.