USTR imposes new Section 301 tariffs on 60 economies over forced-labor import bans

What changed on July 24, 2026

The final notice converts USTR's 60 forced-labor investigations into 60 separate tariff actions. New Chapter 99 headings 9903.05.20 through 9903.05.84 impose the country treatment on products entered for consumption, or withdrawn from warehouse for consumption, at or after 12:01 a.m. eastern time on July 24, 2026. Most covered entries add either 10% or 12.5% to the normal Chapter 1–97 rate. The European Union and Taiwan instead use a 10% combined MFN-plus-Section 301 cap, while Japan, South Korea, and Switzerland use a 12.5% cap. This action is separate from the China technology-transfer Section 301 lists: U.S. note 52 says covered goods also remain subject to other additional duties in Chapter 99 unless a listed exemption applies, so a China-origin entry may require both programs rather than substituting one for the other.

The new headings entered the schedule at Revision 13 and remain live through Revision 16

USITC's current-release endpoint reported 2026 HTS Revision 13 when checked on July 29, 2026, and Revision 13 is where this action first entered the schedule. The same three exact export requests that returned no row against Revision 12 on July 25 returned live rows then, and a re-read on August 15, 2026 against Revision 16 returns identical fields, so the headings have survived three later revisions without amendment: 9903.05.20 carries "The duty provided in the applicable subheading + 12.5%" for products of Algeria; 9903.05.85 carries the unchanged applicable-subheading duty for the in-transit window; and 9903.06.21 carries the unchanged applicable-subheading duty for products of Jordan under subdivision (j)(13)(ii) of U.S. note 52. That closed the five-day publication lag between USTR's July 23 notice and the schedule, and it independently corroborates the rate table above — the +12.5% country treatment and the July 24 / July 28 in-transit timestamps in the official heading text match the notice. Two practical consequences: a blank lookup is no longer expected for these headings, so an unexpected blank now means the wrong heading was queried rather than a pending revision; and the Chapter 99 text itself can be cited at entry alongside CBP CSMS #69326983 for the reporting sequence. USITC published Revisions 12 through 16 in twenty-four days, so check the current release before relying on any revision number quoted here — and note that the export endpoint always serves the current release, so a revision-to-revision comparison has to be two reads separated in time, as the dates above are. Confirm the filing treatment with a customs broker.

The in-transit exception lasts only four days

Heading 9903.05.85 preserves the prior treatment only when both timing conditions are met: the article was loaded onto a vessel at the port of loading and in transit on the final mode of transit into the United States before 12:01 a.m. eastern time on July 24, 2026, and it is entered for consumption or withdrawn from warehouse for consumption before 12:01 a.m. eastern time on July 28, 2026. Cargo that satisfies the sailing condition but is entered at or after the July 28 cutoff loses the exception. Import teams should therefore treat this as an entry-filing deadline, not a general exemption for every shipment already afloat.

Universal exemptions use headings 9903.05.86 through 9903.05.92

The notice supplies common no-additional-duty routes before the economy-specific tables begin. Headings 9903.05.86 and 9903.05.87 cover the universal product lists in U.S. note 52; 9903.05.88 covers qualifying civil aircraft and parts; 9903.05.89 covers specified articles for pharmaceutical applications; 9903.05.90 covers articles already in the listed Section 232 programs, including covered steel, aluminum, copper, vehicles and parts, wood products, and semiconductors; 9903.05.91 covers qualifying humanitarian donations; and 9903.05.92 covers informational materials. Accompanied baggage for personal use is also excluded. Annex I adds patented pharmaceutical articles to the 9903.05.90 carve-out effective July 31, 2026.

Trade-agreement and economy-specific exemptions require a second lookup

The universal exclusions are not the end of the analysis. Heading 9903.05.93 exempts Canada products entered free under USMCA, and 9903.05.94 does the same for Mexico. Heading 9903.05.95 covers qualifying CAFTA-DR textile and apparel goods from Costa Rica, the Dominican Republic, El Salvador, Guatemala, Honduras, or Nicaragua. Headings 9903.05.96 through 9903.06.21 then implement product exemptions negotiated or adopted for selected economies. Annex II is the detailed 431-page notice's product table, and some rows carry a scope limitation. That is why this change entry does not attach the action to every catalogued HTS code: the same base subheading can be covered for one origin and exempt for another.

How the new duty stacks with base duty, AD/CVD, and other Chapter 99 measures

U.S. note 52 keeps the normal Chapter 1–97 rate in place and states that, except where the note supplies an exemption, covered products also remain subject to other additional duties in Chapter 99. It also says antidumping, countervailing, and other duties, taxes, fees, exactions, and charges continue to apply. Special tariff treatment does not automatically defeat this action unless the notice creates a specific route, such as the Canada and Mexico USMCA exemptions. Most qualifying Chapter 98 entries are excluded, but the notice applies the new duty to the foreign repair, processing, or assembly value under 9802.00.40, 9802.00.50, 9802.00.60, and 9802.00.80. A broker should confirm the complete Chapter 99 stack and entry-date facts before the filing treatment changes.

How CBP says to order the ACE entry-summary line

CBP CSMS #69326983 says to report an applicable Chapter 98 provision first, followed by Chapter 99 numbers for additional duties. Within the trade-remedy sequence, report the Section 301 Chapter 99 heading before any Section 122, Section 232, Section 201 duty, and Section 201 quota headings; then report replacement-duty or other Chapter 99 provisions, other quota headings, and finally the Chapter 1–97 commodity classification. CBP says the entered value normally belongs on the Chapter 1–97 classification unless Chapter 98 requires different reporting. This sequence explains line order only: it does not decide whether a product qualifies for an exemption or which headings apply.

Final Section 301 rate treatment by economy

The controlling country provisions are in Chapter 99 headings 9903.05.20 through 9903.05.84. The EU, Taiwan, Japan, South Korea, and Switzerland rows are total-rate caps: the new Section 301 amount fills only the gap between the applicable MFN rate and the cap, and is zero when the MFN rate already meets or exceeds it.

This matrix is the economy-level starting point, not a final entry calculation. Headings 9903.05.85–9903.05.92 provide the in-transit and universal carve-outs; headings 9903.05.93–9903.06.21 add trade-agreement and economy-specific exclusions; and Annex II contains the full product tables and scope limitations. Confirm origin, base classification, applicable MFN rate, exclusion heading, any other Chapter 99 duty, and entry date before changing a landed-cost assumption.