Section 301 Tariffs on China in 2026: Lists, Rates & Exclusions

What Section 301 is

Section 301 of the Trade Act of 1974 lets the United States Trade Representative (USTR) impose duties against a country whose acts, policies or practices are found unreasonable or discriminatory. It is a country-specific tool: the duty attaches to goods of the origin country named in the action, whatever the product's MFN rate is.

Two neighboring programs are often confused with it:

• Section 232 is product-based, not country-based — steel, aluminum, copper, autos and other security-sensitive sectors are charged at 50% or 25% regardless of origin.
• The IEEPA tariffs (the 2025 "fentanyl" and "reciprocal" layers) were emergency-power tariffs, and they were struck down by the Supreme Court on 2026-02-24. They are gone from new entries; duties paid under them are being refunded — see our IEEPA refund guide. Section 301 was never part of that ruling and remains fully in force.

The China Section 301 program dates to the 2018–2019 USTR actions on technology transfer and intellectual property practices. It is reported at entry through Chapter 99 headings in the 9903.88.xx series, next to the regular 8/10-digit HTS line.

The China lists: 1 through 4A

The original program splits Chinese-origin goods into lists by 8-digit HTS code. Each list has its own Federal Register notice and effective date, so the same invoice can carry different 301 rates for different lines:

List membership follows the 8/10-digit HTS code plus Chinese origin. A shirt sewn in Vietnam and shipped from Shanghai is not Chinese-origin; a Chinese-made shirt transshipped through a third country still is.

The four-year review increases

Section 301 requires USTR to review the action after four years. The review produced higher rates on targeted strategic products in stages — for example, solar cells moved to 50% on 2025-01-01. Where a review rate exists it replaces the base list rate for that code, and it stacks with everything else in this article. The per-code pages on this site show the review layer where one applies.

The July 24 global Section 301 program

The bigger 2026 change: under FR 2026-15181 (91 FR 47318), a separate Section 301 program built on forced-labor findings took effect on 2026-07-24 (goods loaded before that date kept the old treatment through 2026-07-28). It covers roughly 60 economies and assigns each one a tier:

Three things matter most for China shippers:

• The global tier stacks on the legacy China lists. Chinese-origin goods pay the List 1–4A rate and the 12.5% global tier, each computed on the same customs value (see the worked example below).
• Exemptions. Goods already covered by a Section 232 order, USMCA-qualifying goods, and products on the program's Annex I/II exemption lists are excluded from the global tier.
• It is under litigation. A case challenging the program is pending at the Court of International Trade; CBP is collecting the duty in the meantime, so plan cash flow on the assumption it applies.

Worked example: same shirt, two origins

Origin, not ship-from, decides the stack. Below is the same HTS 6109.10.00 (knitted cotton T-shirt), same $10,000 value, same ocean formal entry — computed live by the engine this page runs on:

From China (List 4A + global tier):

From Vietnam (global tier only):

The China version carries one extra layer — the 7.5% List 4A duty — which on $10,000 is $750 more duty per entry. Everything else (MFN, the 12.5% global tier, MPF/HMF) is identical. That single layer is why "move production to Vietnam" only saves money if the transformation is real: customs origin follows where the goods were made or last substantially transformed, and the Tariff Radar shows CBP actively pursuing transshipment cases.

Exclusions: how to find them and how long they last

A product exclusion is USTR's waiver of the 301 layer for a specific 8/10-digit code. While an exclusion is valid, that code enters without the China 301 duty it would otherwise carry — but only that layer: MFN, Section 232 and the global 301 tier still apply unless their own exemption covers the product.

The current state of play:

• 178 China product exclusions are extended through 2026-11-10 (FR 2025-21671, published 2025-12-01). After that date they lapse unless extended again.
• Four of those exclusions were re-mapped to new HTS statistical breakouts effective 2026-07-01 (FR 2026-17925) — if you claimed one of them before, re-check the code on your recent entries.
• The global program has its own Annex I/II exemption lists, which apply across all covered economies. Our engine has keyed in the text-based entries; items published only as picture attachments are still being transcribed, so the per-code pages flag what is verified and what is not.

Exclusions are claimed at entry via the Chapter 99 reporting line shown on your customs entry documents. If your broker files for you, ask them to confirm the exclusion status of each code before the November 10 window closes.

Key dates for 2026

Rates are time-bound — the duty depends on the entry date, not the order date. The Tariff Radar logs each of these changes with its Federal Register source, and you can subscribe to email alerts there.

How to check whether your HTS code is on a list

1. Fix the exact code first. A wrong code makes every downstream answer wrong; if you are not sure of the code, start from the HTS code lookup and confirm against USITC or a customs ruling.
2. Look up the code. Each code page on this site — e.g. /hts/61091000 — lists every applicable layer (MFN, China 301, global 301, 232) with its rate, effective window, verification status and Federal Register source.
3. Run the entry date. The tariff calculator prices the stack for a specific date, origin and transport mode, so pending and expired layers are handled correctly.
4. Whole catalogs. For more than a handful of SKUs, the batch calculator prices an entire XLSX/CSV sheet and returns the ruleset version with the results.