Short answer: for a US FBA seller in 2026, Amazon FBA import tariffs are a stack, not a single rate. You pay the regular tariff for your HTS code, plus any Section 301 or Section 232 duty attached to that code and country, plus customs user fees. The $800 de minimis exemption that used to let small parcels in duty-free is suspended for every country and every mode of transport. And unless you have explicitly contracted otherwise, the party legally on the hook for all of it is the importer of record — very often you.
This article is not tariff, customs, or legal advice. Classification and the duty actually owed are determined by US Customs and Border Protection on the entry, not by a guide. All statements below were checked against primary US government sources on 2026-08-16; tariff policy has moved repeatedly in the last two years, so re-check before you commit to a purchase order.
What changed in 2026 — and what did not
1. The IEEPA tariffs ended in February 2026. Executive Order 14389 of February 20, 2026 states that the additional ad valorem duties imposed under the International Emergency Economic Powers Act by a list of 2025–2026 orders “shall no longer be in effect and, as soon as practicable, shall no longer be collected.” The same order is explicit that this “does not affect any other duties, including duties imposed under section 232 of the Trade Expansion Act of 1962, as amended, 19 U.S.C. 1862, and section 301 of the Trade Act of 1974, as amended, 19 U.S.C. 2411.” (Federal Register)
2. A temporary 10% surcharge filled the gap — with a clock on it. Proclamation 11012 of the same date, issued under Section 122 of the Trade Act of 1974, reads: “I impose, for a period of 150 days, a temporary import surcharge of 10 percent ad valorem, as described below, on articles imported into the United States, effective February 24, 2026.” (Federal Register) Counting 150 days from February 24, 2026 lands on July 24, 2026, and a Federal Register search of presidential documents on 2026-08-16 turned up no order extending it.
3. A new Section 301 tariff took its place on July 24, 2026. Following investigations into 60 economies over forced-labor import prohibitions, the US Trade Representative published a Notice of Actions stating that “the additional rates of duty are applicable with respect to products that are entered for consumption, or withdrawn from warehouse for consumption, on or after 12:01 a.m. eastern time on July 24, 2026.” For sellers importing from China, the operative line is: “the Trade Representative has determined to impose 12.5 percent tariffs on products of China, except as provided in Annex I and Annex II, Part A, of this Notice.” (USTR Notice; Presidential Memorandum)
The rate depends on the sourcing country. A 10 percent rate was directed for goods of Argentina, Bangladesh, Cambodia, Canada, Ecuador, El Salvador, Guatemala, Honduras, India, Indonesia, Jordan, Malaysia, Mexico, Pakistan, Sri Lanka, the United Kingdom and Trinidad and Tobago. For the European Union and Taiwan, the Section 301 duty is set so the MFN rate plus the Section 301 rate reaches 10 percent; for Japan, Korea and Switzerland the same mechanism targets 12.5 percent. Every other investigated economy is at 12.5 percent. Annexes I and II carve out exempt products.
What did not change: the older China Section 301 actions (Lists 1 through 4A and the four-year-review increases) and Section 232 metals actions survive untouched, per EO 14389 above.
The five layers of an FBA landed cost
Landed cost is what a unit costs you sitting in an Amazon fulfillment center, before a single Amazon fee applies. Build it in layers.
| Layer | What it is | Where the number comes from |
|---|---|---|
| Goods value | Transaction value you paid the supplier | Commercial invoice |
| Regular duty | Column 1 General rate for your HTS code | hts.usitc.gov |
| Trade-remedy duty | Section 301 and Section 232 additions | HTSUS Chapter 99, Subchapter III |
| Customs user fees | MPF, and HMF on ocean cargo | CBP fee schedule |
| Logistics | Freight, insurance, drayage, brokerage, prep | Forwarder and broker quotes |
Two of those fees are fixed formulas worth memorising. The merchandise processing fee is 0.3464 percent of the value of the imported goods, excluding duty, freight and insurance charges (CBP). For fiscal year 2026 CBP set the MPF floor at $33.58 and the cap at $651.50, with a $4.03 surcharge on manually filed entries (Federal Register). CBP published the fiscal year 2027 adjustment on 2026-07-31, so those limits change for entries from October 1, 2026 (Federal Register). The harbor maintenance fee is 0.125 percent of cargo value and applies to ocean freight only (CBP) — air freight skips it entirely, which narrows the air-versus-ocean gap slightly on high-value goods.
For how these layers then feed into your unit economics on the Amazon side, see our FBA fees and profit guide.
How to look up your own duty rate in four steps
No article can give you your rate, because the rate is a property of your HTS code, not your product category. The lookup is the durable skill.
- Find a candidate code. Search a plain-language description at hts.usitc.gov, the US International Trade Commission’s official Harmonized Tariff Schedule. Work down from chapter to heading to the 10-digit statistical suffix — the first six digits are internationally harmonised, the last four are US-specific.
- Read all three rate columns. “General” under Column 1 is the normal-trade-relations rate that applies to most origins. “Special” lists preferential rates under trade agreements. Column 2 is the punitive rate for a short list of countries. Most FBA imports land in Column 1 General.
- Check Chapter 99. Trade-remedy duties do not live in the product chapter. Section 301 and Section 232 additions are implemented as separate Chapter 99, Subchapter III headings that cross-reference your product code. The USTR notice above modifies exactly these headings.
- Sanity-check the classification. Search CBP’s CROSS ruling database for how CBP has classified similar goods. If the money at stake is large, a binding ruling request removes the guesswork.
Two habits save real money. Classify before you order, not after the container sails — a 12.5 percent surprise on a $40,000 purchase order is $5,000 you did not budget. And never treat your supplier’s HTS code as authoritative; suppliers optimise for export paperwork, and the classification liability is yours.
De minimis is gone: what it means for FBA import tariffs
The $800 de minimis exemption under 19 U.S.C. 1321(a)(2)(C) is suspended. Executive Order 14324 of July 30, 2025 suspended it globally effective August 29, 2025, after an earlier suspension for China and Hong Kong effective May 2, 2025 (Federal Register). CBP’s own release that day noted that “Personal letters, bona fide gifts under $100, and personal travel items under $200 remain unaffected under long-standing exemptions” (CBP).
Executive Order 14388 of February 20, 2026 continued the suspension in unusually flat language: “The duty-free de minimis exemption provided under 19 U.S.C. 1321(a)(2)(C) shall not apply to any shipment of articles not covered by 50 U.S.C. 1702(b), regardless of value, country of origin, mode of transportation, or method of entry.” (Federal Register) CBP followed with an interim final rule, effective July 24, 2026, implementing an indefinite regulatory suspension for postal shipments and a new postal informal entry process; that rule also notes the statutory repeal of the de minimis basis takes effect from July 1, 2027 (Federal Register).
Three practical consequences for FBA sellers:
- Splitting shipments under $800 no longer avoids duty. The exemption is gone regardless of value or mode, so breaking a container into sub-$800 parcels now just multiplies entry paperwork.
- Direct-from-overseas fulfilment loses its arbitrage. Sellers shipping individual orders from an overseas 3PL now pay duty, and pay entry costs per shipment rather than per container.
- Sample and replacement parcels need a plan. Small inbound parcels that used to clear silently now need a declared value, an origin, and someone to pay.
Who is the importer of record — and why it is usually you
The importer of record is the party that files the customs entry and owes the duty. This is the single most expensive thing sellers get wrong, because the liability does not transfer just because someone else handled the paperwork.
The regulation is blunt. Under 19 CFR 141.1(b)(1), “the liability for duties, both regular and additional, attaching on importation, constitutes a personal debt due from the importer to the United States which can be discharged only by payment in full of all duties legally accruing, unless relieved by law or regulation. Payment to a broker covering duties does not relieve the importer of liability if the duties are not paid by the broker.” The same section adds that “delivery of a Customs bond with an entry is solely to protect the revenue of the United States and does not relieve the importer of liabilities incurred from the importation of merchandise into the United States.” (eCFR)
Read that twice if you buy on DDP terms. A DDP quote means the seller arranges clearance and pays duty — but if the entry was filed naming you as importer of record and the duty was never actually remitted, CBP’s claim is against you. Two questions belong in writing before booking: who is named as importer of record on the entry, and can you produce the CBP Form 7501 entry summary after clearance? A vendor who cannot answer either is selling you a duty-evasion risk with the freight.
If you are the importer of record you need a customs bond (single-entry for one-off shipments, continuous once you import regularly), an importer number — typically your EIN — and a licensed customs broker to file entries in ACE. Budget the broker’s per-entry fee as a real line item. Choosing who handles all of this is part of the freight forwarder selection decision, and worth checking with a prospective sourcing agent too.
Landed cost worked example
This is an illustrative calculation with invented inputs, not a quoted rate for any real product. Substitute your own HTS rate before you use it.
Inputs: 1,000 units, FOB China, unit price $4.20 (goods value $4,200); ocean freight and insurance $1,150; assumed Column 1 General rate 3.4%; Section 301 forced-labor rate for China 12.5%; no Chapter 99 exemption; no legacy List 1–4A duty on this code.
| Line | Formula | Amount |
|---|---|---|
| Goods value | 1,000 × $4.20 | $4,200.00 |
| Regular duty | $4,200 × 3.4% | $142.80 |
| Section 301 | $4,200 × 12.5% | $525.00 |
| MPF | $4,200 × 0.3464% = $14.55, below the $33.58 floor | $33.58 |
| HMF | $4,200 × 0.125% | $5.25 |
| Freight and insurance | quoted | $1,150.00 |
| Landed total | sum | $6,056.63 |
Landed cost per unit is $6,056.63 ÷ 1,000 = $6.06, against a $4.20 supplier price. Duties and fees alone are $706.63, or 16.8% of goods value. Brokerage, drayage to the fulfillment center and prep are excluded and will add more.
The number that matters is the gap between $4.20 and $6.06 — a 44% increase over the figure most sellers use when they first model a product. Quoting margin off supplier price rather than landed cost systematically overstates profitability. For the downstream half of the calculation, the free AMZBase browser extension overlays ASIN, BSR and lowest FBA offer on Amazon pages and calculates FBA fees to estimate potential profits; it works from Amazon-side data and does not know your duty rate, so the landed cost input still comes from the table above.
Common mistakes
- Using a category-level rate. Duty rates vary sharply within a category. “Kitchenware is about 3%” is not a rate; the 10-digit code is.
- Forgetting Chapter 99. Sellers read the Column 1 rate, budget for it, and get hit by a Section 301 heading they never looked up.
- Treating DDP as risk transfer. It transfers the work, not the statutory liability — see the regulation quoted above.
- Modelling duty on the landed price. Duty is assessed on customs value, normally the transaction value of the goods, not on the freight-inclusive figure.
- Assuming a rate is stable. Between February and July 2026 alone, one tariff regime ended, a 150-day surcharge ran, and a new Section 301 action started. Re-check before each purchase order.
Frequently Asked Questions
What is the current Section 301 tariff rate on goods from China?
Under the USTR Notice of Actions published 2026-07-28, the Trade Representative determined to impose 12.5 percent tariffs on products of China, applicable to goods entered for consumption on or after 12:01 a.m. eastern time on July 24, 2026, except for products carved out in the Notice’s annexes. This is separate from, and stacks on, the older China Section 301 lists where those apply to your code.
Is the $800 de minimis exemption coming back?
Not on any current schedule. Executive Order 14388 of February 20, 2026 continued the suspension for shipments of any value, origin or mode, and CBP’s June 2026 interim final rule describes a statutory repeal of the de minimis basis taking effect from July 1, 2027.
Can I let my supplier be the importer of record?
A foreign supplier can be named as importer of record only in limited circumstances and must post a bond. The more common arrangement is a DDP quote where a third party clears the goods. Either way, confirm in writing who is named on the entry and demand the entry summary afterwards, because 19 CFR 141.1(b)(1) makes duty liability a personal debt of the importer.
Do I pay duty on freight costs?
Normally no. Customs value is generally the transaction value of the merchandise, and the merchandise processing fee is explicitly assessed on the value of the goods excluding duty, freight and insurance. Freight still belongs in your landed cost model — it just is not part of the dutiable base.
Conclusion
Treat tariffs as a repeatable lookup rather than a number to memorise. Classify the product, read all three rate columns, check Chapter 99 for Section 301 and Section 232 additions, add MPF and HMF, and settle who is the importer of record before the goods move. Rates in this article were checked on 2026-08-16 against USTR, CBP, the Federal Register and the USITC tariff schedule; the framework outlives the rates, but the rates do not outlive the quarter.