As of September 8, 2026, most clothing imported from China pays a total US duty of roughly 36% to 52%, depending on fiber content and garment type. A typical cotton knit garment lands at 36.5%: the 16.5% HTS base rate, plus 7.5% legacy Section 301 (List 4A), plus the 12.5% country-specific Section 301 rate in force since July 24, 2026. The IEEPA tariffs are gone and the Section 122 surcharge has expired, so those three layers are the whole stack.
That is the number. The rest of this page is the table behind it, the landed cost math, and what we tell brands to do about it. We run China production for founder-led brands every week, and the rates below are the ones we put in quotes.
How the stack works
Three layers apply to apparel from China today. Two more made headlines over the last 18 months and no longer apply. Every one of them is an ad valorem rate, meaning a percentage of the customs value of the goods (usually your FOB price), and they add together rather than compound. A 16.5% base rate plus 7.5% plus 12.5% is 36.5% of FOB, not 16.5% of a number that has already been marked up twice.
| Layer | Legal basis | Current rate | Applies to |
|---|---|---|---|
| HTS base duty (MFN column 1) | Harmonized Tariff Schedule, Chapters 61 and 62 | 0% to 32% by heading. Most cotton garments sit at 16.5% to 16.6%, most synthetic knits at 28% to 32% | Every apparel import from every country, unless a free trade agreement claim applies |
| Legacy Section 301 | Trade Act of 1974, Section 301. The 2018 to 2019 China actions, Lists 3 and 4A | 7.5% (List 4A) on most Chapter 61 and 62 apparel. 25% (List 3) on bags, hats, and most fabric and trim inputs | China-origin goods only |
| Country-specific Section 301 | Section 301 forced labor enforcement action announced July 23, 2026 | 12.5% for China | China-origin goods, effective July 24, 2026. Other sourcing countries carry their own rates |
| IEEPA tariffs (fentanyl and reciprocal) | International Emergency Economic Powers Act | 0%. Struck down by the Supreme Court on February 20, 2026 | No longer collected |
| Section 122 surcharge | Trade Act of 1974, Section 122 | 0%. The temporary 10% global tariff expired July 24, 2026 | No longer collected |
Two fees ride along with every entry and are not tariffs: the Merchandise Processing Fee (0.3464% of value, with a per-entry minimum and maximum) and the Harbor Maintenance Fee (0.125% on ocean shipments). They apply to every origin, they do not change with trade policy, and they belong in your landed cost model as a fixed line rather than in the duty percentage.
The other thing worth knowing is what the stack is applied to. Duty is assessed on the entered value, which for most brands is the FOB price on the commercial invoice. It is not assessed on freight, insurance, or your retail price. That matters when you model the change: a 20-point swing in the stack on a $9.00 garment is $1.80 per unit, not 20 points of your retail margin.
Origin decides which stack applies, and origin is where the garment was cut and sewn, not where the fabric was made. A hoodie sewn in China from Vietnamese fleece is Chinese origin and pays the full China stack. A hoodie sewn in Vietnam from Chinese fleece is Vietnamese origin and pays Vietnam’s rates. The catch runs the other way for duty-free programs: CAFTA-DR and KORUS both use a yarn-forward rule, so a garment sewn in Honduras or Korea from Chinese fabric usually cannot claim the 0% rate and falls back to the normal MFN base rate for that origin. There is no legal path to a duty-free claim on a China-origin garment.
Tariff rates by apparel category (2026)
These are the headings most founder-led programs fall into and the rate at each layer for China origin. The base rate shown is the General column for the “Other” line under each heading, which is where a basic garment without special construction lands. Water-resistant shells, garments with specific fiber blends, and children’s sizes can move to a different line, so treat this as the starting point rather than the ruling.
| Product | Typical HTS heading | Base MFN rate | Legacy 301 | Current 301 | Total |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Cotton t-shirts | 6109.10 | 16.5% | 7.5% | 12.5% | 36.5% |
| Synthetic t-shirts | 6109.90 | 32% | 7.5% | 12.5% | 52% |
| Cotton hoodies and sweatshirts | 6110.20 | 16.5% | 7.5% | 12.5% | 36.5% |
| Synthetic performance tops and polos | 6110.30 / 6105.20 | 32% | 7.5% | 12.5% | 52% |
| Men’s woven cotton shorts and trousers | 6203.42 | 16.6% | 7.5% | 12.5% | 36.6% |
| Women’s woven cotton trousers | 6204.62 | 16.6% | 7.5% | 12.5% | 36.6% |
| Synthetic outerwear and shells | 6201.40 / 6202.40 (formerly 6201.93 / 6202.93) | 27.7% (7.1% if water resistant) | 7.5% | 12.5% | 47.7% (27.1% if water resistant) |
| Knit leggings, synthetic | 6104.63 | 28.2% | 7.5% | 12.5% | 48.2% |
| Bras | 6212.10 | 16.9% | 7.5% | 12.5% | 36.9% |
| Swimwear, synthetic | 6112.41 (knit) / 6211.12 (woven) | 24.9% knit / 11.8% woven | 7.5% | 12.5% | 44.9% knit / 31.8% woven |
| Hats and caps | 6505.00 | 6.8% to 7.9% by fiber and construction | 25% (List 3) | 12.5% | 44.3% to 45.4% |
| Backpacks, man-made fiber textile | 4202.92 | 17.6% | 25% (List 3) | 12.5% | 55.1% |
To look up your own heading, search hts.usitc.gov by keyword or heading number, read the “General” column (that is the MFN base rate), then add 7.5% legacy Section 301 (25% if your line is on List 3) and the 12.5% country-specific rate for China origin. The 9903.88 lines in Chapter 99 tell you which Section 301 list your heading is on.
The gap between cotton and synthetic rows is the thing most brands do not expect. The 32% base rate on synthetic knits is not a China policy. It has been in the HTS for decades, it applies to a polyester tee from any country without an FTA claim, and the two Section 301 layers simply sit on top of it. Blends classify by chief weight, so a 60% cotton, 40% polyester fleece takes the cotton heading at 16.5% and a 50/50 blend with polyester listed first takes the synthetic heading at 32%. That is a 15.5 point difference in base rate on a fabric change most designers make for hand feel, and it is why fiber content belongs in the costing conversation and not just the tech pack.
Two more lines move the number. Children’s sizes have their own headings in most categories, and some carry different rates from the adult line. Garments with a specific construction, like the water-resistant test for shells or the elastomeric yarn threshold for swimwear, jump between lines under the same heading. If your product sits near one of those edges, get a written classification from your broker before you price it.
What this does to landed cost
The number brands actually need is not the percentage. It is the per-unit dollar line, next to freight and fees, so the retail price can be set against the real cost. Here is a cotton hoodie at a $9.00 FOB from our China network, under the current stack and under a scenario where only the base rate applies.
| Line | Current stack (36.5%) | Base MFN only (16.5%) |
|---|---|---|
| FOB cost per unit | $9.00 | $9.00 |
| Duty | $3.29 (36.5% of $9.00) | $1.49 (16.5% of $9.00) |
| Ocean freight, MPF, HMF, brokerage (placeholder) | $0.85 | $0.85 |
| Landed cost per unit | $13.14 | $11.34 |
The two Section 301 layers together add $1.80 per unit on this hoodie, or $1,800 on a 1,000-unit PO. That is real money, and it is also smaller than the swing most brands assume when they hear “50% tariffs.” The freight and fees line is a placeholder: your real number depends on carton count, port pair, and whether you consolidate with other orders, and we quote it per program rather than per unit average.
Two comparisons are worth running from this table. First, the same hoodie made somewhere with a duty-free path (Honduras under CAFTA-DR, Peru, South Korea under KORUS) drops the duty line to $0.00, but the FOB usually rises, so the question is whether the FOB increase is more or less than $3.29. Second, the same hoodie in a heavier fleece or with a higher-cost decoration moves the FOB up, and the duty moves with it, because duty is a percentage of FOB. A $12.00 hoodie at 36.5% pays $4.38 in duty, not $3.29.
Timing matters too. The rate that applies is the one in effect on the date the entry is filed, not the date the PO was placed or the date the goods left the factory, unless the action specifically exempts goods already in transit. Over the last 18 months, brands with goods on the water saw the duty line move between booking and arrival more than once. When a change is announced with a future effective date, as the July 23 action was, the practical question is whether your shipment clears before or after that date, and we plan the freight booking around it where we can.
China vs. the alternatives
The honest version of this comparison is that China is still the cheapest, highest-quality option for many small and mid-sized brands, even at the current stack. The reason is not the factory price. It is the fabric ecosystem, the 100-unit-per-colorway minimums, and the 40 to 60 day production lead time, none of which the alternatives match at the same time. Moving a whole brand out of China to save 20 points of duty and then hitting a 1,500-unit MOQ or a fabric that has to be imported into the new country anyway is a trade most brands regret.
| Country | Current additional duties | FTA duty-free path | MOQ reality | Lead time reality | Best-fit categories |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| China | 7.5% legacy Section 301 plus 12.5% country-specific Section 301, on top of the base rate | None | 100 units per colorway, 1,000 units per PO | Samples 14 to 20 days, production 40 to 60 days | Cotton knits, fleece, tees, hoodies, complex decoration, custom fabric development |
| Vietnam | Country-specific Section 301 rate since July 24, 2026. Varies, see country page | None | Around 1,000 units per colorway | Sampling 2 to 4 weeks, production 4 to 16 weeks | Activewear, technical fabrics, outerwear, complex construction |
| Honduras | 0% on CAFTA-DR qualifying garments. Otherwise varies, see country page | CAFTA-DR, yarn-forward rule with Short Supply List exceptions | 8,000 units per month sustained, roughly 1,500 to 2,500 per style | About 28 days after fabric receipt, then 3-day ocean transit to US Gulf ports | Woven shirts, uniforms, workwear, replenishment programs |
| Peru | Varies, see country page | US-Peru Trade Promotion Agreement, duty-free on qualifying apparel | As low as 300 units per colorway when styles share fabric | Sampling 2 to 4 weeks, production 4 to 16 weeks | Pima cotton tees and fleece, alpaca, premium knits |
| South Korea | Varies, see country page | KORUS FTA, yarn-forward rule, 0% with a Certificate of Origin | Not a small-run shop. Unit cost runs 20% to 40% above China, so it fits programs where finish quality pays for it | Sampling 3 to 4 weeks, bulk 6 to 10 weeks | Performance knits, technical outerwear, golf, premium knitwear |
Two of these deserve their own reading. The CAFTA-DR duty-free path is a permanent treaty preference rather than a policy that can be reversed next quarter, and our CAFTA-DR guide walks through the yarn-forward rule and the Short Supply List that decide whether your garment qualifies. Vietnam is the most common first alternative brands ask about, and our Vietnam tariff guide covers how its own rates have moved and where it beats China on category.
The pattern that works is the portfolio, not the exit. Brands that run cotton basics in China, a woven uniform or workwear program in Honduras, and a performance capsule in Korea are not hedging for the sake of it. They are matching each style to the country where the fabric, the minimum, and the duty line up.
Fabric availability is the constraint that decides most of these calls, and it is the one brands underestimate. China’s mills carry stock fleece, jersey, and performance knits in the weights and hands founder-led brands want, in quantities that support a 100-unit colorway. Vietnam and Honduras import much of their fabric, which lengthens lead time and can raise the MOQ to the mill’s minimum rather than the sewing factory’s. Peru and Korea have strong domestic fabric bases in their specialties (pima cotton and alpaca in Peru, performance and technical knits in Korea) and thin ones outside them. If your fabric only exists in Guangzhou, your garment is probably getting sewn in Dongguan, whatever the duty rate says.
One more thing we get asked about: routing Chinese goods through a third country to change the label. That is transshipment, it is illegal, and Customs treats it as fraud rather than a classification dispute. Origin is determined by where the garment was substantially transformed, which for apparel means cut and sewn. A Chinese garment relabeled in Vietnam is still a Chinese garment, and the penalty exposure lands on the importer of record, which is you.
What we tell brands to do
Get the HTS classification right before you price
Classification errors are the most common overpayment we see. A cotton-dominant blend classified as synthetic pays 52% instead of 36.5%, and a shell that would have passed the water resistance test at 7.1% base gets entered at 27.7% because nobody asked. The fiber content by weight, the knit or woven construction, and the intended wearer all live in your tech pack, and a complete tech pack is what your broker needs to classify correctly. Settle the heading before you set the retail price, not after the first entry clears.
Price at landed cost, not FOB
FOB is the factory’s number, and it is the one brands anchor on because it arrives first. The number that decides your margin is landed cost: FOB plus duty at the stacked rate plus freight plus fees, per unit, at the door of your warehouse. A hoodie at $9.00 FOB is a $13.14 hoodie once it lands from China at today’s rates, and if the retail price was set against $9.00 the margin is already gone. Build the retail from landed, and rebuild it when the stack moves.
Split programs by style, not by brand
The brands that get tariff planning right move styles, not companies. A woven program that meets Honduras minimums can leave China and enter duty-free, while the cotton fleece that needs 100-unit colorways stays. A performance pullover with a functional finish may land cheaper from Korea once KORUS takes the duty to zero, while the plain tee next to it does not. Model each style across the network and let the numbers decide, one style at a time.
Run the tariff line inside the itemized quote
If the duty is not on the quote, it is not in the decision. Our quotes break out FOB, duty at the current rate for the garment’s HTS line and origin, freight, and fees per unit, which is how our plans are priced and how the process runs from sample through delivery. When a rate changes, the duty line changes and the brand sees it before the PO, not on the customs invoice after the goods ship.
Timeline of changes
Every change since June 2025, newest first. The rates in the sections above follow from this record. The arc is simple to state: additional duties on China ran 30% to 50% in mid 2025, fell to 20% in November 2025, fell to 10% in February 2026 after the Supreme Court struck down the IEEPA tariffs, and settled at 12.5% on July 24, 2026 under the new country-specific Section 301 action. Legacy Section 301 has not moved through any of it.
| Date | What changed | Effect on apparel duties from China |
|---|---|---|
| July 23, 2026 | President Trump announced that the temporary 10% Section 122 global tariff would be replaced on July 24 by country-specific Section 301 tariffs tied to forced labor enforcement. China was assigned 12.5%. The new rate stacks on the HTS base rate and any legacy Section 301 duties. Many other major apparel sourcing countries are also covered, at varying rates | A 2.5 point increase for most Chinese apparel versus the expiring Section 122 rate. Current stack: base rate plus 7.5% legacy 301 plus 12.5% |
| July 15, 2026 | Section 122 set to sunset July 24. By statute, Congress would have had to act to extend it | The temporary 10% global surcharge scheduled to end |
| May 16, 2026 | Trump and Xi concluded a two-day summit in Beijing with few concrete trade outcomes. Tariffs were not directly discussed, but Treasury Secretary Bessent said a deal is under consideration to cut tariffs on roughly $30 billion of Chinese “low-end consumer goods,” a category that could include apparel. Both sides committed to a three-year “strategic stability” framework, and Xi was invited to Washington on September 24 | No change. The October 2025 truce and current rates stayed in effect. A consumer goods carve-out remains worth watching ahead of the fall meeting |
| April 13, 2026 | Trump and Xi set to meet in Beijing May 14 to 15, pushed back roughly six weeks from late March by the US-Iran conflict, with a reciprocal Xi visit to Washington planned for later in the year | No change. Flagged as the next likely policy shift |
| March 11, 2026 | USTR initiated new Section 301 investigations into 16 economies, including India, Vietnam, Bangladesh, Cambodia, China, and Mexico, targeting structural excess capacity in manufacturing. Widely seen as the bridge to replace Section 122 before its July 24 expiry. Hearings set for May 5, outcomes expected late July | No immediate change. Scope covered nearly every major apparel sourcing destination, not just China |
| February 24, 2026 | The administration implemented a 10% global tariff under Section 122 of the Trade Act of 1974 | Additional duties on China at 10%, down from 30% (June to November 2025) and 20% (November 2025 to February 2026) |
| February 20, 2026 | The Supreme Court ruled 6-3 that the president exceeded his authority under IEEPA. The ruling struck down both the fentanyl-related tariffs on China (reduced to 10% in November 2025) and the reciprocal “Liberation Day” tariffs | IEEPA-based additional duties on China went to zero. Legacy Section 301 duties from the first Trump term stayed fully in place. Totals fell significantly for most brands |
| November 10, 2025 | On November 11 the president formalized a cut to the fentanyl-related tariffs on China to 10%. The cut did not include product-specific Section 301 duties | Additional duties on China down to 20% (fentanyl-related plus reciprocal), plus legacy Section 301 |
| October 29, 2025 | The Wall Street Journal reported the US could cut the 20% fentanyl-related tariff on China to 10% | Would bring additional duties on China down to 20% to 40% |
| October 26, 2025 | Treasury Secretary Bessent said the threatened additional 100% tariff on China was “effectively off the table” after two days of talks with Beijing’s trade negotiators. A Trump-Xi meeting was set for October 30 at the APEC summit in South Korea | The 100% escalation did not take effect |
| October 10, 2025 | Trump announced a new 100% tariff on all Chinese imports effective November 1, on top of existing duties, after China restricted exports of rare earth minerals. Export controls on “critical software” were announced for the same day | Threatened to roughly double the cost of Chinese apparel. Accelerated interest in diversified and nearshore production |
| September 30, 2025 | The Supreme Court set early November arguments on the legality of the reciprocal tariff policy. Lower courts had questioned the scope of those duties, but rates remained in effect pending the ruling. The US and China maintained a temporary truce | No change. A window of stability for sourcing plans |
| June 17, 2025 | Additional duties on China ranged from 30% to 50%: a 10% baseline tariff on all apparel imports, a 20% fentanyl-related duty, and 0% to 20% Section 301 duties from the first Trump administration | Total duties on apparel from China between 30% and 70% by category. China remained the cheapest, highest-quality option for many small and mid-sized brands because of MOQs and fabric constraints elsewhere |
Three things could move the number next. The first is the September 24 Xi visit to Washington and the consumer goods carve-out Treasury floated in May, which would cut the China rate on a category that may include apparel. The second is the set of Section 301 excess-capacity investigations opened in March, which cover most of the countries brands would move to and could raise their rates rather than lower China’s. The third is any exclusion process attached to the July 24 action, which would work at the HTS line level and reward brands that already know their headings. We update this page when any of them lands.
Next steps
If you are running your own China program: pull the HTS line for each style, add the two Section 301 layers, and reprice at landed cost before the next PO. If you would rather have us run those numbers across China and the rest of the network, tell us about your program and we will tell you straight whether we are a fit.
