There is no single rate for “Trump’s tariffs.” U.S. import duties now depend on the product, its country of origin, the date it enters the country, and which legal measure applies. The Supreme Court ruling against the challenged IEEPA tariffs did not end duties imposed under other laws; a separate temporary surcharge ended on its stated schedule unless Congress extended it.
What is a tariff, and who pays it?
A tariff is a duty on imported goods. The U.S. importer of record is generally responsible for paying it to U.S. Customs at entry. The tariff’s economic cost can then be passed to consumers through higher prices, absorbed by the importer or seller through lower margins, or distributed among businesses along a supply chain. Who ultimately bears the cost varies; it is not automatically the same as the party that pays customs.
Tariffs can affect household prices in two ways. An imported product may cost more directly, while a U.S. producer may also face higher costs if it uses tariffed imported materials or components. That second channel can take longer to reach consumers.
Why did the administration impose tariffs?
In its April 2, 2025 Executive Order 14257, the Trump administration said it was responding to what it described as a lack of reciprocity in trade, disparate tariff rates, non-tariff barriers, and persistent U.S. goods-trade deficits. The order presented these conditions as threats to the U.S. economy and national security and established a reciprocal-tariff framework under the International Emergency Economic Powers Act (IEEPA), the National Emergencies Act, and other authority.
That is the administration’s stated rationale, not proof that tariffs will reduce trade barriers or deficits. Whether tariffs achieve a policy goal is a separate question from the rationale given for imposing them.
What changed after the Supreme Court ruling?
On February 20, 2026, the White House issued an order ending specified additional duties imposed under IEEPA and directing agencies to stop collecting them as soon as practicable. The Congressional Research Service’s February 23, 2026 account says the Supreme Court had ruled that IEEPA did not authorize the challenged tariffs.
The termination order did not cancel every U.S. tariff. It expressly left duties under other authorities, including Sections 232 and 301 of the Trade Act, unaffected. The ruling and termination therefore changed one set of duties; they did not establish a blanket end to tariff policy.
Which tariff measures are relevant in 2026?
The measures below have different legal bases, coverage, and dates. Their headline rates are not interchangeable: product exclusions, origin rules, entry dates, and interactions with other duties can change what applies to an individual shipment.
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| Measure | Rate and scope described in the official action | Timing and important qualifications |
|---|---|---|
| IEEPA additional duties | The challenged additional duties were terminated; the termination order ended specified IEEPA duties, not duties imposed under other authorities. | The White House issued its termination order on February 20, 2026, after the Supreme Court ruling described by CRS. Agencies were directed to stop collecting the specified duties as soon as practicable. |
| Section 122 temporary surcharge | A 10% ad valorem surcharge applied subject to specified product exclusions. It could not stack on the portion of an import subject to Section 232 tariffs. | The proclamation set a period from February 24 through July 24, 2026—150 days—and said an extension required an Act of Congress. The cited official record does not establish an extension. |
| Section 232 metals duties | The June 2026 proclamation described 50% duties on certain primary metal products, 25% on certain derivative products, and a temporarily reduced 15% rate for specified derivatives. The June modifications set different rates and conditions for listed products and origins. | These duties continued independently of the IEEPA ruling. The listed products, origins, annexes, and effective periods determine whether a particular import is covered; the headline rates do not apply to all metals or derivatives. |
| Section 301 forced-labor measures | The July 23, 2026 memorandum imposed differentiated treatment following investigations concerning foreign forced-labor import prohibitions. It includes 10% treatment for some economies or product groupings and 12.5% for others, as well as caps tied to existing most-favored-nation duties for certain partners, exemptions, and future tariff-rate quotas. | The memorandum describes investigations of 60 economies. Exact treatment depends on its annexes and current Harmonized Tariff Schedule of the United States (HTSUS) instructions. |
The temporary Section 122 measure is distinct from both the ended IEEPA duties and the continuing Section 232 and Section 301 programs. A rate from one measure should not be added to another without checking the applicable rules: for example, the Section 122 proclamation specifically barred stacking its surcharge on the portion subject to Section 232.
How can a consumer or business find the rate for a specific import?
A headline percentage is not enough to determine the duty on a shipment. The applicable treatment turns on the tariff classification, origin, date of entry, legal authority, exclusions, and any preferential treatment or product-content rules that apply. Multiple duties may be relevant, but their interactions must be checked rather than assumed.
- Identify the product’s HTSUS classification. The classification is the starting point for finding the ordinary customs duty and checking whether a special tariff measure covers the product.
- Confirm the origin and any applicable content rules. The country from which a product ships is not necessarily enough to establish tariff origin; the applicable measure may set origin or product-specific conditions.
- Check the entry date. Tariff measures can have effective periods, and the relevant date is the date of customs entry, not simply the date an order was placed.
- Check each potentially applicable authority and its exclusions. Review the current HTSUS instructions and the relevant measure’s annexes for Section 232, Section 301, or any other applicable duty, along with exclusions and rules for interaction.
For a business shipment, a customs broker or trade-compliance professional can help verify classification and entry treatment. For a household purchase, a quoted retail price is not necessarily the tariff amount: the importer may pass on some, all, or none of its cost, and the tariff may have entered the product’s price before the consumer buys it.
Independent reader supportYour contribution helps us test, update, and keep practical guides available for everyone.What evidence is there about the effect on prices and households?
Tariff effects should be distinguished from the administration’s stated goals. Two Federal Reserve studies estimate price and spending effects using different data and measures; their figures describe those studies’ results, not a universal pass-through rate for every product or household.
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Consumer-price pass-through
The Federal Reserve Bank of New York’s September 2026 revision of “The Anatomy of Tariff Pass-Through into Consumer Prices” estimates that about 26% of the 2025 tariff increase passed through to consumer prices, comparing more-exposed goods with less-exposed goods while holding aggregate conditions fixed. The authors attribute 64% of that estimated price increase to direct effects and 36% to indirect effects through imported-input costs and domestic producers’ markups. They estimate that the indirect channel takes nine to twelve months to appear.
Retail prices and household spending
The Federal Reserve Board’s August 2026 revision of “Paying More and Buying Less: 2025 Tariffs and U.S. Household Spending” reports a retail-price pass-through estimate of about 0.15 using realized tariff rates and a 0.20 price coefficient using its benchmark exposure measure. These estimates depend on the paper’s transaction-level data and exposure measure. The study also finds a disproportionate welfare burden for low-income households and reduced spending on affected goods, concentrated in non-essential categories.
Budget projections have a cutoff
The Congressional Budget Office’s tariff projection, updated July 31, 2026 and published in September, was revised after the IEEPA duties were removed. It excludes announced changes that were not in effect by its July 31 cutoff, so it should not be treated as a forecast of tariff changes announced later.
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