Update on U.S. Tariffs

Since 00:01 eastern time on Friday 24th July, most UK exporters have found that their UK originating goods are now susceptible to a tariff under different legislation when imported into the United States of America.  

Tariff Background 

Prior to Friday, and since the U.S Supreme Court's decision in February, UK goods when imported into the U.S. have been susceptible to an additional 10% duty under S.122 Trade Act 1974.  However, this legislation only allowed the administration to introduce tariffs for a maximum of 150 days, with this period ending on Friday. 

To ensure the continuation of tariffs, the U.S. administration announced that the UK, and 59 other trading partners, would face either a 10% or 12.5% tariff under S.301 of the US Trade Act 1974 and due to a "failure to import and effectively enforce a prohibition on the importation of goods produced with forced labour".  After initially being announced on 2nd June, it is these tariffs that were introduced last week. 

A 10% tariff has been imposed on goods originating from Argentina, Bangladesh, Cambodia, Canada, Ecaudor, El Salvador, EU, Guatemala, Honduras, India, Indonesia, Jordan, Malaysia, Mexico, Pakistan, Sri Lanka, Taiwan, Trinidad & Tobago, and the UK. For all other investigated markets, the applicable tariff under the legislation is 12.5%. 

The new tariff 

Impacted UK originating goods will face a 10% duty rate which, from a tariff perspective, will mean that there is no difference to what they were seeing under the previous 10% levy.  

It is important to note that this is 10% plus the standard rate of duty (MFN rate) that is applicable for your goods.  For example, if the MFN rate is 5%, the importer of your goods will be liable for payment of 15% duty (5% plus 10%).  

What goods are not covered 

The new 10% tariff does not apply to the following goods: 

• Informational materials, donations, and accompanied baggage; 

• All articles and parts of articles subject to S.232 tariffs; and 

• Identified goods that, if subject to the proposed additional tariffs, could lead to unavailability of domestic supply, could cause economy-wide disruptions, or cannot be grown or produced in sufficient quantities in the U.S. 

A list of commodity codes for such products can be found in the United States Trade Representative guidance. FLIP 301 Investigation Final Action FRN 7-23-26 FINAL.pdf 

If you are unsure whether this tariff will apply to your products or not, you can review the Check how to Export service.  

The Chamber of Commerce 

At the North East Chamber of Commerce we support members to start, grow and develop their international trade journeys by offering guidance, training and consultancy for each stage of the journey.  

If you would like to find out more about how we can support your business, please get in touch – [email protected]