On July 24, 2026, the 10% Section 122 tariffs imposed by the US government expired at the end of their 150 authorizations period, and were immediately replaced with a new Section 301 forced-labor duty. China-origin goods now pay a flat 12.5% import duty or tariff, up from 10% under Section 122. For Ecommerce brands importing from China, that's a 2.5-point increase on landed cost.
This post explains what changed, when it took effect, what it costs, and what you should check before your next entry. We focus on China because that's where most DTC import exposure is. If you source from another affected country, check your rate with your broker.
Section 301 is a US trade law that lets the government put tariffs on countries it decides are trading unfairly, and here it's being used to target forced labor: the US is charging duties on goods from countries it says aren't doing enough to keep forced labor out of their supply chains.
It's a different kind of tariff, not just a higher rate. Section 122 was set to expire after 150 days because that's the maximum a surcharge like this is allowed to run under the law, with no option to extend it (Trade Act of 1974, Section 122). This Section 301 duty has no end date and no ceiling on the rate, so plan for it to stick around, not lift on its own. How it's filed, and which goods can skip it, changed too.
It's also not China-only. The action covers 60 countries, but China sits amongst the top at a flat 12.5%, and none of its products can skip the duty (more on that below). We focus on China because that's where Ecomerce brand import exposure is. If you source from another affected country, check your rate with your broker.
The rate depends on whether a country has committed to ban forced-labor imports: 10% if it has, 12.5% if it hasn't. Here's where some common sourcing countries landed:
::table
Common sourcing country;New Section 301 rate
China;12.5%
Vietnam;12.5%
India;10%
Cambodia;10%
Malaysia;10%
Bangladesh;10%
Indonesia;10%
:table
Source: USTR fact sheet.
The forced-labor duty is the third set of China tariffs in five months.
::table
Date (ET);What happened
February 20, 2026;The Supreme Court strikes down the earlier reciprocal IEEPA tariffs (the ones issued under emergency-powers law).
February 24, 2026;A 10% Section 122 surcharge takes over as the replacement, set to expire after 150 days (Proclamation 11012).
March 12, 2026;The US Trade Representative (USTR) opens investigations into 60 countries over forced labor.
July 23, 2026;USTR announces the final decision, US Customs (CBP) publishes how to file it.
July 24, 2026, 12:01 a.m.;Section 122 ends. The new 12.5% duty starts the same minute. It doesn't apply to goods that already cleared.
July 28, 2026, 12:01 a.m.;The last exception closes (see below).
:table
This new duty is added on top of the China tariffs you already pay, so your total depends on your product. The table assumes your product has no base import duty of its own (the standard rate, called "most favored nation" or MFN, is 0%); yours may be higher.
::table
Your product;Tariff already in place;Total through July 23;Total from July 24;Change
Consumer goods, apparel, footwear (List 4A);7.5%;17.5%;20.0%;+2.5 pts
Machinery, electronics, furniture, auto parts (Lists 1–3);25%;35.0%;37.5%;+2.5 pts
Not on any China tariff list;None;10.0%;12.5%;+2.5 pts
:table
Source: CBP CSMS #69326983 and the Forced Labor HTS List.
The duty is a percentage of the value you declare to customs, not a flat fee per item, so the higher that value, the bigger the dollar hit.
There's one last exceptionGoods that were already on the water before July 24 and cleared customs before 12:01 a.m. ET on July 28 avoided the new duty, per CBP. It only applies to ocean shipments, so anything you flew in that cleared on or after July 24 pays the full 12.5%.
Two things let some goods skip the 12.5% duty, and neither helps a typical brand much. ("Skip" here means the product doesn't pay this new duty, though it may still owe older ones.)
Goods under Section 232 skip this duty, because Section 232 governs them instead: steel, aluminum, copper and their derivatives; passenger vehicles, light trucks and their parts; wood products; medium- and heavy-duty vehicles and parts; and semiconductors.
Barely. The US let certain products from 13 other countries skip the new duty, but gave China none. China can only use the general "skip" list that's open to all 60 countries (published by CBP). That list is almost entirely raw materials the US can't source at home: chemicals, food, fuels, metals, and ores. The one product category with real overlap is consumer electronics.
And even when a product does qualify, it skips only the new 12.5% duty, not the older China tariffs or your base rate. So a qualifying apparel product drops from 20.0% to 7.5%, not all the way to zero.
Update any pricing built on the old 10% rate before you lock in margins or promotions. It's a 2.5-point change, not a reason to rethink your supply chain.
Then flag it to your customs broker. Per CBP, there are new customs codes for this duty, it has to be listed ahead of the older tariffs on each filing, and the exact code for China hasn't been published yet. Your broker handles the mechanics, but a heads-up keeps entries from being filed wrong.
Three things to keep an eye on:
Tariff shifts like this hit every brand importing from China. Portless shows you your real landed cost as the rules change, and lets you adjust how you ship when they do, so a 2.5-point move is a number you update, not a scramble. Book a demo to see how it works for your catalogue.
