If you import into the US, your landed-cost math changed overnight. The US replaced its temporary Section 122 import surcharge with a new Section 301 tariff regime aimed at 60 economies, and the new forced-labour duties took effect at 12.01am Eastern Time. Customs specialists say the headline rates are not the hard part. The real problem is figuring out how these Section 301 tariffs stack on top of duties you are already paying. For freight professionals quoting rates this week, that uncertainty lands straight on the invoice.
What Happened
Washington retired the short-lived Section 122 surcharge and switched to a Section 301 structure covering imports from 60 economies. The measures are framed around forced-labour concerns and went live at 12.01am ET, so shipments clearing customs today are already caught by the new rules.
The catch is interaction. Section 301 duties do not replace the existing tariff web, they sit alongside it. An importer can face a most-favoured-nation rate, an earlier Section 301 line from previous China actions, plus this new layer on the same HS code. Customs brokers say the classification and cumulation questions, not the top-line percentage, are what will slow clearances and trigger disputes.
Impact on Freight Rates and Operations
Higher duty exposure changes sourcing and mode decisions before it changes freight rates. When the total landed cost of a lane jumps, some shippers pause bookings, others rush to reroute through economies outside the 60-country list. That churn hits capacity planning: forwarders see booking volatility, cancelled allocations, and last-minute switches between origins.
Expect more hold-ups at entry too. Where a broker is unsure how the layers cumulate, cargo can sit while classification is confirmed. That adds dwell time, demurrage risk, and working-capital pressure for importers who now post larger duty deposits. If you quote door-to-door, build the duty ambiguity into your terms rather than absorbing it.
What Shippers Should Do
- Re-run your HS classifications now against the Section 301 list to see which of your SKUs fall inside the 60 targeted economies.
- Model the stacked duty, not just the new rate, so your landed cost reflects every layer that applies to the same code.
- Talk to your customs broker before the next sailing about cumulation and whether a first-sale or origin change is defensible.
- Update quotes and contracts so duty exposure is passed through clearly instead of eroding your margin.
Key Takeaway
The new Section 301 tariffs are less about the rate you can read and more about the duty stack you cannot see until you classify every SKU.
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Source: The Loadstar