Section 301 Tariffs on Chinese Imports: What FBA Sellers Need to Know in 2026
Section 301 tariffs add 7.5% to 100% on top of base duty rates for Chinese imports. Here's which list your product is on, what you're actually paying, and whether exclusions apply.
About 70% of Amazon private label sellers source their products from China. If you're one of them, Section 301 tariffs are probably the single biggest line item in your cost structure that you didn't plan for when you launched your product.
We've run thousands of calculations through MarginStack's cost calculator for Chinese-origin products, and the same pattern shows up every time. Sellers know they pay "duties." They Google their HS code, find a base rate of 3-8%, and build that into their pricing. What they miss is that Section 301 adds another 7.5% to 25% on top. For some product categories, as of 2024, the additional rate goes up to 50% or even 100%.
Here's what the lists actually look like, what they cost, and what you can do about it.
What Section 301 is (and isn't)
Section 301 refers to Section 301 of the Trade Act of 1974. It gives the US Trade Representative (USTR) authority to impose tariffs on countries engaged in unfair trade practices. The current Section 301 tariffs target China specifically, originally imposed in 2018-2019 in response to intellectual property theft and forced technology transfer.
A few things to be clear about:
Section 301 is not your base duty rate. It stacks on top of the MFN (Most Favored Nation) rate, which is the standard import duty determined by your product's HS code. Your total duty on a Chinese import is MFN + Section 301 + any other applicable layers (Section 122, Section 232). We broke down exactly how those layers stack in a separate article.
Section 301 only applies to Chinese-origin goods. If you source the same product from Vietnam, India, or Mexico, Section 301 doesn't apply. Only the MFN base rate does. That's a big part of why sourcing diversification became an urgent priority after 2025.
Section 301 rates are calculated on your customs value (typically FOB cost), not on top of other tariff layers. The layers stack additively, not compoundly. This is a common misconception we see sellers get wrong in their spreadsheets.
The four lists (and what they cost)
Section 301 tariffs were rolled out in waves between 2018 and 2019, organized into four "Lists." Each list covers a specific set of HS codes at a specific additional duty rate.
List 1: 25% additional duty on ~818 HS codes. Rolled out July 2018. Covers about $34 billion in Chinese imports. Heavy on industrial equipment, machinery, and electronics components.
List 2: 25% additional duty on ~279 HS codes. Rolled out August 2018. Covers roughly $16 billion. Includes semiconductors, chemicals, and some consumer products.
List 3: 25% additional duty on ~5,733 HS codes. This is the big one. Rolled out in stages through 2019, originally at 10%, later raised to 25%. Covers about $200 billion worth of goods. This is where most Amazon FBA consumer products land: kitchen items, bags, textiles, toys, household goods. If you sell a consumer product sourced from China, there's a good chance it's on List 3.
List 4A: 7.5% additional duty on ~3,805 HS codes. Originally set at 15% in September 2019, then cut in half to 7.5% as part of the Phase One trade deal. Covers roughly $120 billion. Includes consumer electronics, clothing, and footwear categories.
In total, these four lists cover over 10,000 HS codes. The majority of consumer products imported from China fall somewhere on them.
The 2024 modified rates (this is where it gets expensive)
In 2024, the Biden administration added targeted increases on top of the existing Section 301 structure for specific product categories. These rates are significantly higher than the original lists:
- Electric vehicles from China: 100% additional duty
- Semiconductors: 50%
- Solar cells and modules: 50%
- Steel and aluminum products: 25% (on top of Section 232)
- Non-EV lithium-ion batteries: 25%
- Critical minerals: 25%
- Medical products (syringes, needles, PPE): 50-100%
- Ship-to-shore cranes: 25%
If your product falls into one of these categories, the Section 301 rate alone can exceed the total price you paid for the product at the factory.
How to check which list your product is on
Your Section 301 exposure depends entirely on your HS code. Two paths:
Option 1: USTR search tool. Go to ustr.gov/issue-areas/enforcement/section-301-investigations/search and enter your 8-digit HTS code. It returns the list assignment, rate, and whether any exclusions apply. This is the authoritative source.
Option 2: Run it through MarginStack. Our calculator checks your HS code against our database of all 10,000+ Section 301 covered codes and shows the rate as part of the full duty stack. Takes about 60 seconds.
If you're not sure what your HS code is, we wrote a step-by-step guide on how to look it up using free government tools.
Exclusions: the temporary relief that keeps expiring
USTR maintains a system of product exclusions that temporarily waive Section 301 tariffs for specific HS codes. As of early 2026, there are 178 active exclusions extended through November 2026.
The catch: exclusions expire and need to be renewed. They're granted through a petition process, and there's no guarantee a renewed exclusion will be extended again. We've seen sellers build their entire margin model around an exclusion that was active when they started sourcing, only to have it expire nine months later. If your product has an active exclusion, great. But build your financial model for what happens when it goes away.
Check whether your specific HS code has an exclusion at USTR.gov. MarginStack's calculator flags active exclusions when they apply.
What this actually costs in practice
Let's put real numbers on it. Take a common scenario: a silicone kitchen product sourced from China with an FOB cost of $4.00 per unit.
The base MFN rate for this HS code is 3.4%. It falls on Section 301 List 3 at 25%. And the Section 122 global surcharge (a separate layer) adds another 15%.
On $4.00 FOB:
- MFN duty: $4.00 x 3.4% = $0.14
- Section 301: $4.00 x 25% = $1.00
- Section 122: $4.00 x 15% = $0.60
- Total duties: $1.74 per unit (43.4% effective rate)
That 3.4% duty rate a seller might find by Googling their HS code? It's actually 43.4% when Section 301 and Section 122 stack on top. On a 5,000-unit order, that's $8,700 in duties instead of the $680 they budgeted for.
Now scale that up. A Reuters report documented how a children's toy with a $3 production cost climbed to roughly $7 after tariff surcharges were applied. Sellers in that category had to raise retail prices by 20-50% just to maintain margins. But here's the squeeze: data from a repricing tool showed that sellers who raised prices more than 20% saw conversion rates fall over 50% and sales velocity drop nearly 60%. Costs go up 30-50% from tariffs, but you can't pass all of that to the customer without killing sales.
When the 2025 tariff escalation hit, Anker (one of the largest Chinese electronics brands on Amazon) raised prices on roughly 20% of their US listings, an average of 18% across more than 100 products. If one of the most sophisticated, well-resourced sellers on Amazon had to raise prices immediately and publicly, that tells you something about the severity for smaller sellers with less brand loyalty and thinner margins.
At the extreme end, certain product categories sourced from China now face cumulative tariffs exceeding 145% when all layers stack. One seller importing mid-range consumer electronics found their effective total tariff rate was over 145%. The product had been profitable at a 15% effective rate. Tripling the retail price wasn't viable in a competitive category, so they discontinued the entire line.
De minimis is gone for China
One more thing that changed in 2025: the de minimis exemption, which used to allow imports under $800 to enter the US duty-free, no longer applies to Chinese-origin shipments as of May 2025.
Small sellers who relied on small-batch air freight shipments to avoid duties got hit hard. Some reported duty charges on small parcels jumping from $0 to $75-150 per shipment overnight. The entire direct-from-China small-parcel model that powered many low-cost FBA sellers became uneconomical.
What you can actually do
Three options, depending on where you are in your sourcing lifecycle.
Check your actual rate. Don't guess. Look up your HS code on USTR.gov or run it through MarginStack's calculator to see the full Section 301 rate stacked with MFN and Section 122. We see sellers consistently underestimate their total duty exposure by 15-40% because they only checked the base MFN rate.
Model the alternatives. The same product sourced from Vietnam, India, or Mexico doesn't face Section 301 at all. Even if the FOB cost is 15-20% higher, the tariff savings often more than make up the difference. MarginStack's country comparison tool runs that math side by side for up to five sourcing countries. That said, switching suppliers takes 6-12 months to qualify new factories, produce samples, and ship the first run. Tariff changes take effect in days. So model it now, even if you're not ready to move yet.
Watch the exclusions. If your product has an active exclusion, set a calendar reminder for the expiry date. Don't let an exclusion lapse surprise you. If you don't have an exclusion, the USTR periodically opens petition windows. Whether it's worth petitioning depends on your volume and the rate impact.
Section 301 isn't going away. If anything, the trajectory since 2018 has been toward broader coverage and higher rates. The sellers making informed decisions are the ones who know exactly where their product sits in the list structure and what the full cost stack looks like. The rest are guessing, and the math gets less forgiving every year.
Run your numbers: MarginStack's free calculator shows the complete duty stack with real government data.