What an Indian shipment pays at US customs today
The US duty on goods from India is owed by the importer of record, which is normally the US buyer, not the Indian seller. US regulations make it a personal debt the importer owes the United States.[3] The amount depends on the country of origin of the goods and their 10-digit HTS line. The Indian port they sail from and the Incoterm on the invoice don't change it.
As of October 5, 2026, an entry of Indian-origin goods is built from up to five layers. Most shipments only see the first two, plus fees.
- The normal duty (Column 1 General, often called MFN) for the HTS line. India has had no Generalized System of Preferences benefits since June 5, 2019, so Indian goods pay the general rate unless the line is duty-free anyway.[4]
- A 10% Section 301 duty on products of India, reported under heading 9903.05.44, since July 24, 2026. Listed goods are exempt.[1][2]
- Section 232 duties on covered goods such as steel, aluminum, copper, vehicles and parts, and wood products. These goods pay the 232 rate in place of the 10% Section 301 duty.[2]
- Product-specific duties where they apply: the Section 201 safeguard on quartz surface products, and antidumping or countervailing duties on goods covered by an order.[5][6]
- Fees: the merchandise processing fee on formal entries and, for ocean cargo, the harbor maintenance fee.[8][9]
Every US duty on Indian goods in one table
Rates are on top of the Column 1 duty unless the row says otherwise. The table keeps the measures that ended in 2026, because they still matter for refunds and for entries that have not yet liquidated. The notes after the table explain the exemptions and how the rows combine.
US duties on products of India, as of October 5, 2026| Measure | Rate | Applies to | Legal basis | Effective |
|---|
| Column 1 General (MFN) duty | Set by the HTS line, from free upward[2] | All Indian goods; no GSP since 2019[4] | Harmonized Tariff Schedule | In force; GSP ended June 5, 2019[4] |
| Section 301, forced labor (in force) | 10%[1] | All products of India except the exemptions in note 1[2] | Section 301, Trade Act of 1974; USTR notice 91 FR 47318; 9903.05.44[1][2] | July 24, 2026[1] |
| Section 232 (in force) | Metals 50%, 25% or 15% combined; autos and parts 25%; other programs vary[10][11] | Covered products of any origin; no India partner rate in HTS Rev. 20[2] | Section 232, Trade Expansion Act of 1962; proclamations | Metals on full value from April 6, 2026[10] |
| Section 201 quartz safeguard (in force) | 25% in quota, 50% over quota[2] | Quartz surface products (6810.99.0020, 6810.99.0040, 7020.00.6000); India is not exempt[2] | Section 201, Trade Act of 1974; Proclamation 11051; 9903.45.30, 9903.45.31[5] | August 15, 2026[5] |
| Antidumping and countervailing duties | Set by each order[6] | Goods under a Commerce order, such as quartz surface products from India[6] | Tariff Act of 1930; Commerce orders | Order by order |
| Merchandise processing fee | 0.3464%; $33.58 to $651.50 per entry, then $34.58 to $670.86 from October 1, 2026[7][8] | Formal entries | 19 U.S.C. 58c; 19 CFR 24.23[8] | New limits October 1, 2026[8] |
| Harbor maintenance fee | 0.125% of value[9] | Commercial cargo unloaded from a vessel at a covered US port[9] | 19 CFR 24.24[9] | In force |
| Section 122 surcharge (ended) | 10%[14] | Most imports; not on top of Section 232[14] | Section 122, Trade Act of 1974; Proclamation 11012; 9903.03.01[14][2] | February 24 to July 24, 2026[15] |
| IEEPA reciprocal tariff (ended) | 10% baseline, then 25%[18][22] | Indian goods outside the exempt categories[18] | Executive Orders 14257 and 14326; 9903.02.26[22][2] | April 5, 2025 to February 23, 2026[18][29] |
| IEEPA Russian-oil duty on India (ended) | 25%, on top of the reciprocal rate[24] | Indian goods except Section 232 goods and other exemptions[24] | Executive Order 14329; 9903.01.84[23][24] | August 27, 2025 to February 6, 2026[24][25] |
Exemptions and how the duties combine
Each note applies to the rows it names. The licensed customs broker filing the entry confirms which Chapter 99 lines go on it.
- Note 1: goods exempt from the 10% Section 301 duty. It does not apply to goods listed in U.S. note 52(b) to Chapter 99, which covers tea (heading 0902), pepper (0904), turmeric (0910.30.00) and many finished medicines of heading 3004. It also does not apply to listed articles for pharmaceutical use, civil aircraft and their parts, donations and informational materials, or Section 232 goods.[2]
- Note 2: Section 232 goods. Goods that pay a Section 232 duty on metals, vehicles and parts, trucks, wood products, covered semiconductors or patented pharmaceuticals are exempt from the forced-labor Section 301 duty (9903.05.90).[2] Every 232 rate is in the Section 232 guide.
- Note 3: stacking. Goods that pay the 10% Section 301 duty also pay any other additional duty in Chapter 99 subchapters III and IV, except where U.S. note 52 says otherwise, plus any antidumping or countervailing duty.[2] The quartz safeguard duty is added to the chapter 68 or 70 rate, and antidumping duties on quartz still apply.[2]
- Note 4: goods already on the water. Goods loaded on the vessel before 12:01 a.m. ET on July 24, 2026 and entered before 12:01 a.m. ET on July 28, 2026 did not pay the Section 301 duty.[1]
- Note 5: Section 122. The surcharge was not added on top of Section 232 duties. On a product partly covered by 232, it applied only to the part 232 did not cover.[14]
How the US tariff on India changed, April 2025 to October 2026
Each date is the first day the change applied to goods entered for consumption or withdrawn from warehouse, from 12:01 a.m. Eastern time unless noted. The US tariff updates log lists the same changes newest first, with an RSS feed.
- April 5, 2025. A 10% IEEPA baseline tariff starts on goods from nearly every country, India included.[18]
- April 9, 2025. India's country rate of 26%, from Annex I of Executive Order 14257, takes effect.[18][19]
- April 10, 2025. Executive Order 14266 pauses the country rates for 90 days and applies 10% instead. Executive Order 14316 later stretches the pause to August 1, 2025.[20][21]
- August 7, 2025. India's reciprocal rate is set at 25% (9903.02.26).[22][2]
- August 27, 2025. A second 25% IEEPA duty on products of India, tied to purchases of Russian oil (9903.01.84), takes most goods to 50% combined.[23][24]
- February 6, 2026. The United States and India publish a joint statement on a framework for an Interim Agreement that mentions an 18% reciprocal rate.[31]
- February 7, 2026. Executive Order 14384 ends the 25% Russian-oil duty on India.[25][26]
- February 20, 2026. In Learning Resources, Inc. v. Trump the Supreme Court holds that IEEPA does not authorize tariffs. Executive Order 14389 ends the IEEPA tariff actions the same day.[27][28]
- February 24, 2026. CBP stops collecting IEEPA duties from 12:00 a.m. ET, and the 10% Section 122 surcharge starts at 12:01 a.m. ET.[29][15]
- July 24, 2026. The Section 122 surcharge expires and the 10% Section 301 forced-labor duty on India begins.[14][1]
- August 15, 2026. The Section 201 safeguard on quartz surface products begins.[5]
- September 29, 2026. The Section 232 duty on patented pharmaceuticals reaches every company not listed in Annex III. Generics stay outside it.[12]
- October 1, 2026. New merchandise processing fee limits for fiscal year 2027 apply.[8]
The IEEPA tariffs on India: 26% announced, 50% charged, then none
The tariffs that made headlines in India were imposed under the International Emergency Economic Powers Act (IEEPA). Executive Order 14257 of April 2, 2025 listed India at 26%.[19] That rate was paused the day after it started, so Indian goods paid the 10% baseline until Executive Order 14326 set India's rate at 25% from August 7, 2025.[20][22] Executive Order 14329 then added a separate 25% on products of India from August 27, 2025, citing India's imports of Russian oil. CBP charged it on top of the reciprocal duty, so most Indian goods paid 50% over the normal duty.[23][24] Steel, aluminum, autos and other Section 232 goods, and products listed in Annex II such as pharmaceuticals, semiconductors and energy, were outside the reciprocal tariff.[18]
Executive Order 14384 lifted the Russian-oil duty from February 7, 2026, after finding that India had committed to stop importing Russian oil.[25] On February 20, 2026 the Supreme Court held that IEEPA does not authorize tariffs, and CBP stopped collecting all IEEPA duties on goods entered from 12:00 a.m. ET on February 24, 2026. Section 232 and Section 301 duties were not affected.[27][29]
IEEPA duty already paid on Indian goods is being refunded, with interest, through CBP's CAPE process. Only the importer of record, or the customs broker that filed its entries, can claim. The refund goes to the importer of record, or to the party it named on CBP Form 4811 or in its ACE Portal account.[30] The IEEPA refund guide has the steps and deadlines.
The Section 122 surcharge: February 24 to July 24, 2026
Proclamation 11012 replaced the IEEPA tariffs with a 10% surcharge on most imports under Section 122 of the Trade Act of 1974, reported under 9903.03.01. It applied to goods entered from 12:01 a.m. ET on February 24, 2026 through 12:01 a.m. ET on July 24, 2026, with exemptions listed in its annexes, and it was not added on top of Section 232 duties.[14][15] India had no rate of its own.
On May 7, 2026 the Court of International Trade held the Section 122 duties unlawful, but it ordered relief only for the three plaintiffs it found had standing.[17] On June 11, 2026 the Federal Circuit stayed that judgment while the government appeals.[16] As of October 5, 2026, CBP had published no Section 122 refund process, and its refund page describes CAPE as a process for IEEPA duties.[30]
Section 301: the 10% duty on Indian goods since July 24, 2026
On July 28, 2026 USTR published its actions in Section 301 investigations of about 60 economies that had not banned imports made with forced labor. Economies that adopt such a ban got the 10% rate. USTR noted that India adopted one after its June 5, 2026 proposal, and it imposed 10% on products of India from July 24, 2026.[1] India has no country-specific exemption list in the HTS, so only the general exemptions in note 1 above apply.[2]
For buyers comparing suppliers, the rate differs by origin. India is one of 17 economies that pay 10% on top of the normal duty, alongside Bangladesh, Indonesia, Pakistan and Sri Lanka among others. Most of the rest, among them China, Vietnam, Thailand and Brazil, pay 12.5% on top of the normal duty.[34] The tariff comparison tool shows how the total duty on a product compares across origins.
This duty is separate from the long-running Section 301 duties on goods of Chinese origin, which are not charged on goods of Indian origin.
Section 232 on Indian steel, aluminum, auto parts and medicines
Section 232 duties apply by product, at the general rate for every origin unless a proclamation sets a partner rate. HTS Revision 20 has no Section 232 line specific to India, so Indian steel, aluminum, copper, auto parts, furniture and other covered goods pay the general rates.[2] Since April 6, 2026, steel and aluminum articles and Annex I-A derivatives pay 50% of their full customs value, not just of the metal in them.[10]
The February 2026 joint statement said the United States would remove Section 232 tariffs on certain Indian aircraft and aircraft parts and give India a preferential tariff-rate quota for auto parts.[31] As of October 5, 2026, no proclamation or HTS line had put either into effect.[2]
Medicines. The Section 232 duty on patented pharmaceuticals does not, for now, cover generic drugs or their ingredients.[12] India is on Commerce's list, published September 23, 2026, of jurisdictions eligible for the zero rate on specialty products such as orphan drugs.[13] Since September 29, 2026, the duty reaches only the drug and ingredient lines listed in U.S. note 40(c) of Chapter 99. Excipients are not covered, unpatented animal-health products count as generics, and shipments solely for clinical trials or research pay no added duty under 9903.04.70.[2]
Rates, lines and dates for every program are in the Section 232 guide.
The US-India trade deal: what is official so far
On February 6, 2026 the two governments published a joint statement on a framework for an Interim Agreement. In it the United States said it would apply an 18% reciprocal rate to Indian goods under Executive Order 14257 and, once the Interim Agreement is concluded, remove it on goods including generic pharmaceuticals, gems and diamonds, and aircraft parts.[31] A White House fact sheet of February 9, 2026 said the reciprocal tariff would come down from 25% to 18%.[32]
The 18% never appeared in a published order. CBP's February 9, 2026 guidance said the reciprocal duties stayed in effect for Indian goods, and the HTS still shows 25% for India's reciprocal heading.[26][2] No executive order setting 18% was found before IEEPA collection ended on February 24, 2026, and after that there was no IEEPA tariff left to cut.
As of October 5, 2026, USTR and the White House had published no signed Interim Agreement text. USTR said in June 2026 that talks on the Interim Agreement and a broader Bilateral Trade Agreement were continuing.[33] Treat any rate linked to the deal as unsettled until it appears in the Federal Register or a CBP message.
Fees on every entry: MPF and HMF
The merchandise processing fee is 0.3464% of the value of a formal entry, with a minimum and maximum per entry. For fiscal year 2026 those limits are $33.58 and $651.50. From October 1, 2026 they are $34.58 and $670.86.[7][8]
The harbor maintenance fee is 0.125% of the value of commercial cargo unloaded from a vessel at a covered US port. Sea freight from India pays it; air freight does not.[9]
How to work out the duty on your product
The duty depends on the 10-digit HTS line and the entry date. These steps give you an estimate before you quote a price or book a shipment. The customs broker filing the US entry confirms it.
- Find the HS code for the product with the HS code lookup, then confirm the full 10-digit US line.
- Enter the code, India as the origin and the value in the tariff simulator for an estimate of the duty and landed cost.
- Check whether the line is in the Section 301 exemption list (note 1), is covered by Section 232, or falls under the quartz safeguard or an antidumping or countervailing duty order.
- If your buyer can source the same product elsewhere, compare origins in the tariff comparison tool.
- Have the licensed customs broker on the US side confirm the Chapter 99 lines before the goods ship. Atmavaan arranges US customs clearance through licensed customs brokers.
