Is the Section 122 Tariff 10% or 15%? Current Rate as of May 2026 (CBP Guidance)
# Is the Section 122 Tariff 10% or 15%? Current Rate as of May 2026 (CBP Guidance)
If you import into the United States, you have probably seen conflicting numbers on the Section 122 tariff. Some sources say 10%. Others say 15%. Customs brokers are quoting one rate, news headlines another, and the duty line on your latest entry summary may not match either.
Here is the answer, drawn from CBP's official guidance and the proclamations actually in force:
As of May 6, 2026, every US import covered by Section 122 pays a 10% surcharge — not 15%. The 15% number that has been circulating is a *ceiling*, not a current rate. The administration announced an intent to raise the rate to the statutory maximum, but the announcement was never operationalized. CBP collects 10% at the port, and that is what your broker should be assessing on entry.
If your landed-cost model is using 15%, you are over-stating duty by roughly a third on every non-USMCA shipment. If you have been paying 15% on a CBP entry, that is also incorrect — and refundable.
The Short Timeline
To understand how the confusion happened, the order of events matters.
February 24, 2026. A Presidential Proclamation invoked Section 122 of the Trade Act of 1974 to impose a temporary 10% universal import surcharge. This followed the Supreme Court's ruling that the IEEPA-based reciprocal tariffs were not properly authorized. Section 122 caps any such surcharge at 15% and limits its duration to 150 days unless Congress extends it.
February 21, 2026 (announcement). The President announced an intent to immediately raise the surcharge from 10% to the statutory maximum of 15%. Markets and trade press treated the announcement as imminent.
February 23, 2026 (CBP guidance). US Customs and Border Protection issued operating guidance to ports of entry confirming that the Section 122 rate to be assessed remained 10%. CBP's automated commercial environment was not updated to a 15% line, and entries continued to clear at the lower rate.
April 24, 2026 (status quo). Reuters and the law firm trade alerts published refresh guidance confirming Section 122 was still being collected at 10% across the board.
May 6, 2026 (today). No subsequent proclamation has changed the rate. The 10% surcharge remains in effect for non-USMCA origins. The 150-day clock continues to run toward expiration on or about July 24, 2026.
Why the 15% Number Sticks Around
Three sources keep the 15% figure in circulation even though it is not the operating rate:
1. News coverage from late February. Most articles reported the 15% announcement without a follow-up correction once CBP issued its 10% guidance two days later. The original headlines outrank the corrections in search results. 2. Forward-looking calculators and broker memos. Many customs brokers and freight forwarders advised clients to model worst-case scenarios at 15%, and that planning rate has hardened into client-facing materials. It is the right number for risk modeling — but the wrong number for an actual entry summary in May 2026. 3. The statute itself. Section 122 caps surcharges at 15%, so any reference to the legal ceiling will show 15%. That is a maximum, not a current rate.
If you are reading a source that quotes 15%, check whether it cites CBP's February 23 guidance, the original proclamation, or the announcement. The proclamation (10%) and the CBP guidance (10%) are operative. The announcement (15%) was never implemented.
What Layers Apply at 10%
The 10% Section 122 surcharge stacks the same way the 15% scenario would have, just with a smaller add-on. For a non-USMCA origin importing a non-Section-232 product, the layers are:
1. Base MFN duty — the rate from the Harmonized Tariff Schedule line, anywhere from 0% to 30% depending on HTS classification. 2. Section 301 — Chinese-origin goods only. 25% on Lists 1–3, 7.5% on List 4A. List 4B was never implemented. 3. Section 122 — 10% on the customs value, applied to imports from all origins *except* Canada and Mexico when goods qualify under USMCA. 4. Section 232 — steel, aluminum, and (since April 6, 2026) certain copper articles at 50%. Section 232 products are exempt from Section 122 — these layers do not stack on the same article. 5. MPF and HMF — Merchandise Processing Fee (0.3464%, capped at $634.62) and Harbor Maintenance Fee (0.125%) where applicable.
For a Vietnamese-made consumer electronics shipment with a $50,000 customs value at 0% MFN, the Section 122 line is $5,000 — not $7,500. For a 10,000-unit purchase order at $8 per unit, the Section 122 cost is $8,000 — not $12,000. That difference is real cash that should not be hard-coded into a landed-cost spreadsheet at the wrong rate.
What If You Already Paid 15%
If your customs broker assessed Section 122 at 15% on any entry summary filed since February 24, 2026, that is not the lawful rate and you have two paths to recover the over-collection:
1. Post-Summary Correction (PSC) — within 300 days of the date of entry, file a PSC through ACE to correct the duty line and trigger a refund. PSC is the simplest and fastest mechanism for clean math errors. 2. Protest — within 180 days of liquidation, a 19 USC §1514 protest can challenge the over-assessment if liquidation has already occurred. Protests are heavier but available where the PSC window has closed.
Pull the entry summaries from your broker, search the duty line description for "122" or for the additional HTS 9903 statistical reporting code, and confirm the rate that was applied. If you find 15%, calendar the PSC and protest deadlines today.
Will the Rate Actually Go to 15%?
The administration retains authority to raise the rate to the 15% ceiling at any time during the 150-day window. The political and legal environment has shifted since February:
- Congressional resistance. A bipartisan group of senators introduced a resolution under the National Emergencies Act that would terminate the Section 122 surcharge entirely. While the resolution is unlikely to pass, it has cooled appetite for additional surcharge increases. - Litigation risk. Several importer plaintiffs have filed Court of International Trade challenges arguing that Section 122 cannot be used as a substitute for the IEEPA tariffs the Supreme Court invalidated. A CIT ruling adverse to the administration could vacate the surcharge entirely. - The July 24 expiration. With less than three months remaining in the 150-day window, raising the rate now would extract little additional revenue before the surcharge sunsets. Treasury's recent guidance signals the focus is on replacing Section 122 with permanent Section 301 and Section 232 expansion rather than extending the temporary surcharge at a higher rate.
A rate increase to 15% remains possible but is not the planning consensus. Most customs counsel are advising clients to model 10% through July 24, 2026 as the base case and a permanent Section 301/232 replacement at higher rates as the post-July scenario.
What To Do This Week
1. Confirm the rate on your most recent entry summary. Pull a CBP Form 7501 from the past 60 days, find the Section 122 duty line, and verify it shows 10% not 15%. If it shows 15%, file a PSC immediately. 2. Update your landed-cost model to 10%. If you are running spreadsheets or ERP duty-line logic that hard-codes 15%, change the constant. Over-reserving for duty distorts unit economics and can kill orders that would actually clear margin. 3. Re-run the [FreightFigures Duty & Tariff Calculator](/tools/duty-tariff-calculator) for your top SKUs. The calculator reflects the published rate environment and shows the full stack with Section 301 and Section 232 layers. Use the country comparison to see what sourcing alternatives look like at the current rate environment. 4. Calendar July 24, 2026. Whether Section 122 is extended, replaced, or expires cleanly, your duty line will move that week. Have a working session on the calendar with your customs broker the third week of July to lock in the post-expiration plan.
The Bottom Line
The Section 122 universal tariff is 10%, not 15%, as of May 2026. The 15% figure is the statutory ceiling and was the subject of an announced increase that was never implemented. CBP collects 10% on every covered entry, and that is the rate that should appear on your duty line.
If you want help auditing recent entries, recovering over-paid Section 122 duty, or modeling the July 24 cliff scenarios, the team at Cate Freight can walk through your shipment history and landed-cost stack with you. We will pull the relevant entry summaries, identify any 15% over-assessments that are still inside the PSC window, and rebuild your duty model to the rate that is actually being collected at the port.
Frequently Asked Questions
Common questions about is the section 122 tariff 10% or 15%? current rate as of may 2026 (cbp guidance)
Is the Section 122 tariff 10% or 15% as of May 2026?
It is 10%. CBP issued operating guidance on February 23, 2026 confirming that the Section 122 universal import surcharge is collected at 10% at ports of entry, and no subsequent proclamation has raised the rate. The 15% figure that circulates in news coverage refers to an announced intent to raise the rate to the statutory ceiling, but that increase was never operationalized. As of May 6, 2026, every covered entry should clear at 10%.
What is the statutory maximum Section 122 rate?
Section 122 of the Trade Act of 1974 caps any temporary import surcharge at 15% ad valorem. The current 10% rate is below this ceiling. The President can raise the rate to 15% by proclamation at any time during the 150-day surcharge window, but as of May 2026 has not done so.
If my customs broker charged me 15% on a recent entry, can I get a refund?
Yes. If a Section 122 duty line was assessed at 15% on any entry summary filed since February 24, 2026, that exceeds the lawful rate and you can recover the over-payment in two ways. Within 300 days of the date of entry, file a Post-Summary Correction (PSC) through ACE — this is the fastest mechanism. Within 180 days of liquidation, you can also file a 19 USC §1514 protest. Pull your CBP Form 7501s, find the Section 122 line, and confirm the rate before filing.
When does Section 122 expire?
On or about July 24, 2026. Section 122 of the Trade Act limits any temporary import surcharge to 150 days unless Congress passes legislation extending it. The 150-day clock began February 24, 2026. Congress would need to act before late July to extend the surcharge — and current indications are that the administration intends to replace Section 122 with permanent expanded Section 301 and Section 232 coverage rather than push for an extension.
Are USMCA-qualifying goods exempt from the 10% Section 122 rate?
Yes. The February 24, 2026 proclamation explicitly exempts USMCA-qualifying goods from Canada and Mexico from the Section 122 universal surcharge. Goods from Canada and Mexico that do not qualify under USMCA are subject to the full 10% surcharge. Note that USMCA does NOT exempt goods from Section 232 — steel, aluminum, and copper articles from Canada and Mexico still pay 50% Section 232 duty even with a valid Certificate of Origin.
Does Section 232 stack on top of Section 122 at the 10% rate?
No. The February 24 proclamation made Section 232 products exempt from Section 122. Steel, aluminum, and copper articles classified under Section 232 pay the 50% Section 232 rate but do not also pay the 10% Section 122 surcharge — these layers are mutually exclusive on the same article. Non-Section-232 articles from the same shipment still pay Section 122 at 10% if the origin is non-USMCA.
Should I model my landed cost at 10% or plan for 15%?
Model the actual entry rate at 10% — that is what is being collected — but maintain a 15% sensitivity scenario in your supplier and pricing reviews. The 15% ceiling can be invoked by Presidential proclamation at any time during the 150-day window. For the May–July 2026 period, the planning consensus among customs counsel is 10% as the base case and 15% as a stress scenario, with separate planning required for what replaces Section 122 after July 24, 2026.
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