Anti-dumping duties and taxes on China-made goods — and how to keep an eye on them

When you ship from China to the US, three different charges can sit on your product. Together they can turn a cheap quote into an expensive landed price. Here is each one in plain words, and where to check it yourself.

1. The base tariff

Every product has a base import duty set by its HS/HTS code. Some are 0%, some a few percent. You find it by typing your code into the official US tariff schedule (HTS).

2. The Section 301 tariff (the China surcharge)

On top of the base rate, most goods made in China carry an extra Section 301 tariff — usually 25%, sometimes 7.5%, and higher on a few 2024–2026 categories like solar and EVs. You pay this just for the product being made in China.

3. Anti-dumping (AD) and countervailing (CVD) duties

These are the big ones. If the US decides a product is sold too cheaply or unfairly subsidized, it adds an AD or CVD duty on that exact product from that country. They can be huge:

• Ceramic tile from China: anti-dumping duty over 350%, plus a countervailing duty.
• Quartz countertops from China: both anti-dumping and countervailing duties apply.
• Wooden bedroom furniture from China: anti-dumping duty up to about 216%.
• Solar cells and panels from China: anti-dumping duty roughly 15%–250%, plus a countervailing duty, plus elevated 2024–26 tariffs.

An AD/CVD duty is tied to the product and the country, not to one factory (though your specific rate can vary). If your category has one, it usually matters more than everything else combined. To see which HS codes matter most, read our breakdowns of the top building-material and kitchen & bath imports.

How to watch this yourself

You don't need a lawyer to keep an eye on it. Use these official, free sources:

• The US tariff schedule (HTS) — type in your HS code and see the base duty.
• The US Commerce Department's trade site (trade.gov) — it runs anti-dumping / countervailing cases and lists which products carry AD/CVD duties.
• US Customs (CBP) — publishes AD/CVD messages and current rates.
• USTR — the office that runs Section 301, where China-tariff changes are announced.
• The Federal Register — the official record where new duties and reviews appear first.

Build a simple habit: once a month, look up your main HS codes and search your product name on the AD/CVD list. These duties get reviewed and changed, so a number from last year may be wrong today.

A few third-party tools help you read the market faster too: the free ImportYeti lets you search US bill-of-lading records by company name to see who imports what and from where; for deeper paid data there's S&P Global's Panjiva and Descartes Datamyne.

Why this matters for your quote

A buyer wants a landed price they can trust. If you quote low but miss a 25% surcharge or a 200% anti-dumping duty, the deal dies at customs and you lose the buyer. Price it in from the start — that itself signals you understand the US market.

These rates come from recent public data and do change; confirm with the official sources above before you rely on a number. Goldrute buyer reports flag this duty picture for your industry — and help you find and qualify the right US buyers.