Apparel is one of the most heavily tariffed goods categories in the United States. Most clothing enters at Most Favored Nation (MFN) duty rates of 10% to 32%, far above the 1% to 3% that many other manufactured goods pay, according to the Harmonized Tariff Schedule (HTS). In 2025 and 2026, new duties stacked on top of those already-high base rates.
This guide covers current clothing tariffs by country, how apparel is classified, how duty is calculated, and how to reduce it legally. Rates are moving fast, so verify every figure before you ship.
Are clothing imports subject to US tariffs?
Yes. Every commercial clothing import into the US is subject to tariffs. Apparel carries MFN base duties commonly between 10% and 32%, depending on fiber and construction, per US International Trade Commission (USITC) Harmonized Tariff Schedule data. The US taxes clothing this heavily to protect domestic textile manufacturers and raise revenue. Since 2025, extra surcharges have stacked on top of these baseline rates.
What is the current US tariff rate on clothing in 2026?
There is no single clothing tariff rate. Your rate depends on fiber, construction, garment type, and country of origin. As of July 2026, apparel pays its MFN base rate (10% to 32%) plus a 10% Section 122 global surcharge in effect since February 24, 2026, per the Federal Register. Rates change monthly, so check before every shipment.
The 2025 peak was higher, then the courts reversed it. The Yale Budget Lab estimated the overall US average effective tariff rate hit 17.9% by October 30, 2025, the highest since 1934, and projected short-run apparel prices up 24%. Average apparel-specific tariffs also climbed sharply before the reversal.
| Date | Average US apparel import tariff | Source |
|---|---|---|
| January 2025 | 14.7% | Sheng Lu (Univ. of Delaware), USITC data |
| May 2025 | 23.8% | Sheng Lu (Univ. of Delaware), USITC data |
| May 2025 (from China) | 69.1% | Sheng Lu (Univ. of Delaware), USITC data |
What are the clothing tariffs by country in 2026?
The tariff a garment faces depends on its country of origin. The five largest sources of US clothing imports in 2023 were China, Vietnam, India, Bangladesh, and Mexico, per World Bank WITS data. The table below shows base treatment plus the April 2025 reciprocal rates set under the International Emergency Economic Powers Act (IEEPA), which have since been struck down.
| Country | MFN base treatment | April 2025 IEEPA reciprocal rate (now void) | Status as of July 2026 | Source |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| China | 10-32% MFN + 7.5% Section 301 on covered lines | 34% (eff. Apr 9, 2025) | IEEPA void since Feb 20, 2026; 10% Section 122 surcharge through July 24, 2026; Section 301 remains | White House Annex I; Federal Register |
| Vietnam | 10-32% MFN | 46% (Apr 9, 2025), cut to 20% (Aug 7, 2025) | IEEPA void; 10% Section 122 surcharge | White House Annex I; EO 14326 |
| India | 10-32% MFN | 27% (Apr 9, 2025), cut to 25% (Aug 7, 2025) | IEEPA void; 10% Section 122 surcharge | White House Annex I; EO 14326 |
| Bangladesh | 10-32% MFN | 37% (Apr 9, 2025), cut to 20% (Aug 7, 2025) | IEEPA void; 10% Section 122 surcharge | White House Annex I; EO 14326 |
| Mexico / Canada | USMCA-qualifying = duty-free (0%) | Exempt when USMCA-qualifying | USMCA duty-free; verify Section 122 scope | USITC HTS; USMCA |
| EU | 10-32% MFN | 20% (Apr 9, 2025) | IEEPA void; 10% Section 122 surcharge | White House Annex I |
Reciprocal rates come from the White House Annex I, later modified by Executive Order 14326. USMCA is the United States-Mexico-Canada Agreement. The Supreme Court struck down the IEEPA reciprocal tariffs on February 20, 2026 (see below), so treat every rate here as provisional and confirm current schedules before shipping.
How does the Harmonized Tariff Schedule classify clothing?
The HTS, formally the Harmonized Tariff Schedule of the United States (HTSUS) and maintained by the USITC, classifies apparel in Section XI, Chapters 50 to 63. Chapter 61 covers knitted or crocheted apparel, Chapter 62 covers woven apparel, and Chapter 63 covers other made-up textiles, per USITC. Your code determines your duty rate.
Codes run from the 6-digit international Harmonized System (HS) to 8-digit US legal rate lines and 10-digit statistical suffixes, per the USITC. Classification turns on knit versus woven, gender, garment type, and the chief-weight fiber rule: the fiber that makes up the greatest weight usually drives the code.
| Garment | HTS code | MFN duty rate | Source |
|---|---|---|---|
| Men’s cotton knit T-shirts | 6109.10.00 | 16.5% | USITC HTS |
| Men’s cotton woven shirts | 6205.20.20 | 19.7% | USITC HTS |
| Cotton shirts, certified hand-loomed/folklore | 6205.20.10 | 8.7% | USITC HTS |
| Men’s cotton woven shirts, non-NTR (normal trade relations) Column 2 | 6205.20.20 | 45% | USITC HTS |
| Women’s man-made fiber garments (high end) | Ch. 61/62 lines | up to ~32% | USITC HTS |
How are clothing tariffs calculated?
Duty equals customs value times the applicable rate, and the rates stack. A garment’s landed duty is its MFN base rate (or a free trade agreement, or FTA, preferential rate), plus any Section 301 China tariff, plus the 2026 Section 122 surcharge, plus the Merchandise Processing Fee (MPF) and Harbor Maintenance Fee (HMF) charged by Customs and Border Protection (CBP). Most apparel duties are ad valorem, a percentage of value.
Duties come in three forms: ad valorem (percentage of value), specific (per unit or kilogram), and compound (both). Per the CBP user fee table, the MPF is 0.3464% (minimum $26.22, maximum $508.70) and the HMF is 0.125% ad valorem. The worked example below shows the stacking, with rates as of July 2026 and marked illustrative.
| Charge | Rate | Amount on a $100,000 cotton knit T-shirt shipment |
|---|---|---|
| MFN base duty (HTS 6109.10.00) | 16.5% | $16,500 |
| Section 122 surcharge | 10% | $10,000 |
| Section 301 (China-origin only) | 7.5% | $7,500 |
| MPF | 0.3464% | $346.40 |
| HMF (ocean freight) | 0.125% | $125 |
| Total, non-China origin | ~$26,971 | |
| Total, China origin | ~$34,471 |
What are the Liberation Day tariffs and how do they affect apparel?
The “Liberation Day” tariffs were country-wide duties President Trump imposed on April 2, 2025, under IEEPA. Executive Order 14257 set a 10% baseline on nearly all imports (effective April 5, 2025) plus higher reciprocal rates on dozens of countries (effective April 9, 2025), per the Federal Register. They stacked on top of MFN and Section 301 apparel duties.
These tariffs faced immediate legal challenge. The US Court of International Trade vacated them on May 28, 2025; the Federal Circuit affirmed 7-4 on August 29, 2025; and the Supreme Court ruled 6-3 on February 20, 2026 that IEEPA does not authorize tariffs, per the Court’s opinion. The White House terminated the IEEPA duties the same day and replaced them with the 10% Section 122 surcharge. Never treat any 2025 or 2026 rate as permanent.
Do small clothing shipments under $800 still enter duty-free?
Not reliably. The Section 321 de minimis exemption historically let shipments valued under $800 enter the US duty-free, per CBP. In 2025 the government moved to suspend de minimis treatment for low-value apparel, first for China-origin goods and then more broadly. With the tariff program in flux through 2026, confirm current de minimis scope with CBP before relying on it.
This matters most to small importers. Direct-to-consumer (DTC) apparel brands built shipping models around duty-free sub-$800 parcels. Losing that exemption adds duty and formal-entry paperwork to every low-value order. Verify the current rule against CBP and Federal Register notices, because scope has changed repeatedly.
How do country of origin rules affect clothing tariffs?
Country of origin is where a garment was wholly obtained or last substantially transformed, and it decides which country’s tariff stack applies. For apparel under FTAs like USMCA, the yarn-forward rule applies: the yarn and fabric must originate in the region for the garment to qualify for preferential duty-free rates. Origin is not simply where a shipment was sent from.
Final assembly in a low-tariff country does not change origin if the fabric came from a high-tariff country. Misrepresenting origin, or transshipping goods to dodge duties, is illegal and draws CBP scrutiny and penalties.
How do tariffs impact US apparel businesses?
Tariffs raise the landed cost of goods sold, compress margins, force sourcing shifts, and push up retail prices. The Yale Budget Lab projected 2025 tariff actions would raise short-run apparel consumer prices by 24% (October 30, 2025 estimate). Apparel importers feel this more than most sectors because their base rates were already high.
- Higher COGS: duties hit every unit landed, raising cost of goods sold (COGS).
- Margin compression: absorbing duty rather than repricing erodes profit.
- Sourcing shifts: moving production to lower-tariff origins takes time and money.
- Pricing pressure: passing cost to consumers risks market share.
How can businesses legally reduce clothing import tariffs?
Four legal levers cut apparel duty: diversify sourcing to lower-tariff countries, tariff engineering (designing garments into lower-duty HTS lines, a practice upheld in court), duty drawback (CBP refunds up to 99% of duties on imported goods that are later exported), and qualifying for FTAs like USMCA. Avoid illegal evasion such as misclassification, undervaluation, and transshipment.
Origin rules limit the sourcing lever: shifting only final assembly may not change origin for duty purposes. For a deeper playbook, see Commenda’s guide to managing tariffs in a trade war.
What documentation do apparel imports into the USA require?
Apparel imports need a commercial invoice, packing list, bill of lading, a certificate of origin where preferential treatment is claimed, and a customs bond for formal entries. Clothing also requires fiber-content and country-of-origin labeling under the Federal Trade Commission (FTC) and Textile Fiber Products Identification Act rules. Missing or wrong documents mean holds, penalties, and delays.
Importers of record carry a “reasonable care” duty for accurate value, classification, and origin. See Commenda’s global trade compliance guide for the full document checklist.
How Commenda helps apparel importers stay compliant
Tariffs raise the stakes on every adjacent obligation. Commenda is not a customs broker, but it gives cross-border apparel sellers certainty on the compliance that scales alongside importing. As you sell into more US states, Commenda’s global indirect tax software tracks your physical and economic sales tax nexus. Foreign sellers standing up a US importing entity can use Commenda’s entity management and incorporation services. And Commenda’s tax and accounting team handles landed-cost bookkeeping, so duty and fees hit your books correctly.
For the tariff playbook itself, read Commenda’s guide to managing tariffs in a trade war and the global trade compliance guide, and track shifting duty deadlines with Commenda’s compliance calendar. As you scale into US states, the US nexus exposure guide shows where your sales create tax obligations. Book a demo to map your US compliance exposure before your next shipment lands.
