The 50 most expensive product categories to import into the US

The trade-weighted average US import duty is around 3.4% — a number policymakers love to cite. The problem with averages is that they hide the extremes. For some product categories, the effective duty rate exceeds 60% before you even add Section 301 or IEEPA reciprocal tariffs.

We ranked the top 50 most expensive HTS sub-headings in the current US tariff schedule by MFN rate. Here is what stands out — and what e-commerce sellers should know about each.

How we ranked

The headline US tariff schedule has roughly 10,400 8-digit HTS lines. We filtered out lines with no commercial import volume (specialised agricultural quotas, antiques, prohibited items) and ranked the remainder by MFN ad valorem rate, effective specific duty (converted to ad valorem at 2024 unit prices), and combined rate including Section 301 where applicable.

Categories with quota-protected duty structures (sugar, dairy, peanuts) are noted separately because the rate paid depends on whether the importer is in or out of quota.

The pattern

Almost every product line above 15% MFN falls into one of four categories.

Apparel and footwear — protected since the original 1947 GATT schedule.

Tobacco products — high specific duties plus excise.

Quota-protected agriculture — sugar, dairy, peanuts, cotton in over-quota volumes.

Specific industrial intermediates — primarily textiles, leather.

The US has no high-rate consumer electronics or machinery lines. Those sectors lobby for low rates because they need imported components.

The top 20 high-duty lines

Ranked by MFN rate. Tobacco line 2401.20.85 is the headline-grabber but exists effectively as a prohibition — no commercial volume moves through it.

Footwear — the headline category for e-commerce

Chapter 64 is the most consequential high-duty category for e-commerce. The rate structure is intricate: rates depend on outer sole material (rubber, plastic, leather, textile), upper material, whether the upper is "predominantly leather", whether the article is "athletic", and value per pair (the $6.50, $12, and $24 break points).

A rubber-soled sneaker valued over $12/pair with a textile upper falls under 6404.11.20 at 20%. The same shoe with a leather upper falls under 6403.99.60 at 10%. Material choice is duty design.

Tip: for private-label footwear brands, the duty difference between 6404.11.20 and 6403.99.60 on a 50,000-pair container can be six figures. Validate the classification with a binding ruling before scaling.

Apparel — the chapter 61/62 problem

Apparel splits into chapter 61 (knitted) and chapter 62 (woven). Within each, rates depend on garment type, gender, fibre content, and whether the garment is "babies' garments". The interaction creates rates ranging from 6.0% (cotton women's blouses, woven) to 32% (man-made fibre sweaters with significant wool content).

The fibre threshold tests are precise: a sweater is "of wool" only if 50% or more of its weight is wool. A cotton T-shirt and a polyester T-shirt of identical cut land at very different duty rates. For private-label apparel brands, fibre blend choices have real margin consequences.

Sugar, dairy, tobacco — the TRQ regime

US sugar, dairy, and tobacco operate under tariff-rate quotas. A small in-quota volume moves at low duty. Beyond that ceiling, rates jump to prohibitive levels.

Jewelry — specific high-rate lines

Most jewellery in chapter 71 carries 5–6% MFN rates. The high-rate exception is costume and imitation jewellery (chapter 7117), historically protected because there was once a domestic costume jewellery industry centred in Providence, Rhode Island.

Imitation jewellery in base metal: 11% MFN. Imitation jewellery in plastic, valued over 20¢: 6.7%. Silver jewellery valued over $18/dozen: 5%.

What this means for sourcing

For any product in these high-duty categories, three structural strategies move the needle.

1. FTA-eligible sourcing. Goods qualifying under USMCA, KORUS, US-Australia, US-Singapore, or US-Israel FTAs enter at 0% duty if origin rules are met. For apparel, USMCA's "yarn forward" rule requires fibre and yarn to originate in the FTA region. Mexico has built significant apparel cut-and-sew capacity precisely because of this rule.

2. Foreign-Trade Zone use. Imported components held in a Foreign-Trade Zone are not duty-paid until they leave the FTZ for US commerce. For products with significant duty drawback opportunity, FTZs can be highly cost-effective.

3. Bonded warehousing and entry deferrals. For seasonal goods or goods awaiting further processing, bonded warehouse storage defers duty payment by up to five years.

The lines that actually affect e-commerce

The 350% tobacco line is the headline-grabber, but the lines that actually affect e-commerce sellers are the everyday apparel, footwear, and travel-bag lines in the 16–37% range. If your business is in those categories, the duty rate is not a footnote — it is a structural margin lever.