On July 24, 2026, the Section 122 surcharge — a 10% global tariff imposed after the Supreme Court struck down the IEEPA tariffs in February — reached its 150-day statutory limit and expired. On the same day, a new Section 301 tariff took effect on imports from 60 countries and economies, adding duties of 10% or 12.5% to most products entering the United States. For some countries, the net change is 0%; for others, it is roughly +2.5%.
When we covered the Supreme Court’s IEEPA ruling in February, we noted that tariffs were unlikely to disappear — the administration still had alternative legal authorities available, some of them time-limited. That is largely how it has unfolded. Section 122 provided a 150-day bridge, and Section 301 took effect as it expired, leaving the practical burden on importers little changed.
How We Got Here
The new duties are the third legal authority to carry a broad U.S. tariff program in under six months, following the courts' rejection of IEEPA and the built-in expiration of Section 122. For readers who want the full legal background, the Congressional Research Service has published a detailed overview of the administration's shift to Section 301. The short version:
- February 20, 2026 — The Supreme Court rules in Learning Resources, Inc. v. Trump that IEEPA does not authorize the president to impose tariffs.
- February 24, 2026 — A temporary 10% global surcharge takes effect under Section 122 of the Trade Act, which caps such measures at 150 days without congressional approval.
- March 12, 2026 — The U.S. Trade Representative (USTR) opens Section 301 investigations into 60 trading partners, examining whether each imposes and enforces a ban on importing goods made with forced labor.
- June 5, 2026 — USTR publishes its proposed action and takes public comment.
- July 23, 2026 — President Trump issues a memorandum directing USTR to impose the tariffs, and USTR announces its final action.
- July 24, 2026 — The new Section 301 duties take effect at 12:01 a.m. Eastern Time, and the Section 122 surcharge expires.
USTR concluded that 54 of the 60 trading partners have no prohibition on importing goods made with forced labor, while six — Canada, Ecuador, the European Union, Indonesia, Mexico, and Pakistan — have a prohibition on the books but do not effectively enforce it. Because Section 301 allows USTR to respond to a trading partner's practices economy-wide, the resulting duties apply to nearly all products from each country, not only goods connected to forced labor.
The New Tariff Rates
The duties apply to goods entered for consumption, or withdrawn from warehouse for consumption, on or after 12:01 a.m. ET on July 24, 2026, and are layered on top of existing MFN rates and any other applicable duties.
- Additional 12.5% — 38 economies: Algeria, Angola, Australia, The Bahamas, Bahrain, Brazil, Chile, China, Colombia, Costa Rica, Dominican Republic, Egypt, Guyana, Hong Kong, Iraq, Israel, Kazakhstan, Kuwait, Libya, Morocco, New Zealand, Nicaragua, Nigeria, Norway, Oman, Peru, the Philippines, Qatar, Russia, Saudi Arabia, Singapore, South Africa, Thailand, Türkiye, United Arab Emirates, Uruguay, Venezuela, and Vietnam.
- Additional 10% — 17 economies: Argentina, Bangladesh, Cambodia, Canada, Ecuador, El Salvador, Guatemala, Honduras, India, Indonesia, Jordan, Malaysia, Mexico, Pakistan, Sri Lanka, Trinidad and Tobago, and the United Kingdom. These partners either already maintain a forced labor import prohibition or have committed to adopt one. (For Canada and Mexico, see the USMCA exemption below — many goods will owe nothing at all.)
- Capped rates for five partners — Instead of a flat add-on, the European Union and Taiwan have their combined duty (MFN rate + Section 301) set at, and capped at, 10%, while Japan, South Korea, and Switzerland are capped at a combined 12.5%. If a product's existing MFN rate already meets or exceeds the cap, no additional Section 301 duty applies.
A short in-transit grace period covered goods loaded before July 24 and entered before July 28; that window has now closed.
Key Exemptions
Steel and aluminum packaging is exempt. This is the most important carve-out for packaging buyers. Any product already subject to Section 232 tariffs is fully exempt from the new Section 301 duties — this includes:
- Steel and aluminum aerosol cans
- Chemical cans
- Food-grade metal cans
- Metal lug caps
- Metal continuous thread caps
- Aluminum cartridges
- Aluminum tubes
USMCA-qualifying goods are also exempt. Goods from Canada or Mexico entered duty-free under the USMCA are fully exempt from the new tariffs. Importers sourcing from either country should confirm USMCA qualification and documentation before assuming the 10% rate applies — for qualifying goods, the correct answer is zero.
Product-specific exemptions by country. The final action includes per-country exemption annexes, and USTR expanded the final list by 471 additional HTSUS subheadings after public comment — covering raw materials, supply-chain-critical goods, and products that cannot be sourced domestically in sufficient quantities. Whether a specific packaging component is exempt depends on its HTS classification and country of origin, so the annexes are worth checking line by line.
Pharmaceutical applications. A narrowed exemption covers a specified list of subheadings only when the goods are used in pharmaceutical applications. Brands in this space should verify whether their specific codes qualify rather than assuming coverage.
What This Means for Packaging Procurement
Metal packaging: no change. For steel and aluminum formats, the practical takeaway is that nothing changed on July 24. Section 232 — in place at elevated rates since mid-2025 — remains the operative tariff, and the new Section 301 action does not stack on top of it. Buyers of tinplate aerosols, steel cans, aluminum containers, and metal closures can plan around the same cost structure they have been managing for the past year.
Plastic and glass: small change. The new action lands in a similar range for many import lanes — a 10% global surcharge has given way to duties of 10% - 12.5% — so for much of the market this is continuity rather than a new shock. Product from China now carries an additional 12.5% on top of the Section 301 duties (up to 25%) that have applied to Chinese goods since 2018–19. Vietnam, Thailand, and the Philippines sit at 12.5%; India at 10%; the EU is capped at a combined 10%.
What Comes Next
Litigation began immediately: two lawsuits challenging the tariffs were filed on July 24, including a proposed class action at the Court of International Trade. The presidential memorandum was drafted with this in mind — each country's tariff is structured as legally independent, so a ruling against one determination would not automatically unwind the rest. As the IEEPA refund process demonstrated, duties are collected while litigation proceeds, and importers should not budget for recoveries.
The rates themselves may also shift. Trading partners can move to a lower tier — or out of the action — by adopting and enforcing forced labor import prohibitions, and several countries reached the 10% tier through exactly that kind of commitment. Meanwhile, USTR has opened a separate Section 301 investigation into structural excess capacity across 16 major trading partners, which could add further sector-specific tariffs on top of the current action.
The larger picture is that Section 301 has become the administration's primary tariff vehicle, and more actions under it should be expected. In a trade environment that keeps rewriting itself, Evergreen Resources is built to keep your packaging supply chain steady — with dedicated tariff and logistics specialists, deep customs and compliance expertise, and a diversified global manufacturing network that lets you shift sourcing as the rules change.
If you'd like to discuss how the new tariffs affect your packaging procurement or supply chain strategy, contact us at [email protected] or visit our website to get started.
