The 10% Section 122 import surcharge dies July 24, no replacement

The 10% surcharge on all US imports expires Friday, July 24, when Proclamation 11012 hits the 150-day limit Section 122 of the Trade Act puts on a balance-of-payments surcharge. The measure meant to replace it has no effective date, so the gap is real and it is dateable.

Why it matters

Duty is set by the date of entry, not the sailing date. That single rule turns the next week into a customs scheduling decision rather than a sourcing one. A container already on the water that enters on July 23 carries the 10%; the same container entered July 27 does not, unless something new is in force by then. Nothing currently is. Section 122 caps the surcharge at 150 days absent an act of Congress, and no extension bill is pending. The Court of International Trade held the surcharge unlawful, but the Federal Circuit stayed that ruling pending appeal in State of Oregon v. United States, so Customs and Border Protection has kept collecting straight through. Buyout desks that treated the surcharge as a permanent line item in escalation clauses should read the entry dates on open POs before Friday. Our June construction input price coverage has the cost backdrop.

The numbers

The surcharge is 10% ad valorem on all imports, effective 12:01 a.m. February 24, 2026. USTR’s proposed replacement, announced June 2 and noticed in the Federal Register June 5, comes out of forced-labor determinations in 60 Section 301 investigations. It proposes 10% for economies with a forced-labor import prohibition or a reciprocal-trade commitment and 12.5% for the rest, a group of 46 that includes China, Vietnam, India, Japan, South Korea, Brazil and Turkiye. Comments closed July 6. A hearing was held July 7. As of July 19 there is no final determination and the notice sets no deadline for one.

What’s next

Section 232 duties on steel, aluminum and copper are unaffected either way, as are USMCA-qualifying goods at 0%. On July 1 the US declined to confirm the 16-year USMCA extension, which triggers annual reviews; the agreement stays fully in force with a July 1, 2036 backstop. The next US-Mexico bilateral round is the week of July 20 in Mexico City.