Effective Tariff Rates by Amazon FBA Category (2026) — and How to Calculate Your Real Landed Cost
If you sell on Amazon and source from China, "what's the tariff?" no longer has a one-line answer. Since the $800 de minimis exemption ended, every shipment clears as a formal customs entry — and the rate you actually pay is a stack of duties, not a single number. This guide gives you indicative effective tariff rates by FBA category for 2026, the exact formula to turn them into a real per-unit landed cost, and a worked example you can copy.
What "effective tariff rate" means in 2026
Your all-in duty is a stack, not one line. For a typical Chinese-origin consumer good it's built from:
- MFN base duty — the standard rate for the product's HTS code (0–16% depending on category)
- Section 301 — the China-specific tariff (commonly 7.5–25%)
- Section 122 — the 10% global tariff added in early 2026
- Section 232 — extra, only if your product contains steel or aluminum
Add them and most FBA categories land in the 20–30% range of declared value. The good news for planning: after the November 2025 US–China truce, Section 301 has been stable through 2026 with no major hikes — so a number you model today should hold for the quarter.
Effective tariff rates by FBA category (indicative, 2026)
| FBA category | Typical MFN base | + Section 301 | All-in effective* |
|---|---|---|---|
| Consumer electronics & accessories | 0–5% | 7.5–25% | ~20–30% |
| Apparel & textiles | 10–16% | 7.5–25% | ~28–40% |
| Toys & games | 0% | 7.5–25% | ~17–30% |
| Home & kitchen | 3–6% | 7.5–25% | ~20–32% |
| Furniture | 0–5% | 7.5–25% | ~20–35% |
| Tools & hardware | 3–6% | 7.5–25% | ~20–32% |
| Beauty & personal care | 0–3% | 7.5% | ~18–22% |
*Includes the 10% Section 122 global tariff. Ranges are indicative for planning only — your exact rate depends on the specific HTS code. A wrong code can swing this by 10+ points, so verify with a broker.
The landed cost formula
The number that actually matters isn't the factory price or the tariff — it's landed cost per unit: everything it costs to get one sellable unit into Amazon's warehouse. Here's the formula:
The five components:
- Unit cost — your factory (FOB) price per unit
- Freight — total China→US shipping for the order, divided by units
- Duty — declared value × your effective tariff rate, divided by units
- Broker / customs entry — $125–$300 per formal entry, divided by units
- FBA prep — labeling, poly-bagging, inspection, per unit
Worked example: 500 units of a home & kitchen product
Factory price $6.00/unit, 500 units, ~200 kg, shipped DDP sea freight, ~24% effective duty.
| Line item | Total | Per unit |
|---|---|---|
| Factory cost (500 × $6.00) | $3,000 | $6.00 |
| Duty (24% of $3,000 declared) | $720 | $1.44 |
| Sea freight (~200 kg @ ~$2.50/kg) | $500 | $1.00 |
| Customs broker / entry | $150 | $0.30 |
| FBA prep ($0.50/unit) | $250 | $0.50 |
| Landed cost | $4,620 | $9.24 |
Your $6.00 factory unit actually costs $9.24 landed — a 54% jump. If you priced your Amazon listing off the factory quote, your margin is already wrong. Always price off landed cost.
Five mistakes that quietly wreck FBA margins in 2026
- Pricing off the factory quote. The factory price is ~60–65% of your real cost now. Model landed, every time.
- Using the wrong HTS code. A misclassification can move your duty 10+ points — in either direction. Get your top 5 SKUs verified by a broker.
- Forgetting Section 122. The 10% global tariff added in early 2026 stacks on top of everything. If your old spreadsheet predates it, your numbers are light.
- Shipping small parcels by express. Now that every shipment needs a formal entry anyway, express courier at $10+/kg rarely beats sea freight for anything over ~100 kg.
- Not re-pricing after the de minimis change. If you haven't recalculated landed cost per SKU since 2024, you may be losing money on every sale.
What to do this week
Pull your last 90 days of imports and recalculate landed cost per SKU with all four duty layers in it. Anywhere gross margin drops below ~30%, you have a pricing problem to fix now — by raising price, renegotiating the factory, or consolidating freight to cut the per-unit cost. Then lock your top 5 HTS codes with a licensed broker so the duty number you plan with is the duty number you pay.
Know your landed cost before you buy.
Union Delta quotes factory price, freight, duty and FBA prep as one transparent number — so you price for real margin, not a factory guess. China sourcing, QC and FBA-ready delivery in one chain.
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