Do Section 301 tariffs apply to China-origin goods shipped through another country?

Duties follow the country of origin, not the country of shipment. Routing China-origin goods through a third country does not change the 301 rate, and misdeclaring origin creates a much bigger problem than the duty itself.

Where do I look up the current Section 301 rate for my product?

Start with the Harmonized Tariff Schedule for your HS code, then check the USTR Federal Register notices for the tranche covering your product category. Your customs broker can confirm the current rate before you re-cost.

What do the latest Section 301 tariff changes mean for Shopify brands importing from China?

Short answer: Section 301 tariffs are extra US duties on many China-origin goods, applied on top of the standard tariff rate for the HS code. When the rates change, the landed cost of affected SKUs moves immediately. Brands need a per-SKU view of origin, classification, and the current 301 rate before deciding whether to absorb the cost, pass it through, or re-source.

How Section 301 stacks with your existing duty

A product's total duty is the base most-favored-nation rate for its HS code plus the Section 301 tranche rate for its product category. The tranches have been adjusted several times, sometimes with short lead times between announcement and effect. If your landed-cost sheet only tracks the base rate, you are understating cost on every China-origin SKU in an affected category, and the gap lands directly on margin.

Which SKUs to check first

Start with your highest-volume China-origin SKUs and any product where margin is already thin. Confirm the country of origin, meaning where the goods were made, not where you bought them. Confirm the HS classification, because the 301 rate keys off the product category. Then look up the current tranche rate. This is the same discipline as HS code hygiene: the tariff math is only as good as the classification underneath it.

Your options when rates rise

There are four real responses. Absorb the increase and protect conversion. Pass it through in price and accept the demand risk. Re-source the product to a non-China origin, which takes time but resets the duty picture. Or redesign the product out of the affected category, which is slower still but sometimes the cleanest fix. Most brands end up with a mix across the catalog. The key is making the call per SKU with real numbers instead of applying one blanket response to everything.

What to monitor going forward

Watch USTR notices for your categories, keep a dated log of the rate used for each costing decision, and re-run the math quarterly. Tariff exposure is now a standing input to pricing rather than a one-time project, and the brands that treat it that way stop getting surprised.