Drone Tariffs: Section 232 Rates, the FCC Covered List and What Can Still Be Imported

Drone tariffs under Section 232 have applied since September 3, 2026. Proclamation 11055, signed on August 13, 2026 (91 FR 53699) and implemented through CBP CSMS #69738151, set a 100% duty on the most sensitive unmanned aircraft, docking stations and parts for heavy drones and 25% on other drones in scope, with lower partner rates that are not yet in use. A second tranche puts 25% on other drone parts and components from February 9, 2027.

The tariff is only half of what a drone importer now manages. Since December 22, 2025, foreign-produced unmanned aircraft systems and their critical components have been on the FCC Covered List, which stops new models from receiving equipment authorization. The two regimes are often treated as one, and the result is two opposite mistakes: importers who assume every foreign drone is now banned, and importers who assume that paying the duty clears a model the FCC will not authorize. The tariff applies to every covered drone; the FCC block applies to new models. This guide separates the two and covers rates, components, and the entry file. Status as of September 23, 2026.

Section 232 Drone Rates: The 100% Tier, the 25% Tier and the Caps

Proclamation 11055 uses Chapter 99 headings 9903.08.20 through 9903.08.26. The rate depends on what the product is and where it comes from. The table summarizes the confirmed structure. Which of the seven headings applies to a given entry follows from the product category and origin; the heading-by-heading mapping should be read from the CSMS guidance rather than inferred from the rate.

For the EU, Japan, Korea, Switzerland, Liechtenstein and Taiwan the combined rate is capped at 15%, inclusive of Column 1; for the UK the rate is 10% on top of Column 1. The partner rates are not yet in use. They also require the importer to certify that substantially all critical components and technology come from the United States or a partner country, under a process Commerce has not yet published, and CBP has told filers not to use 9903.08.23 or 9903.08.24 until it issues further guidance. Once they open, a partner rate only applies when the goods actually originate in that country under the applicable origin rules, so assembly location and component sourcing need a documented country of origin determination before the cap is claimed.

Which Drones Land in the 100% Tier

Four groups pay 100%: drones with a maximum take-off weight over 25 kg, thermal-imaging drones, docking stations and parts for drones over 25 kg. The weight and the thermal-imaging tests are product facts that need evidence at entry. For weight, that means the manufacturer’s maximum take-off weight specification, which is also how heading 8806 is subdivided. For thermal imaging, it means the payload specification, because an enterprise drone sold with an interchangeable payload can move between tiers depending on what ships with it.

Enterprise resellers in inspection and public safety are the most exposed, because their fleets combine heavier airframes, thermal payloads and docking stations. Agricultural buyers face the airframe rate but not the 100% rate on parts for agricultural-use systems. A fleet order that mixes a 25% airframe with a 100% thermal payload and a 100% dock should be costed line by line. Rebuild the landed cost for each configuration rather than applying one rate to the order.

Companies with an onshoring plan approved by DHS or the Department of War enter at 0% under 9903.08.25 until February 9, 2027; a Commerce approval route (9903.08.26) is announced but not yet open. Our Section 232 consulting team reviews those conditions against the importer’s actual supply chain.

Two Separate Regimes: The Tariff and the FCC Covered List

On December 22, 2025, FCC Order DA 25-1086 added foreign-produced unmanned aircraft systems and UAS critical components to the Covered List. The consequence is that no new equipment authorizations are issued for those products. Radio-frequency devices need an FCC authorization to be marketed and imported, and 47 CFR 2.1204 sets the import conditions. A new foreign drone model that cannot obtain an authorization therefore cannot be imported for sale, regardless of the duty paid.

Models that were already authorized before the listing are in a different position. Based on the orders reviewed as of September 23, 2026, they can still be imported, and they pay the Section 232 duty like any other drone in scope. The practical rule is that the tariff applies to every covered drone, while the FCC block applies to new models.

The FCC granted a temporary exemption for Blue UAS and Buy American qualifying products through January 1, 2027 under DA 26-22. Importers relying on that exemption should plan for its end date now. Separately, Proclamation 11055 moves the tariff start date to February 9, 2027 for products and components of companies on the Blue UAS Cleared List, the Blue UAS Framework or the FCC Conditional Approval List on September 2, 2026.

Previously authorized status should be monitored rather than assumed permanent. In a separate action on other equipment categories, FCC order DA 26-635, published July 6, 2026, barred continued import and marketing of previously authorized equipment added to the Covered List in 2024 or earlier. No equivalent order for drones had been issued as of September 23, 2026, but the FCC has proposed prohibiting continued import and marketing of certain previously authorized foreign UAS and UAS critical components (91 FR 48108 and 91 FR 54713; comments closed September 23, 2026) and of military-grade foreign UAS (91 FR 48870). An order could remove that route. Our overview of restricted imports covers how the agencies coordinate at the border.

Parts and Components: Classification Decides the Tier and the Date

Components carry the most classification risk. Parts and components for drones with a maximum take-off weight over 25 kg (8807.10 to 8807.90.90) have paid 100% since September 3, 2026, except parts for retail delivery, agricultural use or sale to the Department of War; all other drone parts in those lines pay 25% from February 9, 2027. The line between the two depends on the proclamation’s product lists and the system the part is for, not on how a supplier describes a part. Complete drones classify in heading 8806, but motors, flight controllers, cameras, gimbals, batteries and radio modules can classify in many other chapters, and each classification has to be checked against the drone action’s lists.

Kits and partially assembled aircraft raise the same question as any unassembled article. Under General Rules of Interpretation 2(a), an incomplete or unassembled article that has the essential character of the complete article classifies as the complete article. Shipping a drone as a set of parts to reach a component line or a later effective date is unlikely to hold up if the shipment has the essential character of a finished aircraft.

The same components can also sit on the FCC side. The Covered List entry covers UAS critical components as well as complete systems, so a radio module or flight controller can face both an authorization question and a tariff question. Each part number should carry a recorded HTS classification, a tier, an effective date and an FCC status.

Entry Documentation for Drone Shipments

A drone entry now needs a file that answers both regimes. The checklist below is the minimum we assemble per model or part number. It sits on top of the standard entry data reported on CBP Form 7501, and each item should be ready before the goods ship, because neither the tier nor the FCC status can be fixed after arrival. Recovery is limited: clause (8) of Proclamation 11055 allows only manufacturing drawback (19 U.S.C. 1313(a) and (b)), and only for articles that are products of Trade Agreement Partners with at least 85% partner content and not subject to AD/CVD, and CBP says FTA claims do not remove the duty.

What to Do Before February 9, 2027

Three dates structure the next months. The Blue UAS and Buy American exemption from the FCC runs through January 1, 2027. Other drone parts and components enter the tariff at 25% on February 9, 2027, the same day the clause (7) delay ends for Blue UAS and Conditional Approval products. And every new foreign model remains unable to obtain an FCC authorization while the Covered List entry stands.

For distributors, that means confirming the authorization status of every model in the catalog now, identifying which components move into the tariff in February and costing replacement sources where the numbers no longer work. For enterprise buyers, it means checking that fleet expansion plans rely on models that are already authorized. Neither decision can wait for the next shipment.

Frequently Asked Questions