Kitchen Cabinet Tariffs and Vanities: 25% Now, 50% From January 1, 2027

Kitchen cabinet tariffs under Section 232 are 25% today, not 50%. Proclamation 10976 (90 FR 48127) put wood cabinets, vanities and their parts under a Section 232 duty from October 14, 2025, with increases scheduled for January 1, 2026. Proclamation 11000 (91 FR 1039) then delayed those increases to January 1, 2027. Some budgets still carry the 50% rate for 2026, and those budgets overstate duty by 25 points on every covered entry.

The date that matters now is January 1, 2027. On that date the rate on cabinets, vanities and parts doubles to 50%, and the rate on upholstered wood seating moves from 25% to 30%. For kitchen and bath distributors, cabinet importers, builders’ procurement teams and furniture retailers running multi-container monthly programs, the next three months decide how much inventory enters at the lower rate. This guide covers the current and scheduled rates, where the classification line falls between cabinets, vanities, parts and seating, the country caps, and two overlays the same buyers face: TSCA composite-wood certification and the Section 201 safeguard on quartz countertops. Status as of September 23, 2026.

Current Rates and the January 1, 2027 Step-Up

The timber program sits in Chapter 99 subheading 9903.76. CBP implemented it through CSMS #66492057. The table shows each heading, today’s rate and the scheduled change under Proclamation 11000.

Two points in the table drive most planning errors. First, the 50% cabinet and vanity rate is a 2027 number, not a 2026 one. Second, the country rates for the UK, Japan, the EU, South Korea and Taiwan hold at 10% and 15%: the UK’s 10% is added to the Column 1 rate, while the 15% for the other four is inclusive of Column 1, so goods from those origins face a different calculation than the headline rate. A sourcing mix that includes EU, Japanese, Korean or Taiwanese product should be modeled line by line rather than at a blended rate.

Where the Classification Line Falls: Cabinets, Vanities, Parts and Seating

The duty attaches to specific ten-digit statistical lines, not to everything a buyer would call a cabinet. For cabinets and vanities the covered lines are 9403.40.9060, 9403.60.8093 and 9403.91.0080. For upholstered wood seating they are 9401.61.4011, 9401.61.4031, 9401.61.6011 and 9401.61.6031. A product outside those lines is outside the timber action, and a product inside them that is not actually a cabinet or vanity can claim 9903.76.04 at 0%.

Parts and RTA Kits Are Covered

Parts classified under 9403.91.0080 fall under the 25% rate, and ready-to-assemble cabinet kits are covered as well. Importers who shifted to shipping doors, boxes and panels separately in the hope of avoiding the cabinet line should check where those parts actually classify. The cabinet rate follows the parts line.

Vanities With Integrated Tops or Sinks

A vanity shipped with an integrated sink or countertop is a composite good, and its classification turns on General Rules of Interpretation 3(b) and the component that gives the article its essential character. Whether the set lands in a covered 9403 line or elsewhere can change the duty by up to 25 points today and up to 50 points from January 1, 2027. That analysis should be documented per SKU before the step-up, and where the answer is contestable, a binding ruling is worth considering.

Metal-Frame Seating Sits Outside the Timber Action

Seating with metal frames, classified under 9401.71 or 9401.79, is not upholstered wood seating and falls outside the timber action. It is not automatically duty-free under Section 232, however. It may be a steel or aluminum derivative, and derivatives now pay on the full customs value. Our guide to steel and aluminum tariffs covers that separate program.

The 9903.76.04 Proof File

Heading 9903.76.04 lets goods in a covered statistical line enter at 0% when they are not cabinets or vanities. The claim needs a proof file: product specifications, drawings or photos, and a written reason the article is not a cabinet or vanity. Without it, the claim is hard to defend in a post-entry review.

No USMCA Carve-Out, No Forced Labor Stack

The timber action has no USMCA carve-out: cabinets and vanities from Mexico pay the same 25% as product from Vietnam, China or Malaysia, and 50% from January 1, 2027. Canadian vanities classified in 9403.60.8093 also carry the 50% Section 338 duty since September 15, 2026, because 9403.60.80 is on the Section 338 motor vehicle list.

On the other side, goods under the timber action are exempt from the Section 301 forced labor tariff. Importers should confirm that the exemption is actually applied on the entry rather than assume it. Our guide to Section 301 forced labor tariffs explains where that duty does apply. For softwood lumber itself, including the separate antidumping and countervailing duties on Canadian product, see our guide to lumber tariffs.

TSCA Title VI Certification for Composite-Wood Cabinetry

Many imported cabinets and vanities contain particleboard, MDF or hardwood plywood, which brings in a separate requirement at entry. Under 19 CFR 12.121, importers of chemical substances and articles make a TSCA certification before release. For articles containing regulated composite wood, 40 CFR 770.30(d) has required a positive certification since March 22, 2019. The composite wood must be labeled under 40 CFR 770.45, and supplier records must be kept for three years.

The common assumption that articles never need a TSCA certification is wrong for this category. A cabinet program should hold a Title VI supplier-statement file for every factory and confirm that the positive certification is transmitted on every composite-wood line. EPA also proposed updates to the composite wood standards at 91 FR 6161 on February 11, 2026; that rule is not final.

Quartz Countertops: The Section 201 Safeguard Overlay

The same buyers who import cabinets usually import countertops, and quartz surface products now carry their own remedy. Proclamation 11051 (91 FR 50645), effective August 15, 2026, imposed a four-year tariff-rate quota under Section 201 on HTS 6810.99.0020, 6810.99.0040 and 7020.00.6000. Australia, Canada, Mexico, the CAFTA-DR and CBERA countries, Colombia, Korea, Israel, Panama, Peru, Singapore and the developing countries listed in note 41(c) are excluded.

In the current HTSUS, heading 9903.45.30 carries 25% on entries within the quota and 9903.45.31 carries 50% above it. The quota quantities and rates for each of the four years are set in the Annex to Proclamation 11051. Because a quota fills over the year, the effective rate on a given shipment can depend on when it is entered. Our guide to Section 201 safeguard measures explains how tariff-rate quotas fill and how excluded origins are documented.

Planning Around January 1, 2027

The step-up turns entry timing into a cost decision. Three options are open. The first is to pull forward: bring in and enter covered cabinets and vanities before December 31, 2026 at 25%, which requires cash and warehouse capacity and a rebuilt landed cost model for the 2027 rate. The second is to use a customs bonded warehouse or a foreign-trade zone for inventory control, understanding that timber goods admitted to a zone require privileged foreign status, so a zone does not avoid the Section 232 duty. How zone and warehouse inventory is treated around the January 1 step-up should be confirmed against CBP guidance before relying on it. The third is to shift origin to a capped jurisdiction where the product and supply chain allow it, with a documented country of origin determination.

Each option carries risk. Pulling forward depends on vessel and port timing in the last weeks of December. Origin shifts require substantive manufacturing, not relabeling. Our Section 232 consulting team builds the per-SKU model and the shipping plan together so the decision rests on the actual lines being imported.

Frequently Asked Questions