The most favored nation tariff is the rate an importer pays when no preference is claimed and no penalty applies, and it is the number every other duty is built on top of. It has not been replaced by any of the trade actions of the last two years. A Section 232 duty does not substitute for it, a Section 301 duty does not substitute for it, and a safeguard does not substitute for it. They are additional lines on the same entry, assessed on the same customs value.
That is the point most rate discussions skip, and it produces two opposite errors. Some importers quote the MFN average and assume that is what they pay. Others see a 50% sectoral duty and forget the base rate is still underneath it. This guide covers how the HTSUS rate columns work, which countries fall outside normal treatment, and the order CBP requires additional duties to be reported in.
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MFN and NTR Are the Same Rate Under Two Names
The obligation comes from GATT Article I:1, which requires that any advantage granted to a product from one member be extended immediately and unconditionally to like products from all other members. In practice it means a country cannot quietly give one trading partner a better ordinary rate than another.
In United States law the statutory term is Normal Trade Relations, renamed from most-favored-nation by Section 5003 of the IRS Restructuring and Reform Act of 1998. The rename was cosmetic and the rate is identical. Older documents, tariff schedules and CBP guidance use both terms interchangeably, and an importer reading NTR on one page and MFN on another is looking at the same column.
The average conceals the range. The WTO World Tariff Profiles 2026 puts the simple average US applied MFN rate at 3.4% for 2025 and the trade-weighted average at 2.2% for 2024, with 47.5% of tariff lines duty free. Those numbers describe the ordinary schedule only. They exclude the Chapter 99 overlay where nearly all current duty burden sits, so quoting 3.4% as what an importer pays is misleading by a wide margin.
Reading the Three Rate Columns
The Harmonized Tariff Schedule presents rates in columns, and General Note 3 is the authority on what each one means. Getting the column right is as important as getting the ten-digit code right, because the same article carries very different duty depending on origin and on whether a preference is properly claimed.
Column 1 General is the MFN rate and applies to goods from every country except those denied normal trade relations, absent a valid preference claim. Column 1 Special carries preferential rates under free trade agreements and preference programmes, keyed by Special Program Indicator letters shown in parentheses. Column 2 carries the statutory rates inherited from the Tariff Act of 1930 as originally enacted, and they are dramatically higher than Column 1.
A Column 1 Special rate is not automatic. It has to be claimed on the entry with the correct indicator and substantiated by origin documentation that will survive verification. The definitive list of indicator letters is in General Note 3(c)(i) of the HTSUS itself rather than in any secondary summary, and the letters change as programmes lapse and agreements enter force.
| Column | Contains | Applies when |
|---|---|---|
| Column 1 General | The MFN / NTR rate | Default for all origins outside Column 2, no preference claimed |
| Column 1 Special | FTA and preference programme rates, keyed by SPI letters | A valid claim is made and substantiated |
| Column 2 | Statutory rates from the Tariff Act of 1930 | Origin is a country denied normal trade relations |
Four Countries Sit in Column 2
Column 2 treatment applies to Cuba, North Korea, Russia and Belarus. Russia and Belarus were moved there by the Suspending Normal Trade Relations with Russia and Belarus Act, Public Law 117-110, signed on 8 April 2022, and both remain in Column 2 as of August 2026.
The rates involved are not a marginal increase. Column 2 preserves the 1930 schedule, so articles carrying a few percent under Column 1 can carry twenty, thirty or more percent under Column 2, and some lines are considerably worse. For any article where Russian or Belarusian origin is possible, the origin determination is not a compliance formality but the single largest driver of landed cost.
Russian aluminum carries a separate and much larger charge on top, at 200% under the Section 232 metals programme, which is covered in more detail alongside the other steel and aluminum tariffs. The two mechanisms are independent and both apply.
The Stacking Order CBP Requires
Additional duties are reported through Chapter 99 subheadings that sit alongside the ordinary Chapter 1 to 97 classification. The entry summary carries the article at its Column 1 rate plus one or more Chapter 99 lines, and CBP prescribes the order those lines are reported in.
The sequence is Section 301 first, then Section 122, then Section 232, then Section 201 duty, then Section 201 quota. Antidumping and countervailing duties are assessed separately from that sequence and always apply where an order covers the goods.
Two of those layers have changed materially in 2026 and any duty model built earlier is now wrong. The IEEPA reciprocal and fentanyl tariffs were struck down by the Supreme Court on 20 February 2026 and CBP ended collection within days. The Section 122 surcharge that briefly replaced them expired on 24 July 2026 at its 150-day statutory limit. What is live in their place is a Section 301 action on forced labour, effective 24 July 2026, at 10% or 12.5% depending on the origin economy.
One exclusion in that action matters more than the rates. Goods already subject to Section 232 duties are excluded from the forced-labour Section 301, so a covered steel or copper article pays its sectoral rate instead of the additional 10% or 12.5%. It does still stack with the legacy China Section 301 lists, which are a separate action. The interaction is set out in more detail in our guide to Section 301 tariffs.
- Chapter 99 reporting order: Section 301, Section 122, Section 232, Section 201 duty, Section 201 quota.
- AD/CVD is assessed outside that sequence and always applies where an order covers the goods.
- Section 232 goods are excluded from the July 2026 forced-labour Section 301 action.
- IEEPA duty collection ended in February 2026.
Where MFN Still Decides the Outcome
For the large share of trade untouched by a sectoral action, the MFN rate is the whole duty answer, and the spread across the schedule is wide. Apparel and footwear carry ordinary rates in the mid teens to low thirties before anything is added, while much industrial machinery is duty free. The 47.5% of lines that are duty free at MFN are the reason the average looks low.
That base rate also determines whether a preference claim is worth the compliance effort. Claiming a Column 1 Special rate requires origin substantiation and record retention, and on a line that is already duty free at MFN there is nothing to gain. On an apparel line carrying 16% the same claim is worth pursuing properly, which is why USMCA rules of origin work concentrates where the base rates are high.
The lapse of a preference programme puts goods back on Column 1 rather than leaving them without a rate. That is exactly what happened when GSP expired at the end of 2020 and was never renewed, and importers who had been claiming it have been paying MFN ever since.
What This Means for a Duty Model
Build from the bottom up rather than from the headline down. Start with the ten-digit classification, take the Column 1 General rate, test whether a Column 1 Special claim is available and substantiable, then add each applicable Chapter 99 line in CBP’s order, then add AD/CVD if an order reaches the goods.
Check the base rate has not been quietly overwritten in your system by a sectoral rate. A surprisingly common error is replacing the Column 1 rate with the Section 232 rate rather than adding to it, which understates duty on every affected line by the amount of the base duty.
Then remember the fees ride on the same value. The merchandise processing fee and, for ocean arrivals, the harbor maintenance fee are calculated on entered value, so an error in classification or valuation propagates into them as well. The full build-up, fees included, is set out in our guide to landed cost.
Because the overlay changes faster than the schedule underneath it, the practical discipline is to date every rate you rely on. Between February and August 2026 the non-MFN duty structure was rebuilt twice, and content or spreadsheets carrying undated rates are the most common source of confidently wrong numbers.
Frequently Asked Questions
What is a most favored nation tariff?
It is the ordinary duty rate a country applies to imports from any trading partner entitled to normal treatment, required by GATT Article I so that an advantage given to one member is extended to all. In the United States it appears as the Column 1 General rate in the Harmonized Tariff Schedule and is the base that any additional duty is calculated on top of.
Is MFN the same as Normal Trade Relations?
Yes. Normal Trade Relations is the statutory term in US law, renamed from most-favored-nation by Section 5003 of the IRS Restructuring and Reform Act of 1998. The rate is identical and the two terms are used interchangeably in tariff schedules and CBP guidance.
Which countries do not get MFN treatment from the United States?
Cuba, North Korea, Russia and Belarus are in Column 2 as of August 2026. Russia and Belarus were moved by Public Law 117-110, signed 8 April 2022. Column 2 preserves the statutory rates from the Tariff Act of 1930, which are far higher than Column 1 across most of the schedule.
Do Section 232 and Section 301 duties replace the MFN rate?
No. They are additional Chapter 99 lines assessed on the same customs value, and the Column 1 rate still applies underneath. Replacing the base rate with the sectoral rate in a duty model understates the total by the amount of the base duty, which is a common and expensive spreadsheet error.
What order does CBP require additional duties to be reported in?
Section 301, then Section 122, then Section 232, then Section 201 duty, then Section 201 quota. Antidumping and countervailing duties sit outside that sequence and are always assessed where an order covers the goods.
Why is the average US tariff quoted as around 3%?
Because the WTO figure describes the ordinary MFN schedule only, where 47.5% of tariff lines are duty free. It excludes the Chapter 99 trade remedy overlay, which is where the majority of current duty burden sits. It should not be presented as what an importer actually pays.
