Food & Agriculture Tariff Rates 2026: US Import Duties by Country & HTS Code

What This Covers

The food and agriculture surcharge covers meat, dairy, produce, beverages, processed foods, and agricultural commodities classified under HTS chapters 01-24. Tariff rates in this sector are highly variable, with some products entering duty-free and others subject to tariff-rate quotas (TRQs) that impose steep over-quota duties. Following the Supreme Court's February 20, 2026 ruling striking down IEEPA reciprocal tariffs, all food-exporting countries now face a uniform 10% Section 122 tariff (effective February 24, 2026; scheduled to sunset ~July 24, 2026), replacing the country-specific rates that had penalized major agricultural exporters at different levels. This Section 122 tariff is legally contested: the Court of International Trade ruled it unlawful on May 7, 2026, but the Federal Circuit stayed that injunction on June 11, 2026, so CBP continues collecting the 10% pending appeal.

Most Affected Countries

The European Union has been through two regime changes in 2026: the 20% IEEPA reciprocal tariff fell to 10% Section 122 after the February SCOTUS ruling, and since July 1, 2026 EU food exports trade under the EU-US deal's 15% all-inclusive ceiling — cheese, wine, and olive oil pay a flat 15% with no MFN stacking, and products whose MFN rate is already 15% or higher (some over-quota dairy) pay MFN only. Mexico and Canada continue to benefit from USMCA, which provides duty-free treatment for most agricultural products, giving them a pronounced cost advantage over both the EU's 15% and the 10% Section 122 rate facing other exporters. Brazil and Chile, as major suppliers of coffee, fruit, and meat to the US, see their costs reduced under the uniform 10% Section 122 rate compared to the higher IEEPA rates they had faced.

How Surcharges Stack

Food tariff stacking now follows two patterns. Non-EU sources pay the uniform 10% Section 122 rate on top of MFN duties. EU sources moved to the EU-US deal's 15% all-inclusive ceiling on July 1, 2026: French wine with its 6.3 cents per liter base rate pays a flat 15% total (the MFN duty no longer stacks), while over-quota EU dairy with base rates of 25% or more pays MFN only — the deal adds no surcharge when MFN is already at or above 15%. USMCA-compliant food products from Mexico and Canada avoid both regimes entirely, preserving the widest price advantage. The Section 122 tariff is scheduled to sunset around July 24, 2026, which could further reduce costs for imported food products from all origins.

Sourcing Strategies

Food importers should continue to maximize sourcing from USMCA partners Mexico and Canada for duty-free treatment, geographic proximity, and reduced spoilage risk. European specialty food imports — Italian olive oil, French wine, Spanish cheese — now trade at the EU deal's predictable flat 15%, far below the IEEPA-era rates that had been squeezing margins, and with no expiry cliff. For products not available from North American or European sources, the uniform 10% Section 122 rate means importers can choose suppliers based on quality and price rather than tariff differentials. Planning for Section 122's July 24, 2026 expiration is particularly important for food importers negotiating annual supply contracts — USTR's proposed 12.5% Section 301 duties on 46 countries would be its replacement if finalized by the July 20 deadline.