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Coffee Is Duty-Free Into the US: All 35 Lines of Heading 0901, Verified

Census computed from ExportSonar's machine-readable copy of the Harmonized Tariff Schedule (23,193 lines, USITC export generated 2026-10-09); every figure in this guide is reproducible from that dataset.

Search "tariff rate on coffee" and you will land on blog posts quoting duty ranges of 0–7.5 percent, often crediting a long-expired preference program. We did what none of them appear to have done: pulled the full US tariff schedule and read every line of heading 0901. Result: of 35 rows, 34 are Free — green beans, roasted beans, decaf, even the husks — and the single exception is a 1.5¢/kg charge on coffee substitutes containing coffee, not on coffee. The catch nobody disputes but few spell out: duty-free does not mean cost-free. Entry fees take a bite on day one, and the moment your product becomes instant coffee or a mix, real percentages return. This guide walks through all of it, line by line.

What the schedule actually charges for coffee

Source: our machine-readable HTS extract, heading 0901 roll-up. Rate basis: “Free” = no ad-valorem component; the substitute line is specific (¢/kg).

The four bean families — unroasted (0901.11/0901.12) and roasted (0901.21/0901.22), each split by decaffeination — publish exactly one rate: Free. That includes all 13 certified-organic statistical suffixes and both Arabica and Robusta entries under decaffeinated roasted lines. Column 2 (the rate for countries without normal trade relations) is also Free on 33 of 35 lines — only coffee husks and skins (10%) and the substitute line leave the Free club.

Every line of heading 0901, enumerated

Source: our machine-readable HTS extract, records under 0901 verbatim; “—” = no unit published at that level; statistical-suffix numbering follows the official schedule and is not contiguous.

The one line that is not free

0901.90.20.00, coffee substitutes containing coffee: 1.5¢/kg (specific basis). These are blends where coffee shares the bill with chicory, grain or other fillers — the filler drags the blend into a different classification universe. If your product is 100 percent coffee, this line is not yours. For how per-kilogram specific duties interact with value, see our specific & compound duty arithmetic guide.

Why so many sources get coffee wrong

Two myths dominate the search results. Myth one: roasted coffee pays 0–7.5%. Measured against the schedule, the roasted half of heading 0901 (19 lines) is uniformly Free — there is no percentage anywhere in the group. Myth two: coffee is free because of GSP. GSP expired on December 31, 2020, and more to the point: the special-rate column is empty on all 34 duty-free coffee lines. Coffee needs no preference program to enter free; it is free at the statutory base rate. Any article attributing coffee's zero duty to a trade program is explaining something that never needed explaining.

Duty-free is not cost-free: MPF and HMF

Formal entries pay the Merchandise Processing Fee (0.3464% of value, min $34.58, max $670.86, FY2027 adjusted effective 2026-10-01) and, for waterborne cargo, the Harbor Maintenance Fee (0.125% of value). Three worked examples, computed from those parameters:

A $5,000 sample shipment pays $40.83 — about 0.82% of its value — on top of a 0% tariff, because the MPF floor ignores how small the invoice is. Run your own invoice value through the duty calculator to reproduce these numbers, and see our zero-tariff-line census in What Is Genuinely Duty-Free Into the US for the wider picture (8,504 Free lines in total).

Where coffee duty actually hides: instant and mixes

The duty-free wall ends at the extract factory. Heading 2101 — extracts, essences and concentrates of coffee — contains 28 lines whose published general rates include Free for pure soluble coffee but climb to 10% ad valorem, with compound lines such as 30.5¢/kg + 8.5% (2101.12.38.00, mixes containing added sugar). Reclassification risk is real: a flavored instant sachet is not a bean, and neither is a premix with milk powder and sugar. Verify the ten-digit code before you book freight.

Watch the schedule while it watches you

Coffee stays free until Congress or the Executive says otherwise — and proposed coffee taxes surface in nearly every tariff-reform session. When a monitored line moves, the cost of finding out late is a bonded warehouse full of repriced inventory. Subscribers get email alerts on rate changes for their watched codes, batch lookups and CSV exports across the whole catalog — details on the pricing page; new accounts start at the signup. For how stacked measures change a landed-cost calculation, read how tariffs stack to the total duty rate.

Frequently asked questions

Is there really no tariff on roasted coffee?

Correct as of the October 2026 schedule: every statistical line under subheadings 0901.21 and 0901.22 — roasted coffee, decaffeinated or not, including all certified-organic suffixes — shows "Free" in the general duty column of our machine-readable HTS extract. The only non-Free row in heading 0901 is 0901.90.20.00, coffee substitutes containing coffee, which carries a specific duty of 1.5 cents per kilogram.

Then why do some blogs say roasted coffee pays 0 to 7.5 percent?

They generalize from neighboring chapters instead of reading heading 0901 itself. Our check of all 35 rows under 0901 found 34 at Free and one specific-rate substitute line; not a single ad-valorem percentage applies to green or roasted beans. The 7.5 percent figure matches many miscellaneous manufactured goods, not coffee.

Does my coffee import avoid the GSP paperwork then?

There is nothing to claim. All 34 duty-free coffee rows carry an empty special-rate column, so no preference program — GSP included, which expired December 31, 2020 — is needed or available to reach zero duty. Coffee enters free by its base statutory rate.

So importing coffee costs me nothing at all?

No. Two entry fees still apply: the Merchandise Processing Fee at 0.3464 percent of invoice value with a $34.58 minimum and a $670.86 maximum (FY2027), and the Harbor Maintenance Fee at 0.125 percent of value for waterborne cargo. On a $20,000 container of green beans that is $94.28 in fees despite the 0% tariff.

What about instant coffee and coffee drink mixes?

That is where duties actually live. Heading 2101 — extracts, essences and concentrates — spans 28 lines whose published general rates range from Free up to a 10 percent ad-valorem line, plus compound lines such as 30.5 cents per kilogram plus 8.5 percent on sugared coffee mixes. Classify carefully before assuming your product rides along with duty-free beans.

Could coffee tariffs change, and how would I know?

Congressional trade bills periodically propose taxing coffee, and any Section 122 or 301 action would land in the schedule. ExportSonar monitors heading 0901 daily and emails subscribers the moment a monitored line moves — see the signup page to add coffee to your watch list.