Column 2 Tariff Rates: The Punishing Second Schedule Still Live for Four Countries

Updated October 2026. Every figure below is recomputed from our structured extract of the US Harmonized Tariff Schedule; sources are cited inline.

Nearly every importer reads the HTS the same way: find your line, look at the General rate, maybe smile if the Special column makes you Free. Then there is the third number — Column 2 — which most people never glance at because “my country isn't on that list.” That complacency was affordable until 2022, when Congress moved the world's eleventh-largest economy into it. Today Column 2 applies to products of exactly four countries: Belarus, Cuba, North Korea and Russia, per HTS General Note 3(b). And the numbers are not symbolic. Across the 12,503 ten-digit lines we could compare percent-to-percent, the median gap over General rates is +34.7 percentage points; the worst cases exceed +140.

1. What the second schedule looks like when you quantify it

Our October 2026 extract carries both columns for all 23,193 ten-digit statistical lines. Comparing only lines where both the General and Column 2 entries state percentages gives 12,705 comparable pairs; Column 2 is higher in 12,503 of them (98.4%). The distribution is not subtle:

A handful of lines buck the trend with tiny gaps or equal values, but they are statistical rounding, not policy mercy — no coherent sector gets Column 2 parity. Where the two schedules diverge most is just as telling, measured as mean gap by chapter among comparable lines:

The textile tilt is unmistakable: silk, knits and man-made staple fibres carry premiums of sixty to eighty-five points. These were the sectors the 1930s statute wrote its harshest numbers for, and nobody has softened them since.

2. The extreme end: pharma at 149.5%

The single largest gaps sit in psychiatric and controlled-substance pharmaceuticals. Lines for antidepressants, tranquilizers and other psychotropic drugs (subheadings 2921.49.38, 2933.39.31, 2933.59.46, 2933.99.61, 2934.30.23) carry a General rate of 6.5% and a Column 2 rate of 149.5%. Benzodiazepine families fare no better: lorazepam, alprazolam and related INN lines are Free under General treatment yet 15.4¢/kg + 149.5% under Column 2 — a compound rate whose money component doubles down on the percentage.

We cross-checked representative values against the live USITC export: 2903.11.00 returns exactly 5.5% / 125% from the government endpoint today, matching our extract byte-for-byte. This is a real, current schedule — not a historical curiosity.

3. Who actually pays these rates

Four countries, per General Note 3(b): Belarus, Cuba, North Korea, Russia. The story of the last addition matters commercially. From 2012, Russia enjoyed Column 1 (normal-trade-relations) rates after WTO accession; in April 2022, the Suspending Normal Trade Relations with Russia and Belarus Act (Public Law 117-110) revoked that treatment effective the day after enactment, dropping both countries onto the Column 2 schedule they had escaped a decade earlier. The same law authorized the President to proclaim rates above Column 2 for a temporary window — which is why Russian-origin energy and other sensitive goods can stack further provisions on top.

Practical consequence: a buyer sourcing aluminum sheet, fertilizer precursors, birch plywood or palladium from Russia quotes landed cost against a schedule most brokers have never computed. The gap compounds with every Chapter 99 layer already in force — see our breakdown of how stacked tariffs produce triple-digit totals.

4. Working with the second schedule

1. Check origin status before quoting anything from those four countries. The test is legal origin (where the goods were produced), not ship-from. Transshipment through a third country does not launder Column 2 treatment away; CBP enforces origin substantively.
2. Read all three columns every time. Our HS code browser prints General, Special and Column 2 side by side for all 23,193 lines, so the check costs seconds.
3. Layer Chapter 99 correctly. Reciprocal-tariff provisions give Column 2 countries their own classification path (CBP CSMS #65829726 names 9903.01.29 for General Note 3(b) countries), so model base-plus-addon explicitly instead of assuming the add-on replaces the punitive base.
4. For pharma and chemicals, take the compound form seriously. A 15.4¢/kg + 149.5% structure means duty scales with both weight and value; quoting from the percent alone understates the bill.
5. Monitor the restoration trigger. Public Law 117-110 built presidential authority to restore Column 1 treatment conditionally; if Russia-Belarus NTR restoration ever proceeds, thousands of lines reprice overnight — a monitoring job our trade-intelligence dashboards exist for.

Frequently asked questions

What are Column 2 tariff rates?

Column 2 is the second statutory rate schedule printed in every HTS row. It survives from the pre-GATT Smoot-Hawley era and applies to countries that do not hold normal-trade-relations treatment. In our October 2026 extract of 23,193 ten-digit lines, 12,705 pairs can be compared percent-to-percent between the General and Column 2 columns, and the Column 2 rate is higher in 12,503 of them.

Which countries pay Column 2 rates?

Products of Belarus, Cuba, North Korea and Russia - the country list in HTS General Note 3(b) - enter at Column 2 rates, per USITC and CBP guidance. Until Russia and Belarus lost normal-trade-relations treatment under the 2022 Suspending Normal Trade Relations with Russia and Belarus Act (Public Law 117-110), only Cuba and North Korea were subject to the second schedule.

How much higher are Column 2 rates than normal rates?

Measured across the 12,503 ten-digit lines where both columns state percentages and Column 2 exceeds General, the median gap is +34.7 percentage points. The widest gaps sit in psychotropic pharmaceuticals: several antidepressant and benzodiazepine lines move from 6.5% to 149.5%, a +143-point swing, and some lorazepam and alprazolam lines jump from Free to a compound 15.4 cents/kg + 149.5%.

Is Column 2 the same as the reciprocal tariffs or Section 301?

No. Column 2 replaces the base General-rate treatment for non-NTR countries, while Section 301 and reciprocal-tariff measures are Chapter 99 add-ons layered through special provisions such as 9903.01.xx. CBP's own reciprocal-tariff guidance shows the two systems coexist: articles of Column 2-rate countries get their own classification provision rather than being treated as ordinary General-rate trade.

Why does Russia face Column 2 rates now?

Congress suspended Russia's and Belarus's normal-trade-relations treatment with the Suspending Normal Trade Relations with Russia and Belarus Act, signed April 8, 2022, moving both countries from Column 1 to Column 2 rates the day after enactment. The law also let the President proclaim even higher rates for a period, which is why Russian-origin goods can carry additional layers beyond the printed Column 2 figures.

How do I find my product's Column 2 rate?

Open the ten-digit line in the HTS and read the right-hand 'other' column, or use our HS pages, which show the General, Special and Column 2 values side by side for every line. Confirm first that origin is one of the four General Note 3(b) countries - for everyone else the relevant comparison is usually General versus Special preferential rates.

Sources and methodology

Dataset: data/hts.json, our structured extract of the US Harmonized Tariff Schedule (23,193 ten-digit rows, USITC REST export dated 2026-10-09T17:43Z from hts.usitc.gov); the column2 field mirrors the schedule's printed “other” column. Gap statistics compare percent-denominated entries only and were spot-verified against the live endpoint (2903.11.00 = 5.5% / 125%). Country scope per the USITC HTS FAQ (General Note 3(b)) and CBP article 1117; reciprocal-tariff interaction per CBP CSMS #65829726; NTR suspension statute via the Suspending Normal Trade Relations with Russia and Belarus Act (Public Law 117-110). Nothing in this article relies on projected or unpublished datasets.