The Highest US Tariff Lines: A Complete Census of Every General Rate Above 25%

Updated October 2026. Every figure below is recomputed from our structured extract of the US Harmonized Tariff Schedule and spot-checked against the live USITC feed; sources are cited inline.

Above 25%, the US tariff schedule stops being a smooth slope and becomes a staircase with exactly two landings. Out of 23,193 ten-digit lines in the October 2026 schedule, 12,705 carry an ad valorem percentage in the general column — and only 538 of them (2.3%) reach 25% or higher. The top of that distribution is not apparel or cars: it is tobacco at 350%, held by just 43 statistical lines in chapter 24, followed by a strange middle band where only peanuts live, at 131.8% and 163.8%, and nothing whatsoever until the schedule falls back to 48%. This guide maps that entire upper tail — every qualifying line, computed from the raw schedule — because the shape of the ceiling tells you where duty risk actually concentrates.

1. Scope and method

We parse the general-rate string of every ten-digit record in our HTS extract (23,193 rows, USITC REST export dated 2026-10-09T17:43Z), take the maximum percent token it contains, and rank all lines that have one. Rates expressed only in dollars or cents per unit (1,984 lines) and quota-bound textual rates carry no percent and enter this census only where a sibling suffix states a percent. Thresholds are evaluated on ten-digit statistical lines, the granularity an importer actually declares; where we say “family” we mean the eight-digit subheading beneath which those statistical lines sit. The peak value was verified against the live USITC endpoint on 2026-10-13: line 2403.99.90 returns "general": "350%" verbatim.

2. The 350% wall belongs entirely to tobacco

Exactly 43 ten-digit lines share the schedule maximum of 350%, and every one of them sits in chapter 24. They collapse into 7 eight-digit families: four leaf-tobacco positions in heading 2401 and three manufactured-tobacco positions in heading 2403. Within each family the 350% rate is written on every statistical suffix — flue-cured, burley, Maryland, fire-cured — so the suffix never softens the blow; it only identifies the leaf variety. Column 2 (the rate applied to non-NTR countries) also reads 350% on 43 of 43 lines, so there is no cheaper fallback regime hiding behind the headline number.

Why so high? The schedule itself does not editorialize — 350% is simply the statutory number these lines carry — but the structure mirrors the specific-duty logic documented in our specific and compound tariff guide: protection concentrates where domestic producers face the cheapest bulk imports. What matters operationally is different: a 350% line is not a rounding error you discover at entry, it is a business-model decision made when you pick the commodity.

3. Between 48% and 350% there is exactly one crop

This is the census result competitors do not show. Strip away tobacco and scan the interval from 49% to 349%: you find 12 statistical lines, every single one a peanut line. Raw or shelled kernel forms (1202.41.80 family) carry 163.8%; roasted-and-further-prepared forms (1202.42) and peanut butter (2008.11) carry 131.8%. The contrast with the unprocessed forms of the same plant is brutal: 1202.41.05 (peanuts, not shelled or otherwise prepared) charges 9.35¢/kg, while its shelled neighbor 1202.41.80 charges 163.8% of value. Processing step, not product category, is what moves you across enormous relative swings.

4. The 48% shelf and the long tail below

Below the peanut band the schedule drops to a 48% shelf occupied by 15 lines — footwear uppers and certain glassware — then re-thickens around 37.5% (protective footwear, 72 lines) and 32% (knitted apparel basics). Two structural observations follow. First, value-based brackets bite cheap goods hardest: 6402.91.60 taxes footwear valued under $3/pair at 48%, while costlier pairs in 6402.91.20 ($3–$6.50) pay 37.5% — the cheaper the shoe, the higher the wall, echoing the regressive logic of per-unit duties. Second, the apparel mass below 30% is enormous in line count precisely because chapters 61/62 subdivide by fiber, gender and garment cut; a 28% line repeated across hundreds of suffixes moves more trade dollars than the exotic peaks do.

5. The threshold ladder

Read the bottom row as the practical screening tier: 538 lines — 2.3% of the schedule — deserve a compliance look before you quote. Their chapter concentration is the mirror image of the ceiling: woven apparel (ch 62, 141 lines), knit apparel (ch 61, 109 lines) and footwear (ch 64, 94 lines) together account for 64% of all lines at or above 25%, while tobacco contributes 43 and trucks and commercial vehicles (ch 87, largely the 25% truck line) 34. Our section-level ranking in the tariff rates by product category guide shows the same skew from above; this census is its line-level completion.

6. What exporters should do with the ceiling

1. Screen at 25%, not at 100%. Chasing only the exotic peaks misses the 538-line tier where most quoting damage happens; a 27% duty on thin-margin goods kills deals as surely as 350% kills them outright.
2. Check the processing step before the commodity. The 9.35¢/kg versus 163.8% peanut gap is the extreme case of a general pattern: shelling, roasting or jar-form conversion can move you onto a different line with a different duty instrument entirely.
3. Do not forget the stack. These are base-schedule general-column rates. Chapter 99 add-ons — Section 301 lists, reciprocal-tariff provisions — pile on top of the base rate, sometimes doubling the effective burden; see how Chapter 99 add-ons stack.
4. Mind who the rate applies to. Column 2 rates apply only to the four non-NTR jurisdictions (Belarus, Cuba, North Korea, Russia) — our Column 2 guide explains the split.
5. Use the Special column as your escape valve. On the tobacco wall, the audited lines read Free for a list of FTA partners (AU, BH, CL, IL, KR, MA, OM, P, PA, PE, SG among others); origin paperwork is worth real cash at these levels. When several sibling suffixes could plausibly match your goods, the Other-basket trap guide shows why the vague one usually costs more.

Want the ceiling mapped onto your SKUs? Paste the HS code into our duty calculator or browse the HS code lookup — both return the ten-digit split with base and stacked views.

Frequently asked questions

What is the highest tariff rate in the US Harmonized Tariff Schedule?

The maximum general-column ad valorem rate is 350%, carried by 43 ten-digit statistical lines that all sit in chapter 24 (tobacco): four leaf-tobacco families in heading 2401 and three manufactured-tobacco families in heading 2403, counted from the October 2026 schedule. Column 2 also reads 350% on 43 of 43 of those lines, so countries without normal-trade-relations status get no discount on them.

Are there any US tariff rates between 48% and 350%?

No. Every statistical line whose general rate falls strictly between 48% and 350% is a peanut line - exactly 12 of them: the shelled/raw preparation family 1202.41.80 at 163.8% and roasted or prepared forms under 1202.42 and 2008.11 at 131.8%. The ceiling of the US tariff is therefore a two-commodity monopoly: tobacco above, peanuts in between, then a long fall to 48%.

How many US tariff lines carry a duty of 25% or more?

538 of 23,193 ten-digit lines (2.3%) reach or exceed a 25% general rate. They concentrate in woven apparel (chapter 62, 141 lines), knit apparel (chapter 61, 109 lines), footwear (chapter 64, 94 lines) and tobacco (chapter 24, 43).

Do these statutory rates apply to goods from China?

These are base-schedule general-column rates, which apply before any additional duties. China-origin goods typically owe Section 301 or reciprocal-provision add-ons layered through Chapter 99 on top of the base rate, so the effective burden can far exceed the base percentage; see our stacked-tariffs guide for how the layers combine.

How current is this data, and is the 350% rate really charged?

The underlying extract is the USITC HTS REST export dated 2026-10-09T17:43Z, and we re-verified the peak against the live USITC endpoint on 2026-10-13 (line 2403.99.90 returns "350%"). Statutory rates this high are real obligations at entry; in practice the Special column waives them to Free for listed FTA partners such as AU, BH, CL, IL, KR, MA, OM, P, PA, PE and SG, so origin documentation decides whether the wall applies to you.

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, generated from hts.usitc.gov). The census takes the maximum percent token of each record's general string; threshold, family and chapter aggregations are reproducible from the raw JSON. Peak and peanut-band values were cross-checked against the live USITC export endpoints for 2403.99.90 and 1202.41.80 (both retrieved 2026-10-13, matching our extract verbatim). Definitions of the general/special/Column 2 columns follow the USITC tariff FAQ and CBP article 1117. Nothing in this article relies on projected or unpublished datasets.