Components · printed circuit boards
Tariffs and rules on printed circuit boards from China
A bare circuit board from China pays 37.5% in US duty, except plain two- and four-layer boards, which pay 12.5% under an exclusion that ends on November 9, 2026. An assembled board pays whatever the machine it belongs to pays, from 20% to 50% depending on the heading. From 2027, Defense Department contracts face a ban on Chinese boards that has not yet been put into contract rules. This page covers each piece.
Bare boards and assembled boards are classified differently
A bare printed circuit board is HTS 8534.00.00, normal (MFN) duty free. Once components are mounted it becomes a printed circuit assembly, which the schedule defines in Additional U.S. Note 1 to Section XVI, and it is usually classified as a part of the machine it is made for. Section XVI note 2(b) sends parts "suitable for use solely or principally with a particular kind of machine" to that machine's heading or to the parts headings such as 8473, 8529 or 8538. CBP applies this in rulings such as N338976 and N319475.
A board that is a complete good on its own, such as a controller or a power supply, can be classified as that good instead (see HQ 959022). So the heading, and the duty, follow from what the assembly does.
The duty by line
| HTS | Typical product | MFN | Section 301 | Forced-labor 12.5% | Total |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 8534.00.00 | Bare boards | Free | List 3, 25% | Applies | 37.5% |
| 8473.30.11, .20, .51 | Computer boards and parts | Free | Lists 1 and 3, 25% | Exempt | 25% |
| 8517.79 | Telecom and network equipment boards | Free | List 4A, 7.5% | Applies | 20% |
| 8538.90.30 | Boards for switching and control apparatus | 3.5% | List 3, 25% | Applies | 41% |
| 8529.90 (assembly lines) | Boards for TVs, monitors, radio equipment | Free | 25% | Applies | 37.5% |
The totals are our sums for goods of Chinese origin entered from July 24, 2026. List membership is from chapter 99 U.S. note 20 of the USITC schedule (2026 Revision 21); none of these lines was changed in the 2024 Section 301 review. U.S. note 52(b) exempts every 8473.30 line from the 12.5% forced-labor tariff, which is why computer boards come out lower than bare boards.
High-end computer boards and Section 232
The Section 232 duty on semiconductor articles (heading 9903.79.01, +25%) reaches a narrow set of 8471 and 8473.30 goods: those containing a logic chip within specific processing-power and memory-bandwidth ranges, defined in U.S. note 39(b). An accelerator board in that range pays 25% Section 301 plus 25% Section 232, about 50%. Ordinary assembled boards and bare boards are not covered. See also the June 2027 semiconductor tariff increase, which applies to chips imported as chips, not to boards.
Exclusions that end on November 9
Several of the 178 Section 301 exclusions still in force cover boards:
- plain two- and four-layer rigid glass-epoxy bare boards (8534.00.0020 and .0040), which pay 12.5% instead of 37.5% while the exclusion lasts;
- graphics, accelerator and unfinished logic-board assemblies (8473.30.1180), and certain 8473.30.5100 parts, which pay nothing while it lasts;
- a few specific assemblies under 8504.90, 9022.90 and 8529.90.
Each covers only the product its description names. All end at the close of November 9, 2026 unless USTR extends them, and we found no extension as of October 14. For a buyer of standard two- or four-layer boards, that is a jump from 12.5% to 37.5% on entries from November 10. See Section 301 exclusions expiring November 9.
Defense contracts: the Chinese PCB ban
10 U.S.C. 4873, enacted as section 841 of the FY2021 defense authorization act and amended in FY2022, says the Secretary of Defense "may not acquire a covered printed circuit board from a covered nation" (China, Russia, North Korea, Iran), effective January 1, 2027.
- What is covered: bare or assembled boards of a specified type that perform a mission-critical function in a product that is not a commercial product, or that are part of a defense security system or a system the contract identifies as national-security sensitive. The specified type starts with boards in networked devices that route, connect, transmit or secure data.
- The catch: subsection (e) applies the ban "only with respect to contracts entered into after the issuance of a final rule implementing this section". As of October 14, 2026 there is only an advance notice of proposed rulemaking (DFARS Case 2022-D011, 91 FR 40508, July 2, 2026), so in our reading the ban will not bite on January 1 unless a final rule is issued first.
- Where the rule is heading: the notice says DoD "intends to implement this prohibition by focusing on the geographic point of fabrication for bare boards", proposes using IPC-1791, IPC-1782 and ISO/IEC 20243 as the basis for exceptions and waivers, observes that "a facility in a covered nation likely cannot achieve IPC-1791 certification", and proposes flowing the clause down to every subcontract tier, including commercial products.
- Exceptions: purchases below the micro-purchase threshold and written waivers; the statute lets DoD carve out commercial items by rule.
A separate rule, FAR 52.204-25 (section 889), matters only if a board is, or contains, equipment from Huawei, ZTE, Hikvision, Dahua or Hytera.
No trade-remedy order
We found no US antidumping or countervailing duty order on printed circuit boards from China in the Federal Register. The Commission's list of orders in place could not be loaded to double-check, so treat that as our search result, not a certainty.
The exclusion expiry and the DoD date are on the trade-rule calendar.
Sources: USITC HTS 2026 Revision 21 (Section XVI notes; chapter 85; chapter 99 U.S. notes 20, 39 and 52); CBP rulings as linked; 10 U.S.C. 4873; Public Laws 116-283 and 117-81; 91 FR 40508; FAR 52.204-25. Last checked October 14, 2026. General information, not customs or contracting advice.
Last checked 2026-10-14