Section 232 Duty Impact Calculator
Preliminary, automated exposure estimate — not a compliance determination, not a customs classification, and not a legally binding rate. No duty-savings guarantee. A licensed customs broker should verify every 10-digit HTS classification and the specific proclamation status for each shipment before you file an entry.
Model current annual Section 232 duty exposure by HTS code, annual import value, and country of origin — plus additional exposure if the FR 2026-15961 derivative-article proposals are finalized. That comment window closed Aug 27, 2026; Watchlist watches for the next notice.
- Who
- Importers, ops, and compliance folks deciding Section 232 exposure order-of-magnitude. TariffWatch is a tool from Digital Empire Holdings LLC — not a licensed customs broker.
- How
- Enter ≤10 HTS codes, annual customs value, and country of origin. A deterministic in-browser estimate returns current Section 232 exposure plus additional exposure if the FR 2026-15961 proposals are finalized. Same inputs → same number. No LLM.
- Why
- Plan before the next BIS inclusion notice. The FR 2026-15961 comment window closed Aug 27, 2026 — that window is historical. Watchlist monitors the next notice on codes you add.
Last updated Sep 14, 2026. Monthly $29/mo is the main door. Annual ($290/yr) is a labeled option in the bar above and on the result panel — not a silent default here.
Your import book
8- or 10-digit HTSUS format (XXXX.XX.XX or XXXX.XX.XX.XX) preferred. A shorter code gets a rate only when the annex lists it, or lists its sole .00 child; otherwise it is shown as unconfirmed. Currently: 2 codes parsed, 2 valid.
Total annual customs value across all listed HTS codes. Model splits evenly across valid codes for per-line exposure.
The Section 232 annex rate does not change by origin, except partner and USMCA caps on Annex I-C mobile industrial equipment and UK products of UK-melted steel or UK-smelted/cast aluminum (25% instead of 50% on I-A, 15% instead of 25% on I-B, Proclamation 11021). Neither is modeled. Some origins stack other duties on top, such as Section 301 for China.
Your estimated Section 232 duty exposure
What these numbers are estimated from: the HTS codes and the single annual customs value you typed above, split evenly across your valid codes, multiplied by the in-force Section 232 annex rate for each matched code (Proclamation 11032). The country load factor on top is TariffWatch’s own order-of-magnitude multiplier for the stacked-tariff regime typical of that origin — we never asked you for the facts it depends on (Section 301 list membership, other duties that stack by origin), so treat it as a scenario, not your rate.
Country-of-origin note (China): China-origin goods can also owe Section 301 duties (Lists 1-4A, 7.5%-25%, higher on some lines) on top of Section 232. The 2.1x factor is TariffWatch's order-of-magnitude assumption for that stack, not a published rate; check your actual 301 list membership and any other duties with your broker.
Additional exposure if the FR 2026-15961 proposals are finalized
- Aluminum powderDraft comment letter →Additional annual exposure if finalized: $131,250
Assumptions driving this estimate
- HTS lookup: 2 of 2 codes were recognized (Section 232 annexes as revised by Proclamation 11032, effective June 8 2026, a primary metal chapter 72/73/74/76, or one of the 14 BIS-proposed derivative headings, Federal Register 2026-15961). Codes not on an annex are shown as unconfirmed at 0%, not guessed.
- Published-rate estimate (what we can source): $125,000/yr = the value you entered, split across your valid codes, × the in-force Section 232 annex rate on full customs value (Annex I-A 50%, I-B 25%, I-C 25%, III shown at the 15% maximum because Column 1 MFN + Section 232 = 15% and MFN is not modeled; Annex II and unlisted codes 0%). That is 25.00% of the annual customs value you entered. This is the only figure here that rests solely on inputs you supplied.
- Country of origin China — 2.1× load factor applied. This multiplier is TariffWatch's own order-of-magnitude modeling assumption for the stacked-tariff regime typical of this origin. It is NOT a published rate, NOT a Section 301 line item, and we did not ask you for the facts it depends on. China-origin goods can also owe Section 301 duties (Lists 1-4A, 7.5%-25%, higher on some lines) on top of Section 232. The 2.1x factor is TariffWatch's order-of-magnitude assumption for that stack, not a published rate; check your actual 301 list membership and any other duties with your broker.
- Direction of error: the 2.1× factor RAISES the scenario figure above the published Section 232 rate to account for stacking (Section 301 / IEEPA / reciprocal arrangements) we did not ask you to confirm. The published-rate floor is $125,000.
- Scenario annual exposure = published-rate estimate ($125,000) × country load (2.1) = $262,500, i.e. 52.50% of the annual customs value you entered. An effective rate above 100% means the modeled stack exceeds the goods' customs value — that is the model, not a published duty rate.
- 1 of your codes falls within (or is proposed to fall within) the 14 BIS-proposed derivative articles from Federal Register 2026-15961 — additional annual exposure if those proposals are finalized (comment window closed Aug 27, 2026): $131,250.
- This is an order-of-magnitude lead-magnet estimate, not a customs classification. A licensed customs broker should verify every 10-digit HTS classification and the specific proclamation status for each shipment before you file.
The FR 2026-15961 comment window closed Aug 27, 2026. Letter templates stay as starting points; they do not reopen that docket. Watchlist monitors the next BIS / Section 232 notice on HTS codes you add — $290/yr (2 months free). Prefer monthly? Start Watchlist — $29/mo. This calculator stays free. Estimate only — not customs advice, not a clearance, and not a promised duty savings.
Who — Digital Empire / TariffWatch
TariffWatch is the Section 232 duty-impact calculator from Digital Empire Holdings LLC (30 N Gould St Ste N, Sheridan WY 82801), built by Andy Gaber. This page is for importers, operations, and compliance people who need an order-of-magnitude exposure figure before they decide whether to watch the next BIS inclusion notice or send a book to a licensed customs broker.
We are not a licensed customs broker under 19 CFR 111, not CBP, not BIS, and not Digital Empire posing as a government desk. Support is support@tariffwatch.app. There is no in-app chat team and no fabricated broker license.
How — deterministic in-browser estimate
- Enter ≤10 HTS codes plus annual customs value and country of origin. Ten codes is the honest free-tool cap — not a full import book.
- Same engine, no LLM. The widget calls
calculateDutyImpact()inlib/tariffwatch/duty-impact, which sits on the same deterministiclib/pick3/exposure-calculatorengine as the free checker. Current Section 232 annex rates plus additional exposure if FR 2026-15961 proposals are finalized. Country of origin applies a published load-factor stack — order-of-magnitude, not a 10-digit classification. - Same inputs → same number. Even-split allocation across valid codes. Zero outbound fetch in the browser. We label the limits: heading-level match, not a broker-quality rate table.
Why — plan before the next BIS notice
Use this estimate to decide whether Section 232 exposure is large enough to watch. The FR 2026-15961 public-comment window closed Aug 27, 2026 — that deadline is historical, not open. Commerce and USTR can still add derivative articles by notice, on no fixed schedule. Watchlist is a Monday digest of newly published BIS Federal Register notices whose titles match HTS codes you add (titles only, so a notice can be missed). It does not reopen the closed Aug 27 docket and it does not file comments for you.
Primary-source hierarchy
Read sources in this order. The calculator summarizes them; it does not replace them.
- HTS (what the article is). USITC Harmonized Tariff Schedule — heading and statistical suffix. Classification is still a broker judgment.
- Presidential proclamations / eCFR (what the current 232 rate is). Federal Register presidential proclamations and the implementing investigation rules at 15 CFR Part 705.
- FR 2026-15961 / BIS docket (what was proposed). Federal Register 2026-15961 and regulations.gov docket BIS-2026-0331. Comment window closed Aug 27, 2026. Watchlist watches the next notice.
What this is not
- Not a customs classification.
- Not a legally binding rate determination.
- No duty-savings guarantee — we will not promise you save $X.
- A licensed customs broker should verify every 10-digit HTS classification and the specific proclamation status before you file an entry.
By Andy Gaber, Digital Empire Holdings LLC · Published: Aug 20, 2026 · Updated: Sep 14, 2026 · Editorial policy
What Section 232 actually is (and what it is not)
Section 232 refers to §232 of the Trade Expansion Act of 1962, codified at 19 U.S.C. § 1862, which authorizes the President to adjust imports of an article — through tariffs, quotas, or other means — when the Secretary of Commerce finds that the article is being imported in such quantities or under such circumstances as to threaten to impair the national security. The implementing regulations sit at 15 CFR Part 705, which BIS uses to conduct the investigations that produce the reports underpinning any Section 232 action. Section 232 is a national-security statute in name, but its practical effect since 2018 has been to layer a tariff schedule on top of the base MFN rate on steel and aluminum articles and their derivatives.
The currently-in-effect Section 232 tariff regime on steel and aluminum comes from Presidential Proclamations 9704 (aluminum) and 9705 (steel), issued in 2018, and their subsequent modifications through 2026 (most recently Proclamation 11021, effective Apr 6 2026, which applies the duty to full customs value, and Proclamation 11032, effective Jun 8 2026, whose annexes set 50%, 25% or a 15% all-in rate depending on the article). The full history of Section 232 proclamations is maintained in the Federal Register presidential-proclamations index. The specific tariff rates that flow through to CBP entry filings are maintained in the USITC Harmonized Tariff Schedule online reference tool.
Why country of origin matters even when the Section 232 rate does not change
The Section 232 rate on an article is set by the Proclamation 11032 annex that lists its HTS code (Annex I-A 50%, I-B 25%, I-C 25%, III 15% all-in including MFN, shown at that maximum because MFN is not modeled) and, outside Annex I-C, it does NOT change based on where the article was made, except UK products made from UK-melted steel or UK-smelted/cast aluminum: 25% instead of 50% on Annex I-A and 15% instead of 25% on Annex I-B under Proclamation 11021 (91 FR 18201, effective April 6, 2026); not modeled. What DOES change based on country of origin is the stacked tariff regime layered on top of Section 232. A China-origin shipment on chapter 72 carries not only the Section 232 annex rate (50% for Annex I-A) but also the applicable Section 301 rate (7.5% to 25% depending on List assignment) and, at various points during 2025-2026, additional IEEPA duties. USMCA qualification does not reduce the Section 232 duty on Annex I-A, I-B or III articles; for Annex I-C mobile industrial equipment, USMCA goods pay 25% on non-US content (with a 15% minimum) through December 31, 2027. South Korea's former steel quota was replaced in March 2025, so Korean steel pays the same annex rate. Partner-country caps (EU, Japan and others) also apply only to Annex I-C.
The country-of-origin load factor this calculator applies is an order-of-magnitude summary of that stacked regime, calibrated to reflect the typical shape of the compounded rate for a given origin. It is NOT a substitute for the line-by-line rate a licensed customs broker would apply to a specific shipment.
The Aug 27, 2026 BIS comment window (closed)
On Aug 6, 2026, the Bureau of Industry and Security (BIS) published Federal Register notice 2026-15961 proposing to extend Section 232 tariff coverage to 14 additional derivative articles. The public-comment window closed at 11:59 PM Eastern Time on Thursday Aug 27, 2026. Comments were submitted through regulations.gov docket BIS-2026-0331. If the proposals are finalized in substantially the form BIS proposed, the rate is per article (25% for most; 15% for agricultural trailers; Proclamation 11032 mobile-equipment rates for cranes and lifting frames; 50% on container value only for filled steel containers), replacing rather than stacking on any Section 232 rate already in force. That window is no longer open. New derivative notices under Proclamation 11021 follow no fixed schedule, and Commerce and USTR may or may not seek comment before one applies.
How TariffWatch monitors this in production
TariffWatch monitors the Federal Register API for new BIS notices on Section 232, drafts personalized comment letters for the specific HTS heading each customer’s exposure falls within (organized around the five comment topics listed in FR 2026-15961), and returns each letter as a downloadable PDF. The 14 per-article comment-letter templates linked from the calculator remain as historical starting points for FR 2026-15961 and as a format for the next inclusion notice — they do not reopen the closed Aug 27 window. Watchlist ($29/mo) is a Monday digest of newly published BIS notices whose titles match HTS codes you add (titles only, so a notice can be missed).
Limits of this estimate
A few honest limits to name out loud. First, this calculator matches your code against the Proclamation 11032 annex entries as published (4-, 6-, 8- or 10-digit). A code less specific than the listed entries is shown as unconfirmed at 0% (unless the only line under it is the listed .00 child), and Annex I-C partner-country and USMCA rates are not modeled. Second, the total annual customs value is split evenly across valid codes for per-line exposure — most real import books are lopsided, with one or two codes dominating the value. Third, the country-of-origin load factor is a summary of a stacked regime, not the line-by-line rate table a customs broker would apply. Treat the output as an order-of-magnitude estimate for planning purposes, not as a customs-broker-quality classification.
Frequently asked questions
How is this different from the /tariffwatch/checker page?
The existing free Section 232 Exposure Checker takes HTS codes plus total annual customs value and returns the in-force Section 232 annex-rate exposure plus BIS-14 proposed-article overlap. This Duty Impact Calculator adds two things on top: (1) a country-of-origin dropdown that applies a scenario multiplier for tariffs stacked on top of Section 232 for some origins (Section 301 for China; no reduction is applied for any origin, because the partner-country and USMCA caps under Proclamation 11032 apply only to Annex I-C mobile industrial equipment), and (2) an explicit side-by-side "current vs if the FR 2026-15961 proposals are finalized" figure with per-BIS-14-article deep links into the /tariffwatch/comment-letter builder for the specific proposal your codes matched. The FR 2026-15961 comment window closed Aug 27, 2026; those templates remain as historical starting points, not a still-open deadline.
Where do the country load factors come from?
For most articles, country of origin does not change the Section 232 rate. Since June 8, 2026 the rate is set by the annex that lists the HTS code under Proclamation 11032 (91 FR 34085): Annex I-A 50%, Annex I-B 25%, Annex I-C 25%, Annex III a temporary 15%, Annex II removed, on the full customs value (Proclamation 11021, effective April 6, 2026). The exceptions are (1) Annex I-C mobile industrial equipment, where a 15% all-in cap for certain partner countries and a USMCA non-US-content rule apply through December 31, 2027, and (2) UK products made from UK-melted steel or UK-smelted/cast aluminum: 25% instead of 50% on Annex I-A and 15% instead of 25% on Annex I-B under Proclamation 11021 (91 FR 18201, effective April 6, 2026); not modeled. The calculator does not model either reduction. What country of origin does change is what stacks on top, such as Section 301 for China. The load factor is 1.0 (no change) for Canada, Mexico, the EU, Japan and South Korea, and above 1.0 where other duties typically stack. For a lead-magnet calculator this is an order-of-magnitude estimate, not a customs classification — a licensed customs broker should verify every 10-digit HTS classification and the specific proclamation status for each shipment before you file.
What are the 14 BIS-proposed derivative articles?
On Aug 6, 2026, the Bureau of Industry and Security (BIS) published Federal Register notice 2026-15961 proposing to extend Section 232 tariff coverage to 14 additional derivative articles: aluminum powder, brass-wind musical instrument parts, welding-machine parts, floor safes, insulated electric-conductor cables, fire extinguishers, heat-exchange-unit parts, hydraulic engine parts, mobile lifting frames on tires and straddle carriers, other self-propelled cranes, tanker trailers, agricultural trailers, other trailers, and filled steel containers. The public-comment window on that proposal closed at 11:59 PM Eastern Time on Thursday Aug 27, 2026. If the proposals are finalized in substantially the form BIS proposed, the proposed rate is per article (25% for most; 15% for agricultural trailers; Proclamation 11032 mobile-equipment rates for cranes and lifting frames; 50% on container value only for filled steel containers), and it replaces rather than stacks on any Section 232 rate already in force.
What does "additional exposure if proposals pass" actually model?
The calculator walks each of your HTS codes against the 14 proposed derivative articles from the BIS notice. If any of your codes matches one of the 14 articles by HTS-heading prefix, the calculator adds the increase from that article's proposed rate (25% for most, 15% for agricultural trailers, the mobile-equipment rate for cranes and lifting frames) over the rate already in force, never stacked on it and never above the 15% all-in cap for Annex III codes, multiplied by your allocated per-code annual customs value, multiplied by the country load factor. Filled steel containers are not priced because that duty applies to container value only. The result is what your annual duty bill would look like if the proposals become final. It does not model the alternative-recommendation exclusions that a well-drafted comment letter might carve out for your specific facts — that is what the /tariffwatch/comment-letter builder is for.
Why does the calculator only accept up to 10 HTS codes?
To keep the free tool honest as a lead magnet rather than a paid customs-broker replacement. A real 8-figure import book has thousands of HTS lines and needs a proper classification engine, not an in-browser calculator. Ten codes is enough to model the largest exposure lines on most SMB import books and to give a directionally-correct order-of-magnitude estimate for someone deciding whether to invest in either continuous Section 232 monitoring or a real classification review.
Is this a customs classification?
No. Nothing on this page is a customs classification or a legally-binding rate determination. HTS classification is a judgment call that requires human expertise, and the correct 10-digit subheading for a specific article depends on facts (composition, use, packaging, chapter notes) that no calculator can capture. This is an order-of-magnitude illustrative estimate for planning purposes only. A licensed customs broker should verify every classification before you file an entry.
Primary sources referenced above: 19 U.S.C. § 1862 (Cornell LII); 15 CFR Part 705 (eCFR); Federal Register 2026-15961 (BIS Aug 27 proposals); regulations.gov docket BIS-2026-0331; USITC Harmonized Tariff Schedule online reference; CBP — Section 232 tariffs (implementation guidance).