Tea in its plain form (HTS heading 0902) has carried no new US tariff from India, Japan, Sri Lanka, Kenya or Argentina since November 13, 2025, when Executive Order 14360 exempted it from the reciprocal tariffs. Chinese tea still pays the 7.5% Section 301 duty in place since 2020, down from a 152.5% stack in April 2025. US tea imports rose 7.2% in value in 2025 to $620.4 million while volume fell 9.3%, and the BLS tea index was up only 0.4% year over year in August 2026.
What tea pays now, by country
The rates below cover tea itself: green, black and oolong in HTS heading 0902, in retail packs or bulk. They do not cover bottled tea, tea extracts or herbal "teas", which sit in other headings.
As of October 1, 2026, three exemption lists cover tea:
- The reciprocal-tariff exemption in Executive Order 14360, signed November 14, 2025 and effective for goods entered on or after 12:01 a.m. on November 13, 2025. It lists all six 0902 subheadings.
- Annex II of Proclamation 11012, the 10% Section 122 surcharge that ran from February 24 to July 24, 2026. The same six tea codes are on the exempt list.
- Annex II, Part A of the USTR forced-labor Section 301 notice, the 10% and 12.5% tariffs on 60 economies that took effect July 24, 2026. All six 0902 codes are exempt for every investigated economy.
What remains is the normal duty and, for China only, the old trade-war tariff. Under the Harmonized Tariff Schedule, plain green and black tea enter free; only flavored green tea (0902.10.10 and 0902.20.10) carries a 6.4% general rate. Chinese tea is on Section 301 List 4A, heading 9903.88.15, which still adds 7.5%.
| Origin | Extra US duty on tea, Oct 1, 2026 | Normal (MFN) duty | Why |
|---|---|---|---|
| China | 7.5% | 0% (6.4% flavored green) | Section 301 List 4A since 2019 |
| India | 0% | 0% (6.4% flavored green) | EO 14360; Section 301 Annex II |
| Japan | 0% | 0% (6.4% flavored green) | EO 14360; Section 301 Annex II |
| Sri Lanka | 0% | 0% | EO 14360; Section 301 Annex II |
| Kenya | 0% | 0% | EO 14360; not one of the 60 Section 301 economies |
| Argentina | 0% | 0% | EO 14360; Section 301 Annex II |
Sources: EO 14360, USTR Annex II, USITC HTS. Japan's flavored-green rate under its trade agreement is 3.2% per the HTS special column.
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How the 2025 rates moved, step by step
Tea was not exempt for most of 2025. The April 2, 2025 order put a 10% baseline on almost every country from April 5 and listed higher country rates: 34% for China, 26% for India, 24% for Japan, 44% for Sri Lanka. Kenya and Argentina were not on the higher list, so they stayed at 10%.
The higher country rates were paused, and Executive Order 14326 replaced them from August 7, 2025: India 25%, Japan 15%, Sri Lanka 20%. India then got a second 25% under Executive Order 14329, which applied 21 days after its August 6 signing, so August 27. Indian tea paid 50% from then until November 12.
| Origin | Apr 5 – Aug 6, 2025 | Aug 7 – Nov 12, 2025 | Nov 13, 2025 – now |
|---|---|---|---|
| India | 10% | 25%, then 50% from Aug 27 | 0% |
| Japan | 10% | 15% | 0% |
| Sri Lanka | 10% | 20% | 0% |
| Kenya | 10% | 10% | 0% |
| Argentina | 10% | 10% | 0% |
Sources: EO 14257 Annex I, EO 14326 Annex I, EO 14329, EO 14360. Rates are additional to the MFN duty.
The Indian 50% did not survive the November exemption. EO 14329 itself says its 25% does not apply to goods listed in Annex II of the April order "as amended", and EO 14360 added tea to that annex. India's separate oil penalty was removed for all goods from February 7, 2026 by Executive Order 14384.
China: from 152.5% to 7.5%
Chinese tea took the hardest hit because three tariffs stacked:
- Section 301 List 4A: added in the August 2019 notice, cut to 7.5% on February 14, 2020 by the Phase One modification. Still in force.
- Fentanyl IEEPA tariff: 10% from February 4, 2025 under EO 14195, raised to 20% by EO 14228 signed March 3, cut back to 10% on November 10, 2025 by EO 14357.
- Reciprocal tariff: escalated to 125% in April 2025, reset to 10% from May 14, 2025 by EO 14298, and removed for tea on November 13.
At the April peak, Tea Association of the USA president Peter Goggi told FoodNavigator that Chinese tea products "are being assessed at a 152.5% tariff". That is 125% + 20% + 7.5%.
| Period | Reciprocal | Fentanyl | Section 301 | Total on Chinese tea |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| April 2025 peak – May 13, 2025 | 125% | 20% | 7.5% | 152.5% |
| May 14 – Nov 9, 2025 | 10% | 20% | 7.5% | 37.5% |
| Nov 10 – 12, 2025 | 10% | 10% | 7.5% | 27.5% |
| Nov 13, 2025 – Feb 2026 | 0% | 10% | 7.5% | 17.5% |
| After IEEPA ended, Feb 2026 – now | 0% | 0% | 7.5% | 7.5% |
Add 6.4% to each row for flavored green tea. China is in the forced-labor Section 301 action at 12.5%, but tea is on the exempt list, so that tariff does not reach a Chinese oolong or puer.
The Supreme Court ruling and the 2026 replacements
On February 20, 2026 the Supreme Court decided Learning Resources, Inc. v. Trump, holding that the International Emergency Economic Powers Act "does not authorize the President to impose tariffs." That removed the legal basis for the reciprocal, fentanyl and Russian-oil tariffs.
The same day, the President signed Executive Order 14389, ordering agencies to stop collecting the IEEPA duties "as soon as practicable", and Proclamation 11012, a 10% surcharge under Section 122 of the Trade Act for 150 days, from February 24 through July 24, 2026. Tea was exempt.
When Section 122 lapsed, USTR's forced-labor Section 301 tariffs applied from July 24, 2026: 10% on 17 economies including India, Indonesia and Sri Lanka, 12.5% on most others including China. Tea is exempt again, so for a tea buyer the 2026 changes netted to zero.
Refunds go to importers, not shoppers. CBP opened its CAPE refund tool for IEEPA duties on April 20, 2026; importers of record and their brokers file. Refunds are paid to the importer or a party it designates; nothing in the process sends money to shoppers.
What the import data shows
UN Comtrade data reported by the US shows $620.4 million of 0902 imports in 2025, up 7.2% from $578.6 million in 2024. Volume fell 9.3%, from 123.4 million kg to 111.9 million kg.
Put the two together and the average declared import value rose from $4.69 per kg to $5.54 per kg, up 18%. Part of that is mix, not price: Japan's share jumped.
| Origin | 2024 value ($M) | 2025 value ($M) | 2025 volume (million kg) | 2025 $/kg |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Japan | 110.4 | 190.3 | 4.70 | 40.49 |
| India | 68.5 | 63.0 | 12.11 | 5.20 |
| China | 59.6 | 55.9 | 11.43 | 4.89 |
| Argentina | 62.7 | 54.5 | 40.83 | 1.33 |
| Sri Lanka | 49.3 | 48.5 | 5.92 | 8.19 |
| Kenya | 5.7 | 3.9 | 1.31 | 2.98 |
Source: UN Comtrade, US imports of HS 0902, 2024 annual and 2025 monthly totals, retrieved October 1, 2026. Values are customs values in US dollars.
- Japan rose 72% in value, to $40.49 per kg, while paying 10–15% for most of 2025. Japan ships green tea, including matcha; our matcha grades guide covers the 2024–2026 shortage.
- Argentina shipped 36% of the 2025 tonnage at $1.33 per kg, the cheapest leaf on the list.
- India and China each lost about 6–8% of value in 2025, the two origins that paid the highest stacked rates.
The first half of 2026 ran ahead of 2025: $332.0 million against $296.0 million, up 12.1%, on 6.8% less volume.
What shoppers paid: the BLS tea index
The Consumer Price Index tracks tea inside the item "other beverage materials including tea". It barely moved compared with coffee or with prices overall.
| 12 months to | Tea and other beverage materials | Coffee | All items |
|---|---|---|---|
| August 2025 | +2.4% | +20.9% | +2.9% |
| August 2026 | +0.4% | +6.1% | +3.4% |
Sources: BLS CPI-U, US city average, not seasonally adjusted: CUUR0000SEFP02, CUUR0000SEFP01, CUUR0000SA0. BLS published no October 2025 value for these series.
The index peaked at 168.740 in November 2025, the month the tea exemption landed, and stood at 167.143 in August 2026. Over the whole tariff period, January 2025 to August 2026, it rose 3.2%.
Read it with one caveat: the BLS item is not tea alone. Its title is "other beverage materials including tea", so a tea-only price move is diluted by the other products in it. Even so, the 2025 tariff peak does not show up as a jump. For your own cost, check the tea price index or run your numbers in the tea cost calculator. Our loose leaf vs tea bags breakdown prices a cup at current shelf prices.
Frequently Asked Questions
Is there a tariff on tea imported into the US right now?
Not on plain tea from India, Japan, Sri Lanka, Kenya or Argentina. Tea in HTS heading 0902 has been exempt from the reciprocal tariffs since November 13, 2025, and is on the exempt lists for the 2026 Section 122 surcharge and the July 2026 forced-labor Section 301 tariffs. Flavored green tea still pays its normal 6.4% duty.
What tariff does Chinese tea pay?
7.5%, from Section 301 List 4A, plus 6.4% if it is flavored green tea. In April and early May 2025 the stack reached 152.5%. It fell to 37.5% from May 14, 2025, to 17.5% from November 13, and to 7.5% once the IEEPA duties ended in February 2026.
Did tea prices go up because of tariffs?
Import value per kg rose about 18% in 2025, from $4.69 to $5.54, but much of that is mix: Japan's high-value green tea grew 72% in value while cheaper Argentine and Indian tea fell. The BLS index that contains tea rose 2.4% in the year to August 2025 and 0.4% in the year to August 2026, below overall inflation both years.
Will I get a refund for tariffs on tea I bought?
No. IEEPA refunds go to the importer of record, or a party it designates, through CBP's CAPE process, which opened April 20, 2026. Tea bought after November 13, 2025 carried no reciprocal tariff from most origins anyway.
