US Landed Cost & Tariff Calculator
What a product from China really costs by the time it reaches an American customer, now that every parcel owes duty. Compare AliExpress Choice, a standard listing and a US warehouse for one order, or work out a bulk shipment against dropshipping.
$7.41 product, $4.00 shipping and $0.82 import charge (AliExpress collects about 11% at checkout on Choice). About 11 days to the door for this niche.
| Per order | Choice | From China | US warehouse |
|---|---|---|---|
| Product | $7.41 | $7.41 | $7.41 |
| Shipping | $4.00 | $4.00 | $9.88 |
| Import charge | $0.82 | $2.07 | $0.00 |
| Landed | $12.23 | $13.48 | $17.29 |
| Days to the door | 11 | 11 | 9 |
| Share of the niche | 67% | 13% | 20% |
Days and shares across the 45 led lights products we track (median days to a US address).
Against what led lights stores charge
$26.73 to $149.25 (middle $51.99), from 52 stores whose ads ran 30+ days.
Duty rate for a standard listing
LED lights, in SpotPeaks data
Winning led lights products →From the products SpotPeaks tracks, updated Oct 17. Ad figures from 52,268 ads we track, updated Oct 17.
How this is worked out
Landed cost is the product, plus shipping to the customer, plus the US import charge, on the rules every SpotPeaks product page uses. AliExpress Choice collects about 11% at checkout (checked on real orders) and ships free from $10. A standard listing from China owes the category’s duty, estimated at 15% to 40% by kind of product, and about $4 of shipping. A US warehouse owes no import charge per order; the supplier paid it when the stock came in.
A bulk shipment pays duty on the factory price, the customs processing fee (0.3464% of the goods, $34.58 to $670.86 on a formal entry, $2.77 on an informal one, from October 1, 2026), the harbor fee by sea, a broker and freight. Fulfillment defaults are the ones the SpotPeaks own-it calculator uses.
What a China-made product owes in 2026
- Base duty: the “General” rate for the product’s HTS code. 0% to about 6% for most consumer goods, far higher for clothing and shoes.
- Section 301 China lists (since 2018 and 2019): 25% on Lists 1 to 3, which cover machinery, many electronics, furniture and household goods; 7.5% on List 4A, most finished consumer goods, clothing and shoes; higher on a few strategic goods.
- The 2026 Section 301 layer: 12.5% on China-origin goods from July 24, 2026, on top of the lists. Goods covered by Section 232 (steel, aluminum, copper, vehicles, wood, semiconductors) are excluded from it.
- Customs fees: 0.3464% of the goods’ value on a formal entry, at least $34.58 and at most $670.86; $2.77 on an informal one up to $2,500. Ocean shipments add a 0.125% harbor fee.
How the rules changed
- May 2, 2025Duty-free entry for parcels under $800 ends for goods from China and Hong Kong.
- August 29, 2025Duty-free entry for low-value parcels is suspended for every country. Every dropshipped order now owes duty.
- February 20, 2026The Supreme Court rules the IEEPA tariffs unlawful (Learning Resources v. Trump). Those duties end that day and CBP refunds them.
- February 24, 2026A temporary 10% surcharge under Section 122 replaces them, limited by law to 150 days.
- June 24, 2026CBP makes the suspension of duty-free parcels indefinite for air, ocean and truck shipments.
- July 24, 2026The 10% surcharge expires and a 12.5% Section 301 duty on China-origin goods starts the same minute, on top of the older China lists. Mail loses duty-free entry too.
- October 1, 2026Customs processing fees rise for the new fiscal year: $2.77 per informal entry, $34.58 to $670.86 per formal one.
- July 1, 2027The duty-free parcel rule is repealed by law, so the change is permanent.
Checked October 9, 2026 against the published notices and trade press. These rules changed six times between May 2025 and July 2026; check USTR’s Section 301 page and CBP before a large order.
The three routes for one order
AliExpress Choice collects the import charge at checkout, about 11% of the item on the orders SpotPeaks has checked, and nothing more is due at the door. A standard listing from China owes the duty for its category on every parcel. A US warehouse owes nothing per order, because the supplier paid the duty when the stock came in; you usually pay for that in a higher price, and get delivery in days instead of a week or two.
SpotPeaks’ category estimates
Without an HTS code, the calculator estimates the duty from the product’s category, the same way every SpotPeaks product page does. Each band sits toward the upper middle of its likely range, so a real classification usually comes back cheaper:
- 15%, simple plastic and household goods
- 25%, general merchandise
- 28%, anything with a battery or a motor
- 35%, clothing, bags and fabric
- 40%, metal, batteries and tools
For a real rate, look the product up at hts.usitc.gov and switch the calculator’s duty to “From the HTS code”. Then take the landed cost to the pricing calculator.
FAQ
Do I pay import duty on dropshipped orders to the US?
Yes. Duty-free entry for parcels worth under $800 was suspended for every country on August 29, 2025, so every order shipped from China is an import that owes duty. The law ends the exemption for good on July 1, 2027.
How much is the tariff on products from China in 2026?
It depends on the product's HTS code. Most pay their base duty, plus 7.5% (List 4A) or 25% (Lists 1 to 3) under the older Section 301 China tariffs, plus 12.5% under the Section 301 action that started on July 24, 2026. A List 4A product with no base duty pays 20%; a List 3 product pays 37.5% plus its base duty.
What does AliExpress Choice charge for US import?
On the Choice orders SpotPeaks has checked out to US addresses, AliExpress added about 10.5% of the item as import charges at checkout, with nothing more due at the door. The calculator uses 11%.
Who should pay the duty, me or the customer?
You. When the carrier asks the customer to pay at the door, often with a clearance fee on top, many refuse the parcel, and you refund the order and lose the product. Choose the supplier's import-charges-included option and build it into the price.
Is customs value the price I paid or the price I sell at?
On a bulk import, duty is charged on the goods' value, which is normally what you paid the factory, without the international freight. On a dropshipped order the supplier declares the item's value. Either way it is not your retail price.
Does the calculator replace a customs broker?
No. It shows the shape of the cost and lets you plug in a real rate. The rate for a real product comes from its 10-digit HTS code, which a broker or the official schedule gives you.
Every product, landed and priced
SpotPeaks works out each product's route into the US and its import charge, then prices it with shipping, fees and ads, so the margin you see is the one you get.
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