Trimtabist

The independent observatory for US trade — ship movements, customs records and policy events, measured and tested.

What Vietnam actually pays on of cotton

Importers of HS 6108.31 (of cotton) from Vietnam actually paid 18.22% on the taxed portion of the value in 2026-06 — 18.22% across everything shipped, taxed or not. Measured from official duty receipts, not the rulebook: the statutory MFN base rate on this code is 8.5%. Over the window the rate on the taxed portion moved 8.5% → 18.22%, with the largest single step +7.3pp in 2025-09. Measured from official US duty receipts · as-of 2026-06 · confidence: measured, not modelled. The HTS base rate is 8.5% — importers actually paid 18.22%, so the trade-war overlay added 9.7 pts, measured at the border (not a summed rulebook estimate). Reproduce exactly: tariff_story(hs: "6108.31", origin: "Vietnam") · see it at trimtabist.com/tariffs

Vietnam paid 18.22% on HS 6108.31 — the schedule says 8.5% Collected rate on the taxed value — measured from US duty receipts, not the rulebook 18.22% HTS base 8.5% — the rulebook floor2023-072024-122026-06 Measured · as-of 2026-06 · Trimtab US Tariffs & Trade Ledger · trimtabist.com

HS 6108.31. The schedule base rate is 8.5%; importers from Vietnam actually paid 18.22% on the dutiable value in 2026-06 — the trade-war overlay added 9.7 points, measured at the border. Measured, not modelled.

Over the window the collected rate moved 8.5% (2023-07) → 18.22% (2026-06), largest single step +7.3pp in 2025-09.

Landed cost vs the benchmark

Vietnam's lower duty (18.22% vs 26.01%) lets it price up to 6.6% above China at the factory and still match on duty-inclusive customs cost. But on the LATEST measured prices, China actually lands cheaper — $3.13/kg vs $13.56/kg (duty in, freight out).

Go deeper

All goods from Vietnam · the whole tariff ledger · 2 CBP rulings cite this code · reproduce: tariff_story(hs: "6108.31", origin: "Vietnam") via /connect. Not customs or legal advice.

In print: “What Vietnam actually pays on of cotton (HS 6108.31)” — Trimtab US Trade Ledger (TT-010 Duty receipts), US Census imports-for-consumption records — trimtabist.com/tariff/610831/vietnam