Trimtabist

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

What Taiwan actually pays on of copper

Importers of HS 8481.90 (of copper) from Taiwan actually paid 13.99% on the taxed portion of the value in 2026-06 — 13.69% across everything shipped, taxed or not. Measured from official duty receipts, not the rulebook: the statutory MFN base rate on this code is 3%. Over the window the rate on the taxed portion moved 3.55% → 13.99%, with the largest single step -7.1pp in 2026-03. Measured from official US duty receipts · as-of 2026-06 · confidence: measured, not modelled. The HTS base rate is 3% — importers actually paid 13.99%, so the trade-war overlay added 11 pts, measured at the border (not a summed rulebook estimate). Reproduce exactly: tariff_story(hs: "8481.90", origin: "Taiwan") · see it at trimtabist.com/tariffs

Taiwan paid 13.99% on HS 8481.90 — the schedule says 3% Collected rate on the taxed value — measured from US duty receipts, not the rulebook 13.99% HTS base 3% — the rulebook floor2023-072024-122026-06 Measured · as-of 2026-06 · Trimtab US Tariffs & Trade Ledger · trimtabist.com

HS 8481.90. The schedule base rate is 3%; importers from Taiwan actually paid 13.99% on the dutiable value in 2026-06 — the trade-war overlay added 11 points, measured at the border. Measured, not modelled.

Over the window the collected rate moved 3.55% (2023-07) → 13.99% (2026-06), largest single step -7.1pp in 2026-03.

Landed cost vs the benchmark

Taiwan's lower duty (13.69% vs 26.98%) lets it price up to 11.7% above China at the factory and still match on duty-inclusive customs cost. But on the LATEST measured prices, China actually lands cheaper — $7.43/kg vs $23.16/kg (duty in, freight out).

Go deeper

All goods from Taiwan · the whole tariff ledger · 4 CBP rulings cite this code · reproduce: tariff_story(hs: "8481.90", origin: "Taiwan") via /connect. Not customs or legal advice.

In print: “What Taiwan actually pays on of copper (HS 8481.90)” — Trimtab US Trade Ledger (TT-010 Duty receipts), US Census imports-for-consumption records — trimtabist.com/tariff/848190/taiwan