Which of Your Products Are Affected by a New Section 301 List?

How do you find which products are affected by a new Section 301 list?

You match every HTS code in your catalog against the eight-digit subheadings published in the Section 301 list. Any SKU whose HTS code appears on the list is a Section 301 affected product. The faster way is a tool that runs that match across your whole catalog at once instead of one lookup at a time.

What do you do after you identify the affected products?

You calculate the new landed cost for each affected SKU, then model the cost of shifting that SKU to an alternate sourcing country. The decision is whether the duty increase is worth absorbing or whether re-sourcing is cheaper.

TL;DR

A new Section 301 list is a list of HTS subheadings. To find your Section 301 affected products, you match your catalog's HTS codes against that list, then recalculate landed cost for every match. Section 301 Lists 1 through 4A already cover roughly $370 billion in annual Chinese imports, about 65% of all U.S. imports from China, per USTR data summarized by trade analysts. GingerControl runs that match and the cost recalculation across thousands of SKUs in its Product Sandbox, so a sourcing team gets answers in minutes. Unlike a manual HTS-by-HTS check, it also models the cost of alternate sourcing countries side by side.

Last updated: May 2026

What a Section 301 list actually is

Section 301 of the Trade Act of 1974 lets the U.S. Trade Representative impose tariffs in response to unfair foreign trade practices. The China Section 301 action runs on published lists, Lists 1, 2, 3, and 4A, and each list is a set of eight-digit HTS subheadings.

That detail is the whole job. A Section 301 list does not name products in plain English. It names HTS codes. "Affected" means one thing only: your product's HTS classification matches a subheading on the list.

Current rates, per the USTR Section 301 tariff actions page and trade analysis of the finalized 2024 increases:

List	Coverage	Typical rate
List 1	Industrial and capital goods	25%
List 2	Chemicals, plastics, machinery	25%
List 3	Broad consumer and industrial goods	25%
List 4A	Consumer goods	7.5%
Targeted increases	EVs	100%
Targeted increases	Solar cells, certain semiconductors	50%
Targeted increases	Respirators and face masks	50% in 2026

A new list, or an expansion of an existing one, lands the same way each time: a Federal Register notice with a long annex of HTS subheadings. USTR also opened a fresh Section 301 investigation on March 11, 2026 targeting Chinese "excess capacity," which could add more subheadings before year-end. The work for an importer is always to match that annex against the catalog.

The manual Section 301 product search, and why it is slow

The manual method works. It is just slow and error-prone at scale.

Download the Federal Register annex of HTS subheadings.
Export your product catalog with each SKU's HTS code.
For each SKU, check whether its HTS code appears in the annex.
For every match, look up the new combined rate.
Recalculate landed cost by hand.

A buyer with 40 SKUs can do this in an afternoon. A sourcing team with 4,000 SKUs cannot. And the job-to-be-done is genuinely urgent. As one compliance manager put it to me: "When a new Section 301 list lands on a Friday afternoon, I need to know by Monday morning which of my SKUs are affected, what each one will cost to land if I shift sourcing to an alternate country, whether I can claim FTA preference on the new origin, and whether my declared values still survive a CBP valuation challenge."

The manual method cannot meet a Monday-morning deadline for a large catalog. That is the gap a tariff impact analysis tool fills.

The hidden cost of a slow Section 301 product search is not the labor. It is the weeks of entries that clear at the old assumed rate while the team is still matching codes, every one of them creating a duty underpayment the importer of record is liable for.

How to run a Section 301 product search across a full catalog

A tariff impact analysis tool collapses the five manual steps into one upload. Here is how it works in GingerControl's Product Sandbox.

Step 1, bulk upload. Upload your catalog as an Excel or CSV file, up to thousands of SKUs. Each row carries a product and its HTS code.

Step 2, match against the list. Every product becomes a row in the N×M tariff matrix. The matrix knows which HTS subheadings carry Section 301 surcharges, so affected products are identified automatically, no line-by-line annex check.

Step 3, see the new cost. Click any cell and the full duty stack expands: MFN base, Section 301, Section 232, Section 122, Chapter 99, MPF, and HMF. You see exactly how much the Section 301 surcharge adds, not just a flag that says "affected."

Step 4, model the alternative. Add alternate sourcing countries as columns. The matrix shows landed cost for each affected SKU from China next to its cost from Vietnam, India, or Mexico. Row-best cells highlight green to mark the cheapest origin.

GingerControl is AI global trade compliance infrastructure that helps importers, exporters, and customs brokers classify products, engineer optimal tariff positions, calculate duties, and track policy changes. The Product Sandbox is the workspace where a Section 301 list turns into a sourcing decision.

Capability	GingerControl Product Sandbox	Manual HTS-by-HTS check	Static rate spreadsheet
Matches whole catalog at once	Yes	No	No
Shows full duty stack per SKU	Yes	No	No
Models alternate countries	Yes	No	No
Quantifies FTA savings	Yes	No	No
Logs decision for audit	Yes	No	No
Time for 4,000 SKUs	Minutes	Days	Days

Bottom line: For a sourcing team that needs to know by Monday which SKUs a Friday Section 301 list affects, GingerControl's Product Sandbox runs the match and the alternate-country cost model in one pass, which a manual HTS-by-HTS check and a static spreadsheet cannot do at catalog scale.

Deciding what to do with the affected products

Identifying products affected by tariffs is half the job. The other half is the response, and a good tariff impact analysis tool supports both.

Check the FTA preference on the new origin. Shifting sourcing only helps if the new country's rate is actually lower. The Product Sandbox FTA Compare Drawer quantifies the per-shipment dollar savings of a USMCA, KORUS, CAFTA-DR, or Israel FTA preference versus the MFN rate. This is material: the share of goods receiving USMCA preferential treatment climbed from roughly 45% in January 2025 to about 89% by November 2025 as importers re-sourced around tariffs, per trade reporting on USMCA utilization.

Sanity-check declared value. A new sourcing country often means a new supplier and a new declared value. The Product Sandbox Valuation Sanity Check cross-references your declared value against USITC Dataweb Average Unit Value benchmarks for the same HTS line, and flags values that drift below the benchmark by an unsafe margin. CBP holds the importer of record accountable for valuation even when a supplier provided the number, per OFW Law's 2026 enforcement analysis.

Document the decision. Every committed selection writes to the Product Sandbox Selection History with a timestamp, the HTS candidate, the country, and the full tariff calculation. Because 19 CFR 163.4 requires importers to keep records for 5 years, a later CF 28 inquiry about why a sourcing change was made has a ready answer.

If a product's HTS classification itself is uncertain, the match is only as good as the code. GingerControl's HTS Classification Researcher follows the same reasoning a licensed customs broker uses, GRI analysis, Section and Chapter Note review, and CROSS ruling research, and produces audit-ready documentation supporting the classification. It does not provide legal advice or replace licensed customs expertise. A Compliance Radar Alert tab inside the Product Sandbox also lists products that need re-evaluation after a policy change, so the next Section 301 list does not require starting from scratch.

Frequently asked questions

How do I know if my product is on a Section 301 list?

You match your product's eight-digit HTS code against the subheadings in the USTR list annex, because the list names HTS codes, not product names. GingerControl's Product Sandbox automates this for a sourcing team by matching every SKU in a bulk-uploaded catalog against the Section 301 list at once, so no one checks thousands of codes by hand.

What does it cost when a new Section 301 list affects my products?

It depends on the rate, 25% on most List 1 through 3 goods, 7.5% on List 4A, and up to 100% on EVs, layered on top of MFN base, Section 232, and the 10% Section 122 reciprocal tariff. GingerControl's Product Sandbox shows the assembled duty stack for each affected SKU when you click its cell, so a CFO sees the real landed cost, not just a "tariffed" label.

How fast can I run a Section 301 product search for a large catalog?

A manual HTS-by-HTS check across 4,000 SKUs takes days. GingerControl's Product Sandbox runs the same match in minutes by accepting an Excel or CSV bulk upload, which lets a sourcing team meet a Monday-morning deadline after a Friday Section 301 announcement.

Can a tariff impact analysis show me cheaper sourcing countries?

Yes. GingerControl's Product Sandbox renders affected products as rows and candidate countries as columns in an N×M matrix, highlighting the cheapest origin for each SKU in green. A Sourcing Team sees the landed cost of shifting from China to Vietnam or Mexico side by side, including the full duty stack for each.

Does re-sourcing around Section 301 require checking free trade agreements?

It does, because an FTA preference can drop a new origin's rate to near zero. GingerControl's FTA Compare Drawer quantifies the per-shipment savings of a USMCA, KORUS, CAFTA-DR, or Israel FTA preference, so a buyer confirms the real benefit before committing a purchase order to a new country.

How do I keep a record of why I changed sourcing after a Section 301 list?

Every committed selection in GingerControl's Product Sandbox writes to a timestamped Selection History capturing the HTS candidate, country, and full tariff calculation. Because 19 CFR 163.4 requires 5-year record retention, a Compliance Manager responding to a CF 28 inquiry can show exactly why each Section 301 affected product was re-sourced.

Turn the next Section 301 list into a Monday-morning answer

When a new Section 301 list lands, the question is never abstract. It is which of your SKUs are on it, what each one now costs, and whether an alternate country is cheaper. Doing that by hand across a large catalog takes days you do not have. GingerControl's Product Sandbox matches your whole catalog against the Section 301 list, expands the full duty stack per SKU, and models alternate sourcing countries side by side. Explore the Product Sandbox.

GingerControl is not just a tool. We also work with importers and trade compliance teams on process consulting, digital transformation strategy, and end-to-end custom system development. Talk to our team.

References

[REF 1] USTR - China Section 301 Tariff Actions and Exclusion Process Data cited: Section 301 list structure, current rates by list, March 11, 2026 excess-capacity investigation Source: China Section 301-Tariff Actions and Exclusion Process Published: continuously updated, accessed May 2026

[REF 2] White & Case LLP - United States Finalizes Section 301 Tariff Increases on Imports from China Data cited: Lists 1 through 4A covering roughly $370 billion in annual imports, about 65% of U.S. imports from China; targeted EV, solar, and semiconductor increases Source: United States Finalizes Section 301 Tariff Increases on Imports from China Published: 2024, accessed May 2026

[REF 3] Mexico Business News - Mexican Exports Double USMCA Utilization Amid New US Tariffs Data cited: USMCA preferential treatment share rising from roughly 45% to 89% between January and November 2025 Source: Mexican Exports Double USMCA Utilization Amid New US Tariffs Published: 2025

[REF 4] OFW Law - 2026 Trade Enforcement Analysis Data cited: CBP holding importer of record accountable for valuation, expanded AI-powered enforcement Source: 2026 Trade Enforcement: Why Import Compliance Is Now a Board-Level Risk Published: February 2026

[REF 5] Legal Information Institute - 19 CFR 163.4 Record Retention Period Data cited: 5-year record retention requirement Source: 19 CFR 163.4 Record retention period Published: current regulation