USDA withdrew the March 1, 2026 cotton import assessment decrease; HSU 2606 restores prior cotton HTS assessment rates effective Feb 26, 2026.
USDA AMS has withdrawn the direct final rule that would have reduced the Cotton Board supplemental assessment on imports effective March 1, 2026. CBP’s HSU 2606 removes the previously loaded March 1, 2026 cotton rates and restores the prior cotton assessment rates in the HTS. Brokers must continue to apply the existing (pre‑March 1, 2026) cotton assessment rates for all covered HTS lines effective February 26, 2026 onward.
USDA’s Agricultural Marketing Service has withdrawn the direct final rule titled “Cotton Board Rules and Regulations: Adjusting Supplemental Assessment on Imports (2025 Amendments),” which had been scheduled to decrease the supplemental assessment rate on cotton imports effective March 1, 2026. Due to a significant adverse comment, the rule is withdrawn effective February 26, 2026, and will be formally published March 2, 2026. As a result, the anticipated lower assessment rates for cotton imports will not take effect.
To implement this change in CBP systems, Harmonized System Update (HSU) 2606 was created on February 27, 2026. HSU 2606 removes the updated March 1, 2026 cotton assessment rates that had been loaded in anticipation of the now‑withdrawn rule and reverts the affected cotton tariff lines to the previously established cotton assessment rates. The update includes 5,122 harmonized tariff records and 24,062 ABI records, indicating broad HTS coverage for cotton and related products.
For customs brokers and trade compliance teams, this is directly relevant to import entry calculations. Any programming or internal tables that were updated to apply reduced cotton supplemental assessment rates as of March 1, 2026 must be reversed. Brokers must ensure that their ABI software has incorporated HSU 2606 so that the system continues to apply the pre‑March 1, 2026 cotton assessment rates for all covered HTS lines. Entries filed for cotton and cotton‑containing products on or after February 26, 2026 should reflect the prior, higher assessment levels, not the withdrawn reduced rates.
Importers of cotton products should be informed that the expected reduction in cotton import assessments will not occur, and their landed cost projections may need adjustment. Compliance teams should verify that no test or production entries are using the superseded March 1, 2026 rates and, if any were applied in error, be prepared to address potential under‑collection of assessments. For detailed questions on the cotton assessments themselves, AMS directs inquiries to CottonRP@usda.gov, while technical questions on the HTS update should go to HTSAdmin@cbp.dhs.gov.