Post-Reciprocal Tariff Ruling: Which HTS Rate Columns Still Carry Elevated Duties and How to Update Your Systems

A federal court has struck down the broad "reciprocal" tariffs implemented under the Trump administration, but the ruling doesn't restore pre-2025 rates across the board. Multiple sector-specific tariff regimes remain in effect, meaning compliance teams can't simply roll back their duty calculation logic. Here's what actually changed, which systems need attention, and what your team should prioritize now.

What Changed

The court's decision invalidates the blanket reciprocal tariff mechanism that applied variable rates based on trading partner policies. However, several elevated duty structures remain legally intact:

Still in effect: Section 232 tariffs on steel (25%) and aluminum (10%), Section 301 tariffs on Chinese-origin goods (ranging from 7.5% to 25% across thousands of HTS codes), and various antidumping/countervailing duties on specific commodities.

Industries still facing higher rates include steel and aluminum products (HTS Chapter 72, 73, 76), electronics and machinery with China-origin components (HTS Chapters 84, 85), automotive parts subject to Section 232 extensions, and solar panels and washing machines under safeguard tariffs.

The reciprocal tariff rate column—often implemented as a supplemental duty field in customs systems—should now return null or zero for most trading partners. But your Section 232, Section 301, and AD/CVD logic must remain fully operational.

Which Systems Are Affected

If your customs brokerage software or ERP integration implemented reciprocal tariffs as a separate rate component, you'll need to audit the following:

Duty calculation engines: Remove or disable the reciprocal tariff lookup. Confirm that the base MFN rate, Section 232 rate, Section 301 rate, and AD/CVD rates are still being summed correctly.
HTS data feeds: Any API or flat-file feed that included a "reciprocal_rate" or equivalent field should now return 0 or be deprecated. Check your schema for orphaned fields.
Entry summary logic: CBP entry summaries (CF-7501) should no longer include reciprocal tariff line items. Validate that your 01 record duty calculations match CBP expectations.
Country-of-origin flags: The reciprocal tariff system relied heavily on COO determination. That logic is still critical for Section 301 and AD/CVD—don't remove it entirely.

Data field check: If you're consuming TradeFacts.io's HTS API, the special_rates array will reflect current Section 232/301 rates. Reciprocal tariff flags have been deprecated as of the February 2026 data release.

What To Do Now

Compliance engineering teams should take the following steps immediately:

Audit your rate hierarchy: Confirm that your system correctly prioritizes AD/CVD rates over Section 301, and Section 301 over base MFN. The removal of reciprocal tariffs shouldn't change this hierarchy, but it's a good time to verify.
Regression test Chapter 72, 73, 76, 84, and 85 entries: These are the highest-risk chapters for rate calculation errors given the overlapping tariff programs.
Update your data pipeline: If you're pulling HTS data from multiple sources, ensure they're all aligned on the post-ruling rate structure. Stale data will cause entry rejections or duty overpayments.
Document the change: Your compliance audit trail should reflect when reciprocal tariff logic was disabled and which rate sources are now authoritative.

The tariff landscape remains complex even without the reciprocal mechanism. Section 232 and 301 tariffs aren't going anywhere, and AD/CVD orders continue to expand. Automated, API-driven tariff data isn't optional—it's the only way to keep pace.

Start a free 30-day trial of TradeFacts.io's HTS and tariff data API at /contact.html.