Sourcing Signal
Iron and steel castings and articles: Landed Cost by Source Country
Which country is cheapest to import iron and steel castings and articles from? Mexico carries the lowest duty-plus-freight load (12.47% uplift), China the highest (81.67%). Every named source ranked, from USITC DataWeb. Free.
The short answer
- The cheapest place to source iron and steel castings and articles is Mexico, where duty (11.62%) plus freight (0.76%) add 12.47% to the pre-tariff price. China is the most expensive named source at a 81.67% uplift, a 69.2-point spread across lanes.
How to read this
- Each source country's rank comes from its own real effective duty and freight share (USITC DataWeb), combined as (1 + duty) x (1 + freight). Lower is a cheaper lane.
- This family reports mixed units, so there is no single dollar unit price; lanes are ranked by the duty-plus-freight uplift only.
- The FX tag is a short-window cost direction from the currency's recent drift, not a dollar recompute.
Every source country ranked, cheapest first
- 1. Mexico: 12.47% loaded (duty 11.62%, freight 0.76%), MXN trending cheaper
- 2. Canada: 17.62% loaded (duty 16.03%, freight 1.37%), CAD trending dearer
- 3. South Korea: 33.6% loaded (duty 25.53%, freight 6.43%)
- 4. Taiwan: 34.7% loaded (duty 28.3%, freight 4.99%)
- 5. Japan: 35.55% loaded (duty 30.3%, freight 4.03%), JPY trending flat
- 6. Germany: 37.05% loaded (duty 31.2%, freight 4.46%), EUR trending flat
- 7. Italy: 38.45% loaded (duty 31.01%, freight 5.68%), EUR trending flat
- 8. India: 38.85% loaded (duty 27.54%, freight 8.87%)
- 9. Vietnam: 39.64% loaded (duty 30.29%, freight 7.18%)
- 10. China: 81.67% loaded (duty 66.21%, freight 9.3%), CNY trending flat
Sourcing concentration
- China is the largest source at 27.4% of named imports; by the Herfindahl index (1310) this family is diversified.
Frequently asked questions
- What is the cheapest country to import iron and steel castings and articles from? Mexico. Its effective duty of 11.62% and freight of 0.76% add 12.47% to the pre-tariff price, the lowest combined load of any named source.
- Why is there no dollar landed cost for iron and steel castings and articles? This family's lines report mixed units of quantity, so DataWeb cannot publish one implied unit price for it. We rank lanes by the real duty-plus-freight uplift instead, which is the honest comparison until a per-family unit price lands.
- How concentrated is sourcing of iron and steel castings and articles? China is the largest source at 27.4% of named imports. By the Herfindahl index (1310), this family is diversified. A concentrated map means fewer places to move volume if one lane's duty jumps.
About this data
- A sourcing-comparison indicator, not a customs quote. Lane ranking uses each country's real effective duty and freight share from USITC DataWeb; a dollar landed cost, where shown, scales the family's average import unit price and does not price a specific shipment. FX is a short-window cost direction, not a currency recompute. Confirm classification and duty with a licensed broker before you buy.
Last reviewed 2026-05-12.