Market Data

What Tariffs Add to a Machine Purchase: Rates on Imported Capex

A machine tool's sticker price is not its landed price. Here is what USITC calculated-duty data reports for imported equipment.

The General-column MFN lines for tracked machine tools span 0%–5.8%. In 2025, USITC reported observed effective calculated-duty rates of 9.45% for metal-cutting machines, 10.7% for forming machines, and 14.1% for molds and dies. Each is a family aggregate across product and entry mixes, not a rate quote for a particular machine.

• Metal-cutting machine tools: 9.45%
• Metal-forming machine tools: 10.7%
• Molds and die sets: 14.1%
• Welding equipment: 10.84%

Sensitivity only: applying the family's 9.45% observed aggregate to a hypothetical $400,000 customs value produces $38K. That is a scenario amount, not the machine's expected or legally determined duty; classification, origin, valuation, preferences, and additional provisions must be verified separately.

Folding duty into a capex decision

• Verify the exact HTS classification, country of origin, customs value, preference claim, and applicable additional provisions.
• Use family and country aggregates only to bound sensitivity cases; do not use them as an entry quote.
• Model verified duty separately from freight, rigging, installation, and other landed-cost inputs.

Reference statistics derived from USITC published data. Not a customs ruling. MFN-Free and Special-rate fields describe statutory line coverage only; final entry liability requires origin, date, eligibility, exclusions and other transaction facts. Calculated Duties are statistical estimates, not a cash-collections ledger. Confirm classification, origin, program eligibility, and final entry liability with a licensed customs broker.

Effective rates and source countries for imported machinery families. Machine tool tariff pages

Published 2026-07-19.