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 the customs data says imported equipment actually paid.

Most capex quotes treat duty as a rounding error, and for years it nearly was: the MFN columns on machine tools run Free–5.8%. The 2025 customs data says otherwise. Imported metal-cutting machines cleared at an effective 9.45%, forming machines at 10.7%, and molds and dies, the tooling behind every molded part, at 14.1%.

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

On a mid-six-figure machining center, the difference between the printed rate and the effective rate is real money: at 9.45% effective, a $400,000 machine carries roughly $38K in duty before freight, rigging, and installation. That belongs in the payback model, not discovered at entry.

Folding duty into a capex decision

• Price the machine at the family's effective rate for its origin, not the MFN column.
• Check the top-country table: the same class of machine may enter cheaper from a different origin.
• Run the payback with and without duty; if the case only closes without it, the case is fragile.

Reference statistics derived from USITC published data. Not a customs ruling; verify rates with a licensed customs broker before relying on them.

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

Published 2026-07-19.