In effectSection 201August 15, 2026
Quartz Surface Products: Section 201 Safeguard Tariff-Rate Quota Now In Effect (25% In-Quota, 50% Over)
THE SAFEGUARD. Proclamation 11051 imposes a four-year Section 201 safeguard on imported quartz surface products, in the form of a tariff-rate quota. It took effect for goods entered for consumption, or withdrawn from warehouse for consumption, on or after 12:01 a.m. eastern time on August 15, 2026. In-quota entries pay an additional 25 percent under new HTSUS heading 9903.45.30. Entries after the quota fills pay 50 percent under heading 9903.45.31. The duty is cumulative: U.S. note 41(b) imposes it on top of the normal chapter 68 or 70 duty, and antidumping and countervailing duties continue to apply.
WHAT IS COVERED. Engineered quartz slabs and surfaces, the material used for countertops and vanity tops, classified under 6810.99.0020, 6810.99.0040 and 7020.00.6000. The scope covers surfaces made predominantly from silica products such as quartz, quartz powder, cristobalite or glass powder with a resin binder. Quarried stone such as granite, marble, soapstone and quartzite is not covered.
THE QUOTA. 13,006,426 square meters may enter at the in-quota rate in the first year, administered in quarterly tranches of 3,251,606 square meters with unused quantity rolling one quarter forward. CBP opened quota processing on August 17, 2026, with proration at 8:30 a.m. eastern if opening entries exceed the limit. The measure steps down each August 15: 23/49 percent in 2027, 21/48 in 2028, 19/47 in 2029, and it ends August 14, 2030.
WHO IS EXEMPT. Canada and Mexico are excluded under USMCA findings. Australia, Colombia, Costa Rica, the Dominican Republic, El Salvador, Guatemala, Honduras, Israel, Nicaragua, Panama, Peru, Singapore and South Korea are excluded under their trade agreements. Roughly one hundred listed developing countries and the CBERA Caribbean countries are also excluded, each subject to a 3 percent import-share cap. India, China, Vietnam, Turkey, Spain, Italy and Malaysia, the largest covered sources, are NOT exempt.
FILING. Entries are filed on two lines: the chapter 99 heading first, then the chapter 68 or 70 subheading, with quantity reported in square meters. Merchandise admitted to a foreign trade zone on or after August 15 must be admitted as privileged foreign status. Existing antidumping and countervailing duty orders on quartz surface products from China and India continue to apply on top of the safeguard.