Most outdoor seats and tables enter the United States at a general duty rate of free under the Harmonized Tariff Schedule (HTS), the list of codes and rates that U.S. Customs and Border Protection (CBP) applies at entry. What an importer pays in October 2026 depends on the duties added on top of that rate: the 2018 Section 301 duties on products of China, the Section 301 duties on products of 60 economies that took effect on July 24, 2026, and the Section 232 duty on certain upholstered wooden seats. Metal-frame seats and metal tables were removed from the Section 232 steel and aluminum duties in April 2026.
This page was checked against the HTS, the Federal Register and CBP rulings on October 3, 2026. Tariff actions changed often in 2025 and 2026. It is general information, and a licensed customs broker or a binding ruling from CBP should confirm the classification and the duties for a specific product before you price an order.
Where outdoor furniture sits in the tariff schedule
Seats fall under heading 9401 and are sorted first by frame material. Tables and other furniture fall under heading 9403 and are sorted by material too. The schedule gives some seat lines their own statistical suffixes for outdoor seating, split between household and other use. Heading 9403 has no outdoor suffix, so an outdoor table goes in the line for its material. Every line in this table carries a general rate of Free.
| HTS number | What the line covers, abridged |
|---|---|
| 9401.79.00.15 | Seats with metal frames, not upholstered; outdoor; with textile-covered cushions or textile seating or backing; other than household |
| 9401.79.00.35 | Seats with metal frames, not upholstered; outdoor; other; other than household |
| 9401.80.40.15 | Seats of rubber or plastics, not reinforced or laminated; outdoor; with textile cushions or seating; other than household |
| 9401.80.40.35 | Seats of rubber or plastics, not reinforced or laminated; outdoor; other; other than household |
| 9401.69.40.31 and .35 | Chairs of teak with wooden frames, not upholstered, other than household; plantation-harvested teak and other teak |
| 9401.61.40.31 | Upholstered chairs with wooden frames, other than teak, other than household |
| 9401.53.00.00 | Seats of rattan |
| 9403.20.00.90 | Other metal furniture, other than household |
| 9403.60.80.40 | Other wooden furniture, dining tables |
| 9403.60.80.89 and .93 | Other wooden furniture, other: of teak, and other |
| 9403.70.80.31 | Furniture of plastics, not reinforced or laminated, other |
| 9403.89.60.20 | Furniture of other materials, other |
The household lines sit beside each of these, such as 9401.79.00.11 and 9401.79.00.25 for household outdoor seats with metal frames. A product’s use and construction decide the line, and CBP’s rulings show how it reasons. In February 2026, ruling NY N358240 classified a round picnic table with three attached benches, built for parks, campuses and plazas, in 9403.20.00.90. CBP treated the set as one composite good and found that the metal table, 80 percent of the weight, gave it its essential character.
Section 301 duties on products of China
The HTS as checked still carries the 2018 Section 301 headings for products of China, including 9903.88.03 and 9903.88.04, each at the duty in the applicable subheading plus 25 percent. In ruling NY N343273 of October 2024, CBP held that products of China classified in 9401.79.00.15 and 9401.79.00.35 were subject to the additional 25 percent, reported under 9903.88.04. CBP’s ruling database lists heading 9903.88.03 alongside 9403.20.00.50 in rulings on fire-pit tables from China, such as NY N340149 of May 2024 and NY N355861 of November 2025. Rulings issued in 2026, such as NY N358240, do not address additional duties and refer importers to CBP’s Cargo Systems Messaging Service.
Section 301 duties on 60 economies
The Trade Representative’s notice of July 28, 2026 imposes additional duties on all products of 60 economies, with exemptions, for goods entered on or after July 24, 2026. The notice sets these rates:
| Rate | Economies, as listed in the notice |
|---|---|
| 10 percent | Argentina, Bangladesh, Cambodia, Canada, Ecuador, El Salvador, Guatemala, Honduras, India, Indonesia, Jordan, Malaysia, Mexico, Pakistan, Sri Lanka, Trinidad and Tobago, the United Kingdom |
| 10 percent including the general duty | The European Union and Taiwan |
| 12.5 percent including the general duty | Japan, South Korea and Switzerland |
| 12.5 percent | Every other investigated economy, including China, Vietnam, Thailand and the Philippines |
Because the general rate on the lines above is free, the “including the general duty” rates work out to the full 10 or 12.5 percent on outdoor seating and tables. The new U.S. note 52 to chapter 99 says these goods remain subject to any other additional duty in the subchapter, so a product of China in a 9903.88 line owes both. The note exempts wood products covered by the Section 232 headings 9903.76.01 to 9903.76.03 and 9903.76.20 to 9903.76.24, goods of Canada and Mexico entered duty-free under the United States-Mexico-Canada Agreement, and a list of HTS provisions in note 52(b). That list contains no chapter 94 lines. The notice also exempts certain goods of 13 economies in its Annex I, which could not be checked line by line for this guide.
The notice ties the 10 percent rate to an economy’s own ban on importing forced-labor goods, or to a commitment to one in an Agreement on Reciprocal Trade with the United States. India received the 10 percent rate after it adopted a ban following USTR’s proposal of June 5, 2026, so a rate can move when an economy adopts a ban or signs an agreement.
Section 232 duty on upholstered wooden seats
Proclamation 10976 of September 29, 2025 imposed a 25 percent duty on certain upholstered wooden products from October 14, 2025. Its annex lists four statistical lines: 9401.61.40.11, 9401.61.40.31, 9401.61.60.11 and 9401.61.60.31. The non-household lines, .31, cover upholstered wooden-frame chairs and seats of the kind a restaurant or hotel buys. Products of the United Kingdom pay no more than 10 percent, and products of the European Union and Japan pay no more than 15 percent including the general duty. Reed Smith’s tariff tracker reports that later notices extended the 15 percent treatment to South Korea from November 14, 2025 and to Taiwan from May 1, 2026.
The proclamation scheduled an increase to 30 percent on January 1, 2026. A proclamation of December 31, 2025 moved that increase to January 1, 2027, except for countries that reach an agreement with the United States on wood products.
The same annex covers kitchen cabinets and vanities in three lines, one of which, 9403.60.80.93, is also the catch-all line for other wooden furniture. The annex provides heading 9903.76.04 for products in those lines that are not wooden kitchen cabinets or vanities, at the duty in the applicable subheading. A wooden outdoor table in 9403.60.80.93 is reported under 9903.76.04 and does not pay the Section 232 rate.
Steel and aluminum duties no longer reach metal furniture frames
Proclamation 11021 of April 2, 2026 rebuilt the Section 232 steel and aluminum duties so that they apply to the full value of covered goods. Its Annex II, effective April 6, 2026, removed 9401.71.00, 9401.79.00, 9403.10.00 and 9403.20.00 from the steel and aluminum derivative lists. A later proclamation, scheduled for publication on June 4, 2026, added two steel shelving and rack lines in 9403.20 to the duties and kept the furniture lines on the removed list.
What ended in 2026
The Supreme Court held on February 20, 2026, in Learning Resources, Inc. v. Trump, that the International Emergency Economic Powers Act does not authorize the President to impose tariffs. CBP now refunds the “reciprocal” and fentanyl-related duties collected under that law. It takes refund requests through a CAPE Declaration filed in its ACE portal by the importer of record or the customs broker that filed the entries. CBP says valid refunds are generally issued within 60 to 90 days after a declaration is accepted.
How to use this on a purchase
- Ask the supplier for the HTS number it will declare for each item, and check it against the line descriptions above.
- Ask for the country of origin of each item. The forced-labor duty and the 2018 China duty attach to origin, not to the port of shipment.
- For upholstered pieces with wooden frames, confirm whether the item falls in 9401.61.40.31 or 9401.61.60.31. Those lines carry the Section 232 duty.
- Put the duty assumption in the purchase order or quote, with the date it was priced, so both sides know what changes if a rate moves before entry.