July 17, 2026
Update, July 27, 2026: The July 24 Section 122 deadline discussed below has now passed. See China vs. Vietnam Tariffs, Part 2 for the confirmed post-deadline Section 301 rates.
Plastic packaging sourced from China currently carries a combined U.S. duty of roughly 35 percent or more. The same packaging sourced from Vietnam runs about 13 to 14 percent. That gap is not a rounding error, it is the difference between a supplier that survives a margin review and one that does not.
Chinese-origin plastic packaging stacks four separate duty layers: a base MFN rate of roughly 3 to 4 percent on most HTS codes in the 3923 to 3926 range, a 25 percent Section 301 tariff that has applied to plastic articles since 2018, a 20 percent IEEPA tariff imposed under emergency trade authority, and a 10 percent reciprocal tariff currently under a truce that runs through August 2026. Layered together, the combined rate lands in the mid-30s percent for most plastic packaging codes, and higher for specific product categories.
Vietnam does not carry the Section 301 or IEEPA layers that apply specifically to China. Its plastic packaging exports to the U.S. currently sit at the same 4 percent MFN base rate plus a 10 percent Section 122 baseline tariff, for a combined rate around 13 to 14 percent.
That 10 percent Section 122 baseline is not permanent. Section 122 of the Trade Act of 1974 caps emergency tariffs at 150 days, and the current rate took effect February 24, 2026, putting its statutory expiration at July 24, 2026. The U.S. Court of International Trade ruled the underlying emergency tariffs unlawful in May 2026, and only a Federal Circuit stay is keeping the rate in place today. The U.S. Trade Representative has proposed a 12.5 percent Section 301 tariff on 46 countries, including Vietnam, as a more permanent replacement, with a review due July 20, 2026.
If that replacement goes through as proposed, Vietnam's rate moves from about 13 to 14 percent to roughly 16.5 percent. China's rate is largely unaffected either way, since its Section 301 and IEEPA layers sit outside the Section 122 mechanism entirely.
The China-to-Vietnam gap has narrowed and widened several times over the past year as tariff policy has shifted, but it has not closed. Any supplier quoting China-only production right now is quoting into a 35 percent-plus tariff environment. Ask where the tooling and production actually happen, not just where the sales office is registered. If you're also weighing resin or molding process decisions alongside sourcing location, see PP vs. HDPE vs. PET: Choosing the Right Resin and Injection Molding vs. Blow Molding.
This article is preserved as a historical record of the pre-July 24 tariff picture; figures above were accurate as of publication but have since been superseded. Source on the Section 122 mechanism: 19 U.S.C. § 2132, Balance-of-Payments Authority, Office of the Law Revision Counsel, U.S. House of Representatives. For the confirmed post-deadline rates and their sources, see Part 2.
See our tariffs resource and Vietnam manufacturing capabilities.