Taiwan IEEPA and Section 232 Tariffs: What Importers Need to Know

June 2026 policy watch

• USTR's forced-labor Section 301 proposed action includes Taiwan. The proposed rates are not current IEEPA or Section 122 duties; watch the June 22 appearance-request deadline, July 6 written-comment deadline, and July 7 hearing before changing entry models.
• Keep IEEPA refunds, Section 122 entries, Section 232 duties, and Section 301 proposed actions in separate workpapers. A country profile can overlap with several Chapter 99 programs, but CAPE remains an IEEPA refund workflow.
• Taiwan entries may also need the May 27/28 Taiwan Section 232 headings for covered auto parts, wood products, and civil-aircraft components. PSC may be the relevant correction path for those Section 232 duties; that is not IEEPA CAPE.

Overview

Taiwan is a top-ten U.S. trading partner, with roughly $130--140 billion in bilateral trade in 2024. The most heavily traded categories include semiconductors and electronics, machinery, auto parts, chemicals, and metals. Taiwan's role as a major semiconductor supplier means the IEEPA tariffs affected a broad range of downstream industries beyond direct importers.

Starting April 5, 2025, the federal government imposed an additional 10% duty on Taiwan-origin imports under the reciprocal tariff program authorized by the International Emergency Economic Powers Act. This was layered on top of existing duties. On April 9, the rate briefly spiked to 32% for a single day before a broad suspension returned most countries -- including Taiwan -- to the 10% baseline on April 10.

The 10% rate held until August 7, 2025, when CBP re-platformed the reciprocal tariff headings and raised Taiwan's default rate to 20% under a new Chapter 99 heading (9903.02.60). That 20% rate remained in effect until February 24, 2026, when IEEPA tariffs ended following the Supreme Court's ruling in Learning Resources v. Trump.

On the same day the IEEPA tariff ended, a new Section 122 surcharge of 10% took effect for most countries, including Taiwan. Unlike Mexico and Canada, Taiwan had no trade-agreement exemption from the IEEPA reciprocal program -- the only carveouts were the global exceptions for Annex II products, Section 232 goods, in-transit shipments, and the U.S. content rule. For importers who paid IEEPA duties on non-exempt goods, the key question now is whether those payments may be recoverable.

Separately, CBP issued Taiwan-specific Section 232 implementation guidance on May 27, 2026, tied to a Federal Register public-inspection notice with a May 28 publication date. That update modifies certain Taiwan-origin auto parts, wood products, and civil aircraft components effective for goods entered on or after 12:01 a.m. eastern time on May 1, 2026. It is not an IEEPA or CAPE refund program.

Informational only — not legal advice.

What Changed: Rate Timeline

Exceptions and Carveouts

Not every Taiwan-origin import was subject to the full IEEPA rate. The following exceptions applied during the IEEPA collection window.

If your goods qualified under one of these exceptions, the IEEPA surcharge either did not apply or applied at a reduced level. Taiwan had no trade-agreement-based exemption comparable to USMCA during the IEEPA reciprocal program.

May 2026 Taiwan Section 232 Update

CBP's May 27, 2026 guidance implements a separate Taiwan trade-security update for certain Section 232 sectors. The listed changes apply to goods entered for consumption, or withdrawn from warehouse for consumption, on or after 12:01 a.m. eastern time on May 1, 2026.

If implementation of the notice requires a refund of duties collected, CBP says importers may file a Post Summary Correction (PSC). That is a Section 232 correction path, not a CAPE Declaration.

What This Means for Your Refund

If you imported non-exempt goods from Taiwan between April 5, 2025 and February 24, 2026, you may have paid an additional 10--20% in IEEPA duties on top of your normal tariff rate. Following the Supreme Court's ruling in Learning Resources v. Trump, those duties may be refundable.

CBP announced CAPE Phase 1 for eligible IEEPA refunds in ACE beginning April 20, 2026. Country-specific refund work still starts with the entry record, importer-of-record status, liquidation status, and duty-type separation. Section 122 (9903.03.*) is separate: on May 7, 2026, the CIT declared Proclamation No. 11012 invalid, the government appealed, the Federal Circuit entered an administrative stay on May 12, 2026, and the CIT denied the government's separate stay request on May 20, 2026. Unless the Federal Circuit modifies or lifts its administrative stay, the ruling does not make Section 122 lines eligible for IEEPA CAPE. (CBP CSMS #68315804, CIT Slip Op. 26-47, CIT Slip Op. 26-53)

The type of filing depends on your entry's liquidation status:

• Unliquidated entries may be corrected through a Prior Disclosure or Post-Summary Correction (PSC)
• Liquidated entries typically require a Form 19 protest, which must be filed within 180 days of liquidation

IEEPA duties are separate from Section 232 duties and Section 301 duties. Those programs are not affected by the Supreme Court ruling.

If you are unsure whether your entries qualify, check the full Chapter 99 line, not just the ordinary HTS. IEEPA-era entries commonly use 9903.01.* and, for many reciprocal programs, 9903.02.*.

Chapter 99 Code Reference

This section is for customs brokers, trade compliance teams, and anyone reviewing entry summaries at the line-item level. Each Chapter 99 code corresponds to a specific IEEPA or Section 122 treatment.