What Is Exempt From the July 2026 Section 301 Tariff? A Guide for Food Importers

When the new Section 301 tariffs took effect at 12:01 a.m. Eastern Time on July 24, 2026, they applied to nearly all products of the 60 investigated economies — including Japan. But the action was not blanket. The USTR’s final notice carves out a specific list of exempt products, and knowing whether your goods fall inside or outside that list is now the single biggest factor in your landed cost. Here is what is exempt, what was specifically kept in, and what it means if you import food.

The Structure: Everything Is Covered Unless Listed

The starting point is important. The tariffs apply to all products of each investigated economy, and exemptions exist only as narrow, HTS-code-specific carve-outs published in the annexes to the notice. The Trade Representative determined to impose the tariffs on all products of the investigated economy, with certain exemptions as provided in Annexes I and II to the notice. If your product is not on the exemption list, it is subject to the tariff — 12.5% for Japanese-origin goods, structured as a combined rate net of the MFN duty.

USTR grouped its reasoning for every exemption into a few categories. Products were exempted as: raw materials that if subject to the tariffs could lead to the unavailability of domestic supply; products that could cause economy-wide disruptions; products that cannot be grown or produced in sufficient quantities or at reasonable prices in the United States or obtained from other sources; or products for which the tariffs may not be effective in eliminating the practices under investigation. The theme is consistent: exemptions protect US supply chains that depend on imports, not finished consumer goods that compete with domestic production.

General Exemptions That Apply Across the Board

A handful of categories are exempt regardless of product type. The exemptions include informational materials, donations, accompanied baggage, and all articles and parts of articles that are already subject to tariffs under Section 232 of the Trade Expansion Act of 1962. The Section 232 overlap matters for anyone importing steel, aluminum, or derivative articles — those goods are not double-tariffed under Section 301.

Food and Agricultural Products That ARE Exempt

This is where it gets relevant for food importers. After reviewing more than 1,600 comments, USTR kept its proposed food exemptions and added more. Commenters supported — and USTR maintained — exemptions for coffee and coconut products, noting these are raw materials with limited-to-no domestic availability that cannot be grown or produced in sufficient quantities in the United States.

USTR then added a substantial list of further exemptions, including certain animal products used as animal feed inputs; certain seeds of a kind used for planting; certain vegetable products such as coconut coir, jute burlap, and sisal twine used as growing media; certain in-quota sugar and sugar-containing products; unflavored instant coffee; and certain fertilizer and pesticide inputs. The logic in each case was the same — these are inputs to US production or products the US simply cannot supply in sufficient quantity. USTR noted that over 99 percent of instant coffee imports come from economies covered by the investigations, with no adequate non-tariffed alternatives.

In total, beyond the originally proposed list, the Trade Representative determined to exclude an additional 471 products from the tariffs in each investigation.

Foods That Were Specifically NOT Exempted

Just as important is what USTR refused to exempt — including products that importers actively lobbied to protect. The Trade Representative determined not to remove beef, avocados, and paprika products from tariff coverage, and declined to exempt them despite requests, citing limited domestic availability arguments that did not outweigh protection of US producers. In fact beef and avocados were the reverse case — domestic producers argued against exemption to shield US farmers, and USTR agreed to keep the tariff on them.

Other requested food exemptions were denied outright. USTR received but did not grant requests to exempt products including frozen seafood and olive oil, among others such as medical devices, packaging products, and sporting goods. And in one notable narrowing, the Trade Representative limited the exemption for certain chemicals and chemical products to their pharmaceutical applications only, removing non-pharmaceutical uses from the exemption.

What This Means for Japanese Food Imports

For a US importer of Japanese food, the practical answer is sobering: most branded, processed, and value-added Japanese foods are not on the exemption list. Matcha, soy sauce, miso, seasonings, snacks, confectionery, and ready-to-eat products are finished consumer goods — exactly the category the exemptions were designed not to cover. These products face the full 12.5% Japan rate.

The exemptions that do exist tend to sit upstream of the finished-food business: green coffee, coconut inputs, planting seeds, animal-feed ingredients, and in-quota sugar. If any of those appear in your import mix, check the HTS codes in the annexes carefully — the exemption is defined at the subheading level, and eligibility turns on the exact classification, not the general product name.

How to Confirm Your Own Status

Three steps will tell you where you stand:

First, identify the precise HTS classification of each product you import — not the marketing description, the actual 8- or 10-digit code. Second, check that code against Annex I and Annex II of the July 23, 2026 USTR notice; if it appears, your product is exempt, and if it does not, the 12.5% Japan rate applies. Third, if your goods were already moving, confirm the in-transit rule: goods loaded onto a vessel and in transit on the final mode of transit before 12:01 a.m. ET on July 24, 2026, and entered for consumption before 12:01 a.m. ET on July 28, 2026, are not subject to the additional duty.

The Bottom Line

The July 2026 Section 301 exemptions are real but narrow, and they favor raw materials and irreplaceable inputs over finished consumer products. For most Japanese food brands entering the US, the exemption list offers no relief — the 12.5% rate stands. The importers who benefit are those handling upstream commodities like coffee, coconut, and seeds. Whichever category you fall into, the answer lives in your HTS codes and the annexes, so verify classification before you quote a landed cost or price a shelf.

This article is for general information only and does not constitute legal or customs advice. Exemption eligibility is determined by the exact HTS classification in the USTR annexes and is subject to change; confirm your specific products with a licensed customs broker.