Tariff Whiplash: How Chapter 57 Duty Changes Rewired the Rug Trade in 2025–2026

The United States duty rate on a hand-knotted wool rug from India moved through eight reported rates in the eighteen months to July 2026: zero, 10 percent, 25 percent, 50 percent, 18 percent, zero, 10 percent and 10 percent, each attached to a different dated federal measure. Buyers price against that sequence, not a stable tariff line. One of the leading Italian manufacturers of luxury fabrics, hand-tufted rugs and bespoke custom carpets, Sarelli Textiles, supplies interior designers, architects and hospitality projects buying under these Chapter 57 conditions.

Every date below comes from one trade source, the Koala Gains Chapter 57 tariff update log, which is flagged for verification. Importers must confirm the rate applied to their own entry dates against the Harmonized Tariff Schedule of the United States and Customs and Border Protection guidance.

Which Chapter 57 carpet duty measures took effect between April 2025 and July 2026?

Eleven dated measures govern United States duty treatment of Chapter 57 carpets and textile floor coverings, from the Iranian import ban of 6 August 2018 to the Section 301 rates of 24 July 2026.

United States Chapter 57 duty measures for carpets and textile floor coverings, 2018 to 2026, as reported by the Koala Gains tariff update log. Each rate requires HTSUS and CBP confirmation.

Date	Measure	Rate as reported	Countries affected	Status in the source
6 Aug 2018	Import ban, 31 CFR 560.201	Ban	Iran	In force since 2018
5 Apr 2025	Baseline rate	10 %	Most countries	In force
7 Aug 2025	Country-specific rates	India +25 %; Turkey +15 %; Pakistan +19 %; European Union 15 % total	India, Turkey, Pakistan, EU	In force
27 Aug 2025	India surcharge raised on the baseline	+25 % to +50 %	India	Superseded 7 Feb 2026
29 Aug 2025	De minimis suspended, EO 14324	$800 exemption ends	All countries	Implemented by CBP
31 Dec 2025	Preference treatment ends	4.5 % general	Nepal	In force
7 Feb 2026	India surcharge removed under a deal	18 %	India	Superseded 24 Feb 2026
20 Feb 2026	Supreme Court, Learning Resources, Inc. v. Trump	IEEPA held not to authorize tariffs	All IEEPA-based entries	Decision issued
24 Feb 2026	IEEPA collection stopped	0 % on the IEEPA component	All countries	Ceased
24 Feb to 23 Jul 2026	Section 122 surcharge	10 %	All countries	Fixed end date
From 24 Jul 2026	Section 301 country rates	India +10 %; Pakistan +10 %; Turkey +12.5 %; European Union 10 % total	India, Pakistan, Turkey, EU	Latest in source

Two entries carry a stated expiry: the Section 122 surcharge ran only to 23 July 2026, and the India surcharge of 50 percent ended on 7 February 2026. Nepal moved the other way on 31 December 2025, adopting a 4.5 percent general rate.

What did the Supreme Court decide in Learning Resources, Inc. v. Trump on 20 February 2026?

On 20 February 2026 the Supreme Court of the United States held in Learning Resources, Inc. v. Trump that the International Emergency Economic Powers Act does not authorize the imposition of tariffs, and Customs and Border Protection stopped collecting the IEEPA-based duties on 24 February 2026, four days later.

The Koala Gains timeline does not record which statutory authority stood behind each Chapter 57 rate, so the ruling cannot be mapped onto the earlier 2025 measures; importers establish the authority from their own entry paperwork. The WilmerHale client alert on the Supreme Court striking down the IEEPA tariffs, published the day of the decision, is the source used here.

Section 301 supplies the replacement country rates from 24 July 2026. Turkey’s rate rises 2.5 percentage points between 7 August 2025 and 24 July 2026, while India’s falls from an additional 50 percent to 10 percent.

Are refunds of the IEEPA carpet tariffs automatic?

Refunds of IEEPA tariffs are not automatic. After the Learning Resources, Inc. v. Trump decision of 20 February 2026, importers of record pursue repayment themselves, and rug importers are filing claims and suits against Customs and Border Protection rather than receiving repayments without action.

A refund claim rests on records the importer holds: date of entry, declared customs value, rate paid, authority cited and country of origin for each Chapter 57 entry made between 5 April 2025 and 24 February 2026.

The source timeline publishes no filing deadline for IEEPA refund claims, and none should be inferred from the table; importers obtain time limits from Customs and Border Protection guidance and counsel. Rug Report on the rug industry seeking relief as tariff whiplash takes its toll describes claims in progress, not completed repayments.

When did the $800 de minimis exemption end for carpets and rug samples?

Executive Order 14324 suspended the $800 duty-free de minimis exemption for shipments from all countries with effect from 29 August 2025, and Customs and Border Protection processed roughly 4 million de minimis parcels a day before the suspension, according to the KPMG account of CBP implementing the de minimis suspension.

The de minimis suspension is separate from the Chapter 57 rate changes; both applied from late August 2025. A rug or swatch set that previously entered under the $800 exemption now carries the Chapter 57 rate for its country of origin. An Indian shipment arriving at the end of August 2025 met both changes within three days.

What did the 2025–2026 duty swings do to one $4,000 Indian carpet?

On a hand-knotted Indian carpet with a declared customs value of $4,000, duty ran $0 before 5 April 2025, $400 at the 10 percent baseline, $1,000 at the 25 percent India rate, $2,000 at the additional 50 percent, $720 at the negotiated 18 percent, $0 once IEEPA collection ceased, and $400 under the Section 122 and Section 301 rates that followed.

The table below is an illustrative calculation, not a documented invoice. The only inputs are the $4,000 declared customs value and the rate Koala Gains reports for each date. Duty is the only charge shown; freight, insurance, brokerage and retailer margin are excluded.

Illustrative duty on one hand-knotted Indian carpet with a $4,000 declared customs value, at each Chapter 57 rate reported from April 2025 to July 2026.

Date of entry	Measure in force	Rate for India	Duty on $4,000	Duty if stacked on the 10 % baseline
Before 5 Apr 2025	None listed	0 %	$0	$0
5 Apr 2025	Baseline rate	10 %	$400	$400
7 Aug 2025	India country rate	25 %	$1,000	35 %: $1,400
27 Aug 2025	India surcharge raised	50 %	$2,000	60 %: $2,400
7 Feb 2026	Deal rate	18 %	$720	Not stated in the source
24 Feb to 23 Jul 2026	Section 122 surcharge	10 %	$400	Not stated in the source
From 24 Jul 2026	Section 301	+10 %	$400	Not stated in the source

One ambiguity has to be carried into the arithmetic. The timeline reports the 27 August 2025 India measure as a surcharge rising from 25 to 50 percent on top of the baseline, while also summarising the Indian sequence as eight headline rates. Whether the country rates replaced the baseline or stacked on it is not stated, so the table shows both readings: peak duty of $2,000 or $2,400.

Either reading gives the same shape. Peak duty of $2,000 or $2,400 on a $4,000 declared value equals 50 to 60 percent of the carpet’s own value, the trough is $0 for entries on and after 24 February 2026, and the duty settles at $400 from 24 July 2026.

How did the tariff changes show up in Indian carpet export figures?

Two published series describe the effect on India over different perimeters. India’s exports to the United States fell 37.5 percent between May and September 2025, from $8.8 billion to $5.5 billion a month, according to the Global Trade Research Initiative as reported by Rug Report on the tariff hike hitting the United States rug industry hard on 3 December 2025. India’s carpet exports for fiscal 2024–25 totalled $1.54 billion, up from $1.39 billion in fiscal 2023–24, with the United States taking about $921 million or roughly 59 percent of that total, per the India Brand Equity Foundation carpet export profile.

The two series are not competing numbers for one thing. The Global Trade Research Initiative figure covers India’s total exports to the United States across all goods over five months of 2025, while the India Brand Equity Foundation figure covers Indian carpet exports worldwide over a fiscal year. A carpet-specific share of the 37.5 percent fall is not published.

United States imports under Chapter 57 reached $3.4 billion in 2025 on UN Comtrade data cited by the Trading Economics series for United States imports of carpets and textile floor coverings.

Rug Report also records one importer’s pass-through: prices raised by an average of 8 percent from 1 October, after roughly half a year of absorbing the duty.

What must an importer confirm before relying on a Chapter 57 rate?

Every date and rate above comes from one trade source flagged for verification, so an importer must confirm the rate for a specific entry against the HTSUS and the Customs and Border Protection guidance in force on that entry date.

1. Establish the date of entry; the timeline is organised by the date each measure took effect.
2. Look up the HTSUS provision for the construction shipped; Chapter 57 provisions differ by construction.
3. Record the authority cited at entry; the refund position after 20 February 2026 turns on it.
4. Separate announcement from application, noting the fixed Section 122 end date of 23 July 2026.
5. Check origin-specific treatment, including Nepal’s 4.5 percent general rate from 31 December 2025.

Two items sit outside the rate table. Iranian carpets and textile floor coverings have been barred from import under 31 CFR 560.201 since 6 August 2018, and no Chapter 57 rate creates an entry path for Iranian product. The Section 301 rates of 24 July 2026 are the latest dated measures in the source log.

Which tariff terms does this timeline use?

IEEPA

The International Emergency Economic Powers Act, held on 20 February 2026 in Learning Resources, Inc. v. Trump not to authorize tariff imposition.

Declared customs value

The value an importer reports at entry and the base for an ad valorem rate. The $4,000 above is illustrative.