The Supreme Court did not ban all tariffs when it comes to PCBs.
The Section 301 Tariffs (China 25%) are still in place. The IEEPA (10%) and the Reciprocal (10%) no longer apply.
In response to the recent ruling, the administration invoked the Trade Act of 1974 to impose an additional flat 10% tariff for PCBs that will expire in 5 months unless Congress extends it.
𝐀𝐬 𝐨𝐟 𝐫𝐢𝐠𝐡𝐭 𝐧𝐨𝐰, 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐨𝐟𝐟𝐢𝐜𝐢𝐚𝐥 𝐰𝐨𝐫𝐝 𝐢𝐬 𝟏𝟎%.
What does that mean for PCB buyers who get their boards from China? It means:
✅ 10% tariff only for 2- and 4-layer rigid PCBs as these layer counts are still exempt from Section 301
✅ 35% tariff for all other PCBs of rigid layer counts, flex, rigid-flex, or metal—Section 301 plus the new 10%.
Most other PCB manufacturing nations like India, Thailand and Vietnam will see their tariff rates lowered, while Korea and Taiwan will be about the same.
As far as refunds go—not so fast.
The Supreme Court seems to have left this issue to lower courts and to the Court of International Trade that deals with customs issues. It is unclear if the courts will order refunds, what that process would look like or how long it would take.
The administration may go to court or invoke another law to keep the collected monies. As always, we will keep you advised as things develop.
Got any questions about tariffs and PCBs? Reach out!
Here’s the link on the new tariff with the two Annexes that list exemptions.