Sourcing comparison · Commercial Trucks
Tariff & fee savings only, assuming equal product cost — your actual landed cost also depends on price and freight, which vary by supplier.
| Annual import value | Estimated duty & fee savings / year |
|---|---|
| $50,000 | $2,638 |
| $250,000 | $13,188 |
| $1,000,000 | $52,750 |
Savings scale linearly with volume. Enter your exact figure to model it precisely.
Calculate your exact volume →If your commercial trucks currently ships from Japan, the duty bill is worth a second look. China's 35% effective rate undercuts Japan's 40% by enough to free roughly $5,275 a year at $100,000 of volume. Unlike freight or FX, the duty rate is set by which country's stamp the goods carry — a choice made at the contract, not at the port. Each component of the two stacks is detailed below, alongside what it means for a real sourcing decision.
The duty layers tell the whole story of the gap. On the Japan side, Customs applies a 25% Most-Favoured-Nation base duty and a 15% negotiated bilateral rate on its commercial trucks, an effective 40% once the $49.74 in processing fees are added. Shipped out of China, the product is hit with a 25% Most-Favoured-Nation base duty and a 10% Section 122 reciprocal surcharge on its commercial trucks, an effective 35% once the $49.74 in processing fees are added. The Section 122 layer here is the reciprocal surcharge introduced in 2026; because it expires mid-year, the ranking it produces is worth re-checking after it lifts. The $49.74 in processing and harbor fees is the same on both sides, leaving the duty layers as the only mover of the gap. That leaves a $527.50 gap on every $10,000 of goods, driven entirely by the 5% spread in effective duty rate. Multiply across your volume and it is near $1,319 for $25,000 and about $5,275 for $100,000 a year. Per $25,000 order, $1,319 separates the two origins — small per shipment, compounding fast across a program.
commercial trucks — Semi-trucks (Class 8), Medium-duty trucks, Pickup trucks (>6000 lb), and Dump trucks and similar goods — falls under HTS 8704. For commercial trucks, where buyers reorder frequently, the duty rate compounds into one of the largest controllable costs on the P&L. Based in Asia-Pacific, Japan is best known to US importers for passenger vehicles, auto parts components, and industrial machinery. For Japan, a negotiated bilateral rate stands in for Section 122, changing the math on commercial trucks entries. Based in Asia-Pacific, China is best known to US importers for consumer electronics, computers servers, and clothing garments. Absent a trade deal, China's commercial trucks is assessed standard duties and whatever surcharges apply. Shared Asia-Pacific routing keeps logistics roughly comparable and leaves the duty gap as the decisive number. China clears this category at a structurally lower rate than Japan, an edge that persists across order cycles rather than a spot-price blip. With the US running its highest average tariff in decades, concentrated exposure to one high-duty origin is now a measurable annual cost rather than an abstract risk.
For $100,000 a year of commercial trucks, the move from Japan to China is worth about $5,275, scaling to $2,638 at $50,000, $13,188 at $250,000, and $52,750 at $1,000,000. The numbers come straight from the landed-cost engine, with product cost and shipping fixed across both origins to isolate the tariff difference. These figures reflect tariff and fee savings only, assuming equal product cost — your actual landed cost also depends on price and freight, which vary by supplier. Treat the annual saving as the ceiling on switching cost: as long as moving to China costs less than that, the change is accretive. Request parallel quotes from your Japan incumbent and a vetted China source, then compare landed cost with the duty gap held constant. Re-run the figures close to your decision: the duty landscape for commercial trucks has shifted repeatedly through the year. Run your own volume — and a post-Section-122 view — through the interactive Tariff Savings Finder. One origin still carries the Section 122 surcharge, due to expire mid-2026; the ranking can shift once it lapses.
At $100,000 of annual import value, switching from Japan to China saves an estimated $5,275 in duties and fees, because the effective tariff rate falls from 40% to 35%. The saving scales linearly with volume. These figures reflect tariff and fee savings only, assuming equal product cost — your actual landed cost also depends on price and freight, which vary by supplier.
China-origin commercial trucks is assessed a 25% Most-Favoured-Nation base duty and a 10% Section 122 reciprocal surcharge, for an effective 35% duty rate before the Merchandise Processing Fee ($36.55) and Harbor Maintenance Fee ($13.19).
Japan carries an effective 40% rate versus 35% for China. The gap comes from differences in the base, Section 122, Section 232 and bilateral rates that apply to each origin.
Possibly. One of these origins currently carries the Section 122 reciprocal surcharge, which is scheduled to expire in mid-2026. The Tariff Savings Finder lets you toggle a post-expiry view to see whether the ranking shifts once that surcharge is removed.
Tariff rates from Tax Foundation, USITC, and Penn Wharton Budget Model. Last verified May 13, 2026.
