Sourcing comparison · Computers & Servers
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 | $13,188 |
| $250,000 | $65,938 |
| $1,000,000 | $263,750 |
Savings scale linearly with volume. Enter your exact figure to model it precisely.
Calculate your exact volume →Sourcing computers & servers is now a tariff decision as much as a supplier decision. Goods from China clear at an effective 35%, while Mexico clears the same category at 10% — about $26,375 a year at $100,000 of imports. The duty line moves with paperwork, not production cost, which is why it rewards attention. The breakdown below itemises both duty stacks so the figure is auditable, not asserted.
Start with the two duty stacks side by side. Sourced from China, the goods face a 0% Most-Favoured-Nation base duty, a 25% Section 301 surcharge, and a 10% Section 122 reciprocal surcharge on its computers & servers, an effective 35% once the $49.74 in processing fees are added. On the Mexico side, Customs applies a 0% Most-Favoured-Nation base duty and a 10% Section 122 reciprocal surcharge on its computers & servers, an effective 10% once the $49.74 in processing fees are added. The decisive layer is Section 301: a 25% surcharge that applies only to China-origin goods and sits on top of every other duty, which is why China routes run expensive across so many categories. The reciprocal Section 122 charge is the most volatile element of this comparison, set to expire and therefore worth modelling in both states. Two charges are origin-blind — the MPF and HMF, together $49.74 on this entry — which is why the entire difference lives in the duty layers. The per-shipment gap comes to $2,637.50 on $10,000 of goods — a clean read on the 25% rate difference. Scaled up, expect near $6,594 per $25,000 order and around $26,375 once annual buying reaches $100,000. Scaled to a single $25,000 PO, the gap is near $6,594, repeated on every reorder.
Computers & Servers (HTS 8471, 8473) covers items such as Laptop computers, Desktop computers, Server racks, and Storage arrays. Demand for computers & servers is broad and price-sensitive, which is exactly why a duty wedge of this size reshapes who can supply the US market competitively. China, in Asia-Pacific, ships the US mainly consumer electronics, computers servers, and clothing garments. China has no agreement to soften the stack, so its computers & servers carries the full column-1 plus surcharge load. Mexico, in North America, ships the US mainly passenger vehicles, auto parts components, and consumer electronics. Under USMCA, Mexico-origin computers & servers that meets the rules of origin can clear duty-free entirely — a decisive edge where qualification holds. Moving between Asia-Pacific and North America changes more than duty, so treat the tariff saving as one input among several. The recommendation is filtered to feasible suppliers, so Mexico appears because it plausibly makes computers & servers, not merely because its rate is low. The figures here reflect the rules in force today; in a year of frequent revisions, the value is in re-running them as policy moves, which this site is built to do.
Anchor your own volume to these tiers: $13,188 at $50,000, $65,938 at $250,000, $263,750 at $1,000,000, and about $26,375 at $100,000. The comparison is generated by running the same inputs through the tariff engine for each origin, which keeps everything but the duty layers equal. 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. Read the $26,375 as a transition budget — if re-sourcing to Mexico costs less than the annual saving, it pays back inside a year. Diligence on Mexico is commercial, not regulatory: supplier capacity, MOQ, tooling and re-qualification cost — the duty advantage itself is already settled above. Time the switch with the policy calendar in mind — the post-Section-122 picture can favour a different origin entirely. Use the Tariff Savings Finder to test your real numbers and see alternatives beyond Mexico. 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 China to Mexico saves an estimated $26,375 in duties and fees, because the effective tariff rate falls from 35% to 10%. 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.
Mexico-origin computers & servers is assessed a 0% Most-Favoured-Nation base duty and a 10% Section 122 reciprocal surcharge, for an effective 10% duty rate before the Merchandise Processing Fee ($36.55) and Harbor Maintenance Fee ($13.19).
China carries an effective 35% rate versus 10% for Mexico. The gap is driven mainly by the 25% Section 301 surcharge that applies to Chinese-origin goods and stacks on top of every other layer.
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.
