Sourcing comparison · Plastics & Rubber
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 →Sourcing plastics & rubber is now a tariff decision as much as a supplier decision. At 19.5%, South Korea sits well above Thailand's 14.5%; on $100,000 of annual buying that difference is around $5,275. 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. What follows is the layer-by-layer comparison, the trade context behind each rate, and how the gap grows with volume.
Start with the two duty stacks side by side. A South Korea origin attracts a 4.5% Most-Favoured-Nation base duty and a 15% negotiated bilateral rate on its plastics & rubber, an effective 19.5% once the $49.74 in processing fees are added. Thailand-made goods carry a 4.5% Most-Favoured-Nation base duty and a 10% Section 122 reciprocal surcharge on its plastics & rubber, an effective 14.5% once the $49.74 in processing fees are added. Part of the spread traces to the Section 122 reciprocal surcharge, a 2026 measure that does not apply uniformly once bilateral deals are accounted for. Because the MPF and HMF ($49.74 combined) track customs value rather than origin, they wash out of the comparison entirely. The arithmetic difference between the stacks is $527.50 per $10,000 entry, all of it in the duty layers since the processing fees are origin-blind. Scaled up, expect near $1,319 per $25,000 order and around $5,275 once annual buying reaches $100,000. At order level, $25,000 of goods carries roughly $1,319 more duty from South Korea than from Thailand.
Plastics & Rubber (HTS 39, 40) covers items such as HDPE/PP pellets, PVC pipe, Plastic sheeting, and Rubber hoses. For plastics & rubber, where buyers reorder frequently, the duty rate compounds into one of the largest controllable costs on the P&L. South Korea (Asia-Pacific) sends the United States largely consumer electronics, passenger vehicles, and steel iron products. South Korea trades under a bilateral arrangement that replaces the reciprocal surcharge with a fixed rate on plastics & rubber. Thailand (Asia-Pacific) sends the United States largely consumer electronics, auto parts components, and rubber. Thailand trades without a special US agreement, so column-1 rates and every surcharge apply to its plastics & rubber in full. Shared Asia-Pacific routing keeps logistics roughly comparable and leaves the duty gap as the decisive number. Thailand is surfaced as a credible alternative, not just the cheapest line — it is among the origins a US buyer of plastics & rubber could realistically qualify. Sourcing diversification has shifted from resilience theatre to margin necessity, and a documented second source like Thailand is how buyers act on it.
Anchor your own volume to these tiers: $2,638 at $50,000, $13,188 at $250,000, $52,750 at $1,000,000, and about $5,275 at $100,000. Every figure is produced by the same tariff engine behind the site's calculators, holding FOB value, freight and insurance constant so only the duty effect of origin shows through. 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 $5,275 as a transition budget — if re-sourcing to Thailand costs less than the annual saving, it pays back inside a year. Diligence on Thailand is commercial, not regulatory: supplier capacity, MOQ, tooling and re-qualification cost — the duty advantage itself is already settled above. Lock the comparison to a quote date; a surcharge added or lifted can change the ranking between negotiation and purchase order. Use the Tariff Savings Finder to test your real numbers and see alternatives beyond Thailand. 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 South Korea to Thailand saves an estimated $5,275 in duties and fees, because the effective tariff rate falls from 19.5% to 14.5%. 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.
Thailand-origin plastics & rubber is assessed a 4.5% Most-Favoured-Nation base duty and a 10% Section 122 reciprocal surcharge, for an effective 14.5% duty rate before the Merchandise Processing Fee ($36.55) and Harbor Maintenance Fee ($13.19).
South Korea carries an effective 19.5% rate versus 14.5% for Thailand. 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.
