SIA Requests Section 301 Tariff Exemption for Security Products

On July 6, 2026, the Security Industry Association (SIA) submitted comments to the United States Trade Representative (USTR), submitting a request that 47 subheadings under the Harmonized Tariff Schedule be exempted from proposed new Section 301 tariffs. These subheadings cover integral components of key life safety and security products and are consistent with our prior appeals to the administration requesting tariff relief for security equipment.

It is widely understood that the new Section 301 tariffs are expected to be finalized around July 24 and intended to replace the current temporary 10% tariffs imposed under Section 122, which expire on that date. Limited to 150 days under the Trade Act of 1974, these broad-based tariffs had been imposed to replace previous tariffs under the International Emergency Economic Powers Act (IEEPA) that had been rescinded due to a U.S. Supreme Court determination regarding their legitimacy.

The new proposed tariffs are based on USTR’s determination in a Section 301 investigation, that 60 economies (the source of 99.4% of goods imported to the U.S., according to USTR) have failed to impose a legal prohibition or effectively enforce a prohibition on the importation of goods produced wholly or in part with forced labor.

Under the proposed action, all 60 economies investigated by USTR will be subject to additional tariffs of 10–12.5%. Currently, the proposed tariffs would not apply to goods subject to tariffs imposed under Section 232 of the Trade Expansion Act of 1962. The United States-Mexico-Canada Agreement-compliant goods of Canada and Mexico would also be exempt, as well as additional exemptions listed in an annex to the federal register notice. Countries that would be subject to the 10% and 12.5% tariffs under this action include:

10% tariff for the following economies:

• Economies found to impose a forced labor prohibition: Canada, Ecuador, the European Union, Indonesia, Mexico and Pakistan
• Economies found to have imposed a partial regime to prevent the importation of forced labor goods: the United Kingdom
• Economies that have undertaken commitments in their respective Agreements on Reciprocal Trade with the United States to combat forced labor imports: Argentina, Bangladesh, Cambodia, Ecuador, El Salvador, Guatemala, Indonesia, Malaysia and Taiwan

12.5% tariff for all other countries under investigation:

• Algeria, Angola, Australia, the Bahamas, Bahrain, Brazil, Chile, China, Colombia, Costa Rica, Dominican Republic, Egypt, Guyana, Honduras, Hong Kong, India, Iraq, Israel, Japan, Jordan, Kazakhstan, Kuwait, Libya, Morocco, New Zealand, Nicaragua, Nigeria, Norway, Oman, Peru, the Philippines, Qatar, Russia, Saudi Arabia, Singapore, South Africa, South Korea, Sri Lanka, Switzerland, Thailand, Trinidad and Tobago, Türkiye, United Arab Emirates, Uruguay, Venezuela and Vietnam

SIA supports efforts to keep forced labor our of supply chains, and all SIA members abide by our Membership Code of Ethics, which requires our members to “refuse to knowingly design, manufacture, sell or deploy products, services or solutions that have been finally determined to support the infliction of human rights abuses, the restriction of civil liberties, and/or the implementation of other oppressive measures.”

Unfortunately, rather than taking specific enforcement actions regarding the labor practices themselves, USTR’s proposed broad-based tariffs would penalize complaint security businesses that maintain rigorous practices and zero-tolerance policies towards unfair labor practices, as well as disrupt critical supply chains for important security and life safety technologies.

SIA submitted our exemption request in response to USTR’s request for comments on specific products to be removed from the scope of action, and we will continue to monitor the process for any updates relevant to security industry or further published exemptions. As a reminder to companies requesting refunds from the IEEPA duties imposed prior to Feb. 20, you can submit your official request using the U.S. Customs and Border Protection’s (CBP) Consolidated Administration and Processing of Entries (CAPE) functionality within the Automated Commercial Environment (ACE). Please make sure you are submitting your request directly through your ACE portal and only use the official CBP site.