2026 U.S. Quartz Surface Products Tariff: What Importers Need to Know

On July 31, 2026, the White House announced a four-year U.S. safeguard measure on certain quartz surface products. The measure is not a flat tariff on every material sold as “quartz,” and it is not limited to one exporting country. It is a tariff-rate quota built around a written product definition, specified HTSUS provisions, aggregate quarterly volumes, duty tiers, and origin exclusions.

This article explains the final presidential action for import planning. It is not a shipment-specific customs ruling or legal opinion. Importers should give the written scope, product records, origin facts, and entry details to a licensed U.S. customs broker or trade counsel before entry.

Which products does the 2026 QSP safeguard cover?

The final White House Annex defines quartz surface products as slabs and other surfaces made from a mixture that includes predominantly silica materials—such as quartz, quartz powder, cristobalite, or glass powder—and a resin binder such as unsaturated polyester. The silica content must be greater by actual weight than any other single material.

Adding pigments, cement, or other additives does not by itself remove a product from the definition. Nor is the scope limited to standard rectangular slabs. It covers other sizes, thicknesses, and shapes, including countertops, backsplashes, vanity tops, bar tops, worktops, tabletops, flooring, wall facing, shower surrounds, fireplace surrounds, mantels, and tiles when they match the written QSP description.

Covered merchandise can be polished or unpolished, cut or uncut, fabricated or unfabricated, finished or unfinished, and attached to other goods such as sinks, vanities, cabinets, or furniture. When covered QSP is imported with non-subject merchandise, the Annex states that only the QSP portion is covered. Finishing or fabricating subject material in a third country does not automatically remove it from scope.

The proclamation identifies HTSUS subheadings 6810.99.0020, 6810.99.0040, and 7020.00.6000. The Annex also expressly excludes quarried stone surface products such as granite, marble, soapstone, and quartzite.

How does the four-year tariff-rate quota work?

A tariff-rate quota does not simply ban imports after a volume limit. It applies one additional duty rate to covered entries within an aggregate quota and a higher rate to covered entries above that quota. The new Chapter 99 headings are 9903.45.30 for in-quota QSP and 9903.45.31 for over-quota QSP.

The quota is administered in four periods each year. The first period runs from August 15 through November 14, followed by November 15 through February 13, February 14 through May 15, and May 16 through August 14. CBP may carry unused quantity from one quarter into the next, but the Annex does not allow an entry under the in-quota heading beyond the available quarterly quantity plus any permitted carryover.

The final rates differ from the ITC's May recommendation. The Commission had recommended 25% in quota and 40% above quota in year one, with both rates declining one percentage point annually. The President retained the four-year TRQ structure but set the final first-year over-quota rate at 50% and adopted a different phase-down schedule. Importers should therefore use the July 31 proclamation and its Annex—not an earlier proposal—as the starting point.

Which countries are excluded from the safeguard?

The Annex excludes QSP products of Canada and Mexico. It also lists Australia, Colombia, Costa Rica, the Dominican Republic, El Salvador, Guatemala, Honduras, Israel, Nicaragua, Panama, Peru, Singapore, and South Korea, together with specified developing countries and Caribbean Basin beneficiary countries and territories.

The excluded list is not a permanent shortcut. The proclamation authorizes revisions when an excluded developing country's import share exceeds the stated thresholds, when collective shares exceed the threshold, when a surge occurs, or when other implementation and circumvention conditions require action. Importers should confirm current origin treatment at the time of entry rather than copy a country list from an old quotation.

China, India, Malaysia, Thailand, Türkiye, and Vietnam do not appear on the Annex's excluded-country lists. Covered QSP originating in those countries therefore requires review under the safeguard unless a later official modification applies.

What does the measure mean for China-origin quartz surface products?

The new action is a global safeguard, not a China-only tariff. However, China-origin QSP deserves special attention because the Annex says the safeguard duties are cumulative: applicable antidumping, countervailing, and other duties and charges continue to be imposed.

That means an importer cannot determine total exposure by looking only at the 25% or 50% safeguard tier. The importer must separately confirm the written scope of any applicable AD/CVD orders, producer and exporter identity, cash-deposit rate, Section 301 treatment, ordinary HTS duty, and any other current measure. Funtek's explanation of how the U.S. AD/CVD scope analysis differs provides the next step for resin-free sintered stone questions, while the sintered stone HS code guide keeps tariff classification separate from trade-remedy scope.

What should importers verify before the next order?

Start the review before the purchase order, not after a container reaches the port. A supplier should be able to provide product-specific evidence that lets the importer's broker compare the actual merchandise with the written QSP definition and the current HTSUS.

1. Lock the product identity. Record the exact commercial and technical name, model, slab or fabricated form, size, thickness, finish, and intended invoice description.
2. Identify the producer and exporter. Capture complete legal names, addresses, production location, and the relationship between producer, exporter, and invoicing party.
3. Obtain composition by actual weight. Request the silica-bearing materials, the largest single material, resin or binder type and percentage, pigments, cement, backing, mesh, adhesive, and other layers. Funtek sintered stone has a genuinely resin-free slab body; its product documentation separates that slab-body fact from any mesh, adhesive, backing, or other layer added after firing. See the supporting explanation of resin in sintered stone.
4. Document the manufacturing process. Record mixing, pressing, firing or curing, cutting, polishing, backing, third-country finishing, and assembly with other goods.
5. Confirm origin and HTS classification. Ask the broker to review the origin analysis, Chapter 68 or 70 provision, and any required Chapter 99 safeguard heading.
6. Check entry timing and quota status. The proclamation applies by the date goods are entered for consumption or withdrawn from warehouse, not simply the order date, invoice date, or vessel departure date.
7. Run a cumulative-duty review. Model the applicable safeguard tier together with AD/CVD, Section 301, ordinary duty, fees, and other current measures. Do not use a generic supplier estimate as the entry decision.
8. Keep an audit-ready document pack. Retain the purchase order, invoice, packing list, composition declaration, TDS/SDS, production records, test reports, product photos, cross-section photos, prior rulings, and broker instructions where applicable.

For commercial planning beyond the tariff question, connect this review to an overseas slab sourcing process and a destination-specific global slab shipping plan.

Does the new quartz safeguard automatically cover sintered stone?

For Funtek sintered stone, the slab-body composition is definite: it is a high-temperature-sintered inorganic mineral slab. The finished slab body contains no polyester, epoxy, acrylic, or other organic resin binder used to bind the body. The slab body is genuinely resin-free.

The resin-binder element in the final QSP definition therefore does not describe the Funtek slab body. Any mesh, adhesive, backing, surface film, or assembled component added after firing should still be declared separately because it is not part of the slab-body binder. Customs treatment remains a shipment-specific decision based on the actual merchandise, origin, HTS classification, and written scope; that legal review does not make the slab-body composition uncertain.

Review the resin-free full-body technical guide

This six-page Funtek guide records the slab-body composition, collection specifications, cut-edge verification, fabrication considerations, technical-document availability, and project checklist. The PDF contains searchable text, descriptive document metadata, and direct links back to the Funtek website.

Full-Body Sintered Stone Technical Guide

Open the Funtek technical guide in a new tab

Read the official White House Annex

The embedded five-page Annex is the primary operational source for the final product definition, exempt-country list, quarterly quota table, Chapter 99 headings, and four-year duty schedule. Use the open link if your browser does not display embedded PDFs.

Official QSP Safeguard Annex

Open the White House Annex in a new tab

The bottom line

The 2026 action is a four-year tariff-rate quota for products that match the final QSP definition, not a blanket statement that every quartz-named surface carries one tariff. For covered entries from non-exempt origins, the first-year safeguard rate is 25% within the available quarterly quota and 50% above it, effective August 15, 2026. Those duties can stack with applicable AD/CVD and other charges.

Before ordering, importers should lock the actual product composition, resin binder, manufacturer, origin, HTS and Chapter 99 treatment, entry timing, quota tier, and cumulative duty exposure. A written broker or counsel review based on the exact shipment is more valuable than any generalized supplier claim.