What are the US Section 301 tariffs on Chinese batteries?

Section 301 tariffs on Chinese battery products rose in two stages following USTR’s four-year statutory review.

27 September 2024

The tariff on lithium-ion batteries used as the primary power source in electric and hybrid passenger vehicles rose from 7.5 per cent to 25 per cent. Parts of rechargeable lead-acid batteries rose to 25 per cent on the same date.

1 January 2026

The second tranche took effect. Lithium-ion batteries for uses other than electric vehicles rose from 7.5 per cent to 25 per cent, and natural graphite and permanent magnets rose from zero to 25 per cent.

The graphite line is the one to watch

The other increases moved an existing rate. Graphite went from nothing to a quarter, and China holds the overwhelming majority of global battery-grade graphite capacity. For an American anode maker there is no established alternative source at scale to switch to, so the tariff functions less as a substitution incentive than as a cost.

They stack

Section 301 duties sit on top of the most favoured nation rate and any other applicable tariff. The headline number is therefore not the landed cost, and anyone modelling from the 25 per cent figure alone will understate it.

See every other date in the US Battery Compliance Calendar.