Exporting to the USA
The US tariff on EU goods has changed its legal basis twice during 2026 but remains in place. What your customer pays depends on the product group, and a 2025 calculation in a quote that is still live should be redone.
What your customer pays
This is the only question that matters commercially, and it was missing entirely from the previous text at this address. The levels were measured on 16 September 2026.
- General EU goods
- The ordinary American rate plus a surcharge, so the total comes to ten per cent. If the ordinary rate is already ten or more, the surcharge is zero.
- Steel, aluminium and copper
- Fifty per cent on the metal articles themselves. Twenty-five per cent on goods predominantly composed of those metals.
- Machinery in the listed subset
- Fifteen per cent in total for EU goods. Covers fixed industrial machinery and power equipment, and since June 2026 agricultural machinery too.
- Cars and car parts
- Fifteen per cent in total. Retroactive since August 2025.
- Pharmaceuticals
- Fifteen per cent for patented medicines from the EU. Generic medicines carry only the ordinary rate.
- Aircraft, cork and certain raw materials
- Ordinary rate only. None of the new measures reaches them.
American tariffs on EU goods
The most important rule in the table is the one you cannot see: goods caught by a product specific measure do not pay the general surcharge on top. You pay one, not both. It is precisely that detail that makes rough estimates go wrong.
Check the date on everything you read about American tariffs. This page was measured in September 2026 and the area has changed three times in a year.
What happened during 2026
The background is worth knowing, because it explains why older figures are not merely out of date but actively misleading.
- Until 24 February
- The tariffs rested on emergency legislation. The Supreme Court struck down that basis on 20 February 2026 and the amounts collected are now being refunded.
- 24 February to 24 July
- A general ten per cent surcharge applied instead, under a provision allowing at most 150 days.
- From 24 July
- The current arrangement. The surcharge now rests on another basis and is designed so the total for EU goods lands at ten per cent.
- Throughout
- Goods caught by the product specific measures are exempt from the general surcharge. You do not pay both.
Three phases in one year
For a Swedish exporter the conclusion is simple. The tariff never disappeared. It changed basis, and the calculation changed with it. If you have a 2025 calculation sitting in a quote that is still live, it should be redone.
Direction matters
There is no free trade agreement between the EU and the United States. What exists is a political understanding from August 2025, implemented on the EU side in a regulation giving zero duty on certain goods of American origin.
So it helps whoever imports from the United States, not whoever exports there. Confusing the two directions is easily done, and it is one reason Swedish texts about US trade often sound more cheerful than reality warrants.
Practice on the ground
Your customer needs to be registered as importer and hold a bond with the American customs authority before the goods are released. If you want to be the importer yourself, for instance to deliver with duty paid, an agent is required in the state where the port of entry lies.
The relief for low value consignments has also been withdrawn since summer 2026, which changes the calculation entirely for e-commerce with low order values.
Your part of the work
The export declaration is lodged electronically with Swedish Customs. An oral declaration is in practice not available for business goods, since the limit runs at a thousand euro or a thousand kilos. The rest of the chain is on the export page, and the documents in detail on the export declaration page.
Read on
Moving to the USA yourself? Household goods follow different rules. Read about moving to the USA.
Common questions
What actually applies right now?
The arrangement in force since 24 July 2026 is built so EU goods land at ten per cent in total, calculated as the ordinary American rate plus a surcharge. If the ordinary rate is already ten or higher, nothing is added.
The exception is the product groups with their own measures, above all metals, certain machinery, vehicles and pharmaceuticals. They have their own levels, and they do not pay the general surcharge on top.
The figures here were measured on 16 September 2026. This area has changed several times during the year, so check the date on everything you read about American tariffs, including this.
Is it true the tariffs were struck down in court?
Yes, but that does not mean they went away. The Supreme Court ruled in February 2026 that the emergency legislation the tariffs rested on did not give the power to impose them. The amounts collected between February 2025 and February 2026 are now being refunded, handled in the American customs authority's own system.
But a new surcharge was introduced immediately on a different legal basis, and then in July another one. The net effect for a Swedish exporter's customer is that the tariff remains. What changed is which provision it stands on and exactly how it is calculated.
Who pays the tariff?
The American importer, not you. But the question becomes yours the moment you discuss delivery terms. Sell on terms where you carry duties and charges to the door and you take on the cost, and then the calculation has to be right. That is also why the levels above are worth checking before quoting, not after the order.
Can I be the importer in the United States?
Only with help on the ground. A foreign company may not simply act as importer but must have an agent in the state where the port of entry lies who can accept service of process. A bond is also required before the goods are released. That is the practical block for Swedish sellers who want to deliver with duty paid.
Is there a free trade agreement between the EU and the USA?
No. What exists is a political understanding from August 2025 which has since been implemented on each side. On the EU side it became a regulation giving zero duty on certain goods of US origin, applicable from July 2026.
Note the direction. That regulation helps you when you import from the United States, not when you export there.
Which proof of origin should I send?
No preferential proof, because there is no agreement granting a preferential rate. What is sometimes asked for is a chamber of commerce certificate of origin, which is a non-preferential document. It is used when the buyer, a letter of credit or the rules of the destination country require it, not to reduce the tariff. An origin declaration in the EU sense presupposes an agreement and is therefore not relevant against the United States.
What applies to small parcels?
The relief for low value consignments has been withdrawn. Since summer 2026 consignments below the old threshold can no longer enter free of charges, neither by ordinary freight nor by post. That hits e-commerce with low order values hardest, where the charges can now be a large share of the price.
What is required on the Swedish side?
An export declaration, lodged electronically. An oral declaration is only possible for goods of a non-commercial nature, or commercial goods under a thousand euro or a thousand kilos. In practice that means all business goods are declared electronically. How that works is on the export declaration page.
