MFN

Definition

MFN is the standard import duty rate the US applies to goods from any country with which it maintains Normal Trade Relations (NTR), which is the same set of countries in practice. The MFN rate is the rate shown in HTSUS Column 1, sub-column 'General'. It is the floor of the US duty stack: every additive surcharge (Section 232, Section 301, Section 122, IEEPA) layers on top of MFN. The exceptions are preferential origins like USMCA and KORUS, which replace MFN with a (typically zero) preferential rate when an origin claim is made. Countries denied MFN treatment — currently Russia, Belarus, North Korea, and Cuba — fall under HTSUS Column 2 with significantly higher statutory rates.