Lighting is one of the categories where the current tariff era can stack up, because decorative and household fixtures are often produced in a relatively concentrated set of overseas factories, and a base duty that was once minor may now sit underneath a heavier country-specific load. The category is also bulky and low-margin per unit, so freight and duty tend to move together, and even a few points of added duty can flip a fixture from profitable to underwater. Lighting SKUs are also easy to misclassify, and the wrong code can attach a meaningfully different rate to a product you have been selling for years.
Representative 2026 estimate stacking base MFN duty (USITC HTS 2026 Rev.10), Section 301 on China-origin goods (USTR), Section 232 on autos and steel/aluminum/copper articles (CRS IN12545), and the 10% Section 122 surcharge that expires 2026-07-24 and is under appeal (Skadden). Your exact per-SKU duty depends on the precise HS code, which MarginGuard resolves from the live HTS schedule once connected. Not legal or customs advice.
Vietnam now enters the US under a reciprocal-era tariff rather than the near-duty-free terms many merchants associate with it from a few years ago, so it can no longer be treated as a load-free China substitute. The headline reciprocal rate that applies to most goods stacks on top of any normal MFN duty for the product's HTS code, and that combined figure is what actually drives landed cost. Vietnam has also been a repeated target of transshipment scrutiny, meaning goods that are merely routed or lightly finished there (rather than substantially made there) can face materially higher treatment. The representative rate shown in the rate box on this page reflects current reciprocal-era treatment; confirm the live figure and the specific HTS classification for your product before committing volume.
Vietnam remains one of the most common first moves off China for many categories, and for goods genuinely manufactured there it is frequently lighter than current China treatment, which is why it is still worth pricing out. But it is not the free pass it once was: it now carries its own reciprocal load, so the honest comparison is China's landed cost versus Vietnam's landed cost, not "Vietnam equals zero." The catch is origin. The main risk is sourcing product that is really Chinese components assembled or relabeled in Vietnam, which can expose you to transshipment enforcement and potentially significantly higher duties; qualifying for the lower Vietnam treatment depends on meeting rules of origin, which generally require substantial transformation rather than final packaging. Practically, that means vetting whether a supplier actually manufactures versus re-exports, getting the correct HTS classification for your product, and modeling the fully loaded cost (duty plus freight plus any compliance overhead) before you assume a margin improvement. Treat this as general sourcing guidance, not customs or legal advice.
That's a single SKU. Across a full catalog the tariff hits every imported product differently depending on its cost and price — which is exactly why margin damage hides until a quarter closes light.
Paste your Shopify URL. In about ten seconds you'll see every SKU that dropped below your target margin after the current Vietnam tariffs — and the exact price to charge to recover each one. Free, no login.
Scan your store free →Landed cost = unit cost × (1 + tariff rate). To get back to a target margin M, the recovery price is landed cost ÷ (1 − M). For a $45 lamp from Vietnam at a 14% stacked rate, that means charging $41.04 to hold a 40% margin. Round to a clean price point and test it; the point is to stop selling underwater.
The core of lighting classification is HTS heading 9405, which covers luminaires and lighting fittings (lamps, ceiling and wall fixtures, string lights, and their parts) regardless of the light source. The base duty for many finished fixtures is relatively modest, but the rate that actually hits your landed cost tends to be driven by three attributes: the material of the fixture body (a brass or glass lamp may sit at a different subheading than a plastic one), whether the item is a complete fixture versus a part such as a shade or base, and the country of origin, which is what can pull in the heavier current-era load. Light sources themselves can fall outside the heading, which is one place rate surprises tend to come from. The exact per-SKU duty depends on the precise HS code, so two products that look identical on your storefront can carry different rates.
A common lighting pitfall is the LED line: an LED bulb or retrofit lamp is often classified outside the 9405 fixture heading (an electric lamp can fall under a different heading entirely), and an integrated LED module or driver may be pulled toward yet another heading. Merchants who file an entire lighting catalog under one 9405 code because everything ships as a 'lamp' can end up applying the wrong duty to their LED-source items, and because LED products are a growing share of many stores, that single misread can distort the margin on high-volume SKUs. When the bulb and the fixture ship together as one sellable unit, the classification can hinge on which component gives the article its essential character, so it is worth confirming the code per SKU rather than per category.
Lighting assembly is relatively mobile, which can make origin shifting more realistic here than in categories with concentrated raw-material supply, and some Southeast Asian countries already run fixture assembly lines that may change the country-specific load on your landed cost. The catch is that origin for duty purposes generally follows where substantial transformation happens, not where the box ships from, so moving final assembly while still importing the metalwork, glass, and electronics from a high-load origin may not move your rate the way you expect; that analysis is fact-specific. Before committing to a supplier change, price the same fixture against a few candidate origins and confirm the classification holds, since a heavy glass or metal fixture also carries freight cost that can erase a duty saving. This is general guidance, not a customs ruling, and the defensible answer for any specific SKU comes from its actual HS code and origin documentation.
Do string lights and seasonal fairy lights fall under the same heading as a table lamp?
Decorative lighting sets, including string and fairy lights, are generally captured within heading 9405 as lighting fittings, so they typically share the fixture base duty rather than a bulb rate. That said, battery-powered or novelty sets can fall under a different subheading depending on construction, and the country-specific load still applies on top. Confirm the exact code per product, because seasonal SKUs are often imported in bulk and a small rate difference can add up at volume.
Are replacement lampshades and fixture parts dutied differently from a complete lamp?
Parts of lighting fittings, such as standalone shades, bases, and arms, have their own provisions within the 9405 structure and can carry a different rate than the finished fixture they belong to. If you import components and assemble or kit them domestically, you may be classifying the parts rather than the complete lamp, which can change the duty and sometimes the country-of-origin analysis. It is worth treating parts SKUs as their own line in your costing rather than assuming they inherit the finished-fixture rate, and confirming the code per SKU.
My fixtures ship with the bulbs included. Does that change the tariff?
It can. When a fixture and its light source are imported together as one packaged article, classification may turn on which part gives the item its essential character, and an integrated-LED fixture can be treated differently than a traditional lamp sold with a separate replaceable bulb. Because the bulb side may pull in a code outside the 9405 fixture heading, a bundled product can land at a different rate than the bare fixture would. Check the combined article's code rather than assuming it follows the fixture alone.
Is sourcing from Vietnam still cheaper than China after the recent tariff changes?
Often, but no longer automatically. Vietnam now carries its own reciprocal-era tariff on top of the normal duty for your product's HTS code, so the comparison is China's total landed cost versus Vietnam's total landed cost rather than "Vietnam is duty-free." For many categories Vietnam still lands lighter than current China treatment, but you should run the actual numbers for your specific product before assuming a margin improvement. Use the rate shown on this page as a starting point and confirm the live figure for your exact HS code.
What is transshipment risk and why does it matter for Vietnam?
Transshipment is when goods that are essentially made elsewhere (commonly China) are routed through or only lightly finished in Vietnam to claim Vietnamese origin. Vietnam has been a target of US enforcement on this, and goods found to be transshipped can face a materially higher duty than normally manufactured Vietnamese product. To rely on the lower Vietnam rate, the goods generally need to be substantially transformed in Vietnam, not just packaged or relabeled there, which is a rules-of-origin question worth confirming with a customs professional. This is general guidance, not customs or legal advice.
How do I confirm a Vietnamese supplier actually qualifies for the lower rate?
Start by verifying that the supplier manufactures the product in Vietnam rather than importing finished or near-finished goods to re-export. Ask where key components originate and how much processing happens locally, since qualifying for Vietnam's treatment depends on meeting rules of origin (typically substantial transformation). Then confirm the correct HTS classification for your specific item, because the duty is driven by classification plus origin. This is general guidance, not customs or legal advice; for binding certainty, a licensed customs broker or trade attorney can review your specific supply chain.
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