Philatelic Tariffs
Below are the main documents and links related to the recent rulings that philatelic material is duty free. The presidential proclamation, issued February 20, 2026, included a provision (under Section 122) that informational materials (including philatelic products) were still free of tariffs. This proclamation expired on July 23, 2026. On July 24, 2026 Section 122 tariffs were immediately replaced by Section 301 tariffs announced by a Notice of Action issued by the Office of the United States Trade Representative. See the bottom of this webpage for additional detail.
The Law
The above amendment to the IEEPA act of 1977 (issued in 1994) states that informational materials may not be regulated by the president.
Original Ruling Letter
On July 29, 2025 Mr. Heng Tang, a stamp dealer in California, received a ruling letter (N351280) stating that philatelic material was not considered informational and was therefore subject to reciprocal tariffs. He appealed, with assistance from the Boston 2026 team.
Revised Ruling Letter
On October 23, 2025 Mr. Tang received a followup letter from attorney Yuliya Gulis at Customs and Border Protection (above) stating that the original ruling letter he received in July was “null from the beginning” and “voided”, and that a new ruling letter would be issued. Note that as the original ruling was ruled "null from the beginning" it maybe the case that those parties that had paid tariffs on philatelic material may now be entitled to a refund. Affected parties may want to followup with their customs broker.
On October 29, 2025 the new ruling letter (H354294) was issued. It stated that philatelic material was covered under heading 9704, but made no claim as to whether such material was informational or not.
On October 30, 2025 attorney Andrew Langreich at Customs and Border Protection issued a followup letter to the new ruling letter (shown below) stating that philatelic material is informational and therefore exempt from duties.
The United States Supreme Court
On February 20, 2026, the U.S. Supreme Court ruled in Learning Resources, Inc. et al. v. Trump that the International Emergency Economic Powers Act (IEEPA) does not authorize the President to impose tariffs. The 6-3 decision struck down tariffs imposed under IEEPA, affirming that such actions exceeded congressional authority.
The President's Proclamation
Following the Supreme Court ruling, the President immediately issued a proclamation imposing a set of tariffs under a different authority (Section 122). As part of the proclamation, the president decreed that informational materials are still tariff free. See section 14(j), below. The Annexes below refer to a new HTSUS code 9903.03.11 that addresses the tariff free nature of informational materials. Thus, philatelic materials are still tariff free, as before.
Note that Section 122 tariffs were only temporary and expired on July 23, 2026.
Section 14 (j)
HTSUS Annex
Tariff Exemption for Philatelic Material Continues Under Newly Implemented Section 301 Tariff Rules
Following the U.S. Supreme Court’s opinion overturning of 2025 “IEEPA” tariffs announced on February 20, 2026, the US government implemented new Section 122 tariffs to replace them. The Section 122 tariffs expired on July 23, 2026. They were immediately replaced on July 24, 2026 by Section 301 tariffs announced by a Notice of Action issued by the Office of the United States Trade Representative (Docket Nos. USTR-2026-0265, USTR-2026-0266).
ANNEX 1 of the Notice of Action explicitly includes HTS Code 9704.00.00 within the scope of material EXEMPT from the new Section 301 tariffs at paragraph A.2(b) (that appears on pages 90-94) of the order (available at this link):
International shippers of philatelic material to the US should include the following HTS codes and labels on all invoices and export documentation that accompany their shipments:
HTS 9704.00.000 Postage Stamps and Covers
HTS(US) 9903.05.86 Specific Exemption from Section 301 tariffs