We tell EU, UK, and Canadian buyers a duty-free story. We won’t pretend the US is the same: Nepal has no preferential apparel access to the United States. A Nepali cotton t-shirt pays the standard MFN rate of 16.5% — the same base rate as any WTO member. But 2026’s tariff turmoil has quietly produced something unusual: as of this writing, Nepal is one of the few garment origins with nothing stacked on top of that base rate. Here’s the verified picture, dated August 2026 — because in this year, dates matter.
The stable facts (these won’t change with court rulings)
| Product from Nepal | US MFN duty |
|---|---|
| Cotton t-shirt (HS 6109.10) | 16.5% |
| Cotton sweatshirt/hoodie (6110.20) | 16.5% |
| Cotton knit polo (6105.10) | 19.7% |
| Synthetic knit tops | ~32% |
Two takeaways hide in that table. First, the cotton-versus-synthetic gap is enormous — about 16 points — and it’s the one duty lever a US buyer fully controls; garments classify by chief fibre weight, so a 60/40 cotton-poly tee counts as cotton. Second, the Nepal Trade Preference Program that expired at the end of 2025 never covered mainstream knit tees and polos anyway — its lapse changed less than headlines suggested, and no renewal bill had been introduced as of early August 2026.
The 2026 rollercoaster, in one paragraph
In February 2026 the Supreme Court struck down the previous “reciprocal” tariffs; a 10% global surcharge immediately replaced them (Nepal paid it too — from late February to late July, a Nepali cotton tee cost 26.5% at the border). That surcharge hit its 150-day statutory limit on 24 July 2026 and expired. Its replacement took effect the same day: additional tariffs of 10–12.5% on goods from 60 economies — including China, Vietnam, Bangladesh, and India. Nepal is not on that list.
Where that leaves the comparison — for now
| Origin | Approx. total on a cotton tee (Aug 2026) |
|---|---|
| Nepal | 16.5% (MFN only) |
| China | up to ~36.5% (MFN + existing measures + new action) |
| Vietnam | ~29% |
| Bangladesh / India | ~26.5% |
Said plainly: as of August 2026, Nepal holds a 10–20 point duty advantage over the major Asian garment origins in the US market — the mirror image of its usual position. And said just as plainly: this could change. The new tariffs are already in court (a 25-state challenge was filed on 4 August 2026), and if they fall, the differential narrows toward zero. Build a US sourcing decision on the stable 16.5% and treat today’s gap as upside, not foundation. One more 2026 reality: the $800 de-minimis exemption is gone for commercial shipments — every parcel now clears formally and pays duty, whatever its value.
Our honest US pitch
For US buyers, Nepal’s case isn’t duty-free — it’s cotton knits at a fair base rate with no surcharge exposure, low minimums no mega-hub will match, at prices competitive with origins that currently pay 10+ points more. For brands selling into the EU, UK, or Canada as well, the same production run ships to those markets at 0%. That story is here. We date-stamp our tariff claims and update this post as the litigation resolves — ask us for the current picture when you inquire, and we’ll give it to you straight.
We’d rather publish the honest number than the convenient one. If the US tariff landscape shifts next quarter, this page will say so — that’s the standard we’d want from our own suppliers.
See our cotton knit range, or ask us for a landed-cost quote to your US port, calculated at the rates in force the week you order.