Importing Japanese knives into the USA

Importing Japanese kitchen knives into the United States from Japan

The latest advice.

The goal posts move again. On July 24th, 2026 the 10% tariff that has applied to all postal deliveries since April 2026 expires, to be replaced by either a new tariff under Section 301 of the Trade Act related to forced labor and slave labor in supply lines, or the tariff applicable under Section 232, which includes the tariff on steel derivatives.

Kitchen knives fall under Section 232 of the Trade Act as steel derivatives, the definition of which was previously changed to include them. The applicable tariff rate is 25%. This is the same rate that has applied to deliveries by courier companies since April (reduced from the previous 50%). Please note that this tariff rate is 'stacked' with the General Rate of Duty, which for kitchen knives is 6.1%. So the effective rate is 31.1%. Hunting knives, cleavers, and some other bladed item categories drop by a couple of percentage points. Yay.

Shipping with Japan Post requires payment of the tariff prior to posting in order so that your parcel may enter the USA as 'DDP' or Delivered Duty Paid. Knife Japan will pay the tariff on your behalf prior to shipping and send a payment link for reimbursement. This is processed through a Japan Post-related payment processing company (Zonos) who then submits your tax payment to the US authorities before your parcel enters the country.

If we ship with DHL Express then DHL will invoice the addressee for the tariff plus their $17.00 customs clearance fee and send their own payment link.

For those interested in the source document related to the 25% tariff, an excerpt from the White House Proclamation of April 2nd:

(3)  Effective with respect to goods entered for consumption or withdrawn from warehouse for consumption on or after 12:01 a.m. eastern daylight time on April 6, 2026, for the copper articles and for the aluminum and steel derivative articles listed in Annex I-B to this proclamation, the applicable additional ad valorem rate of duty imposed pursuant to section 232 under Proclamation 9704, as amended; Proclamation 9705, as amended; and Proclamation 10962 shall be:

(a)  25 percent, unless a lower rate of duty applies pursuant to clause (3)(b)–(3)(c) of this proclamation;

Relevant Harmonized Tariff Codes are listed on pages 14 and 15 of the aforementioned Annex 1-B: 25% Section 232 Tariff on Full Value.

If you are a US resident please expect to be hit with a tax bill of 31.1% plus s modest customs clearance fee for a kitchen knife purchased from Knife Japan and sent to your address in the United States by Japan Post. 

A note about state sales tax.

State sales tax, if it applies in your state, is levied at the point of sale.

It's only relevant for an overseas vendor if sales for that vendor exceed a certain threshold per annum (the figure varies, but it's A LOT of knives). We don't exceed those thresholds for any state, so state sales tax will not apply to your order.

If you've ordered from an overseas vendor on a platform like Ebay or Etsy and found yourself paying state sales tax, that's why. For state sales tax purposes sales on those platforms aren't calculated on a seller-by-seller basis, but on the sales of the platform as a whole. As a result they will collect state sales tax on every transaction.

If you have any questions about our products or how we can deliver them to you in the USA, please drop us a line using the form below.

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