Trump Puts 25% Tariffs and Import Quotas on Quartz Countertops for Four Years, Starting Aug. 15

Trump signed a proclamation on July 31, 2026 imposing a four-year tariff-rate quota on imported quartz surface products under Sections 201 and 203 of the Trade Act, effective 12:01 a.m. Eastern on Aug. 15, 2026. It follows an affirmative serious-injury determination by the International Trade Commission, which reported May 18 with a supplement July 2. In-quota duties begin at 25% and step down to 19% by the fourth year; over-quota duties begin at 50% and fall to 47%. The first-year quota is 13,006,426 square meters, rising to 15,700,614 by year four.

Safeguard tariffs are one of the few trade tools that require a formal injury finding by an independent commission before the president may act, which makes this proclamation procedurally better grounded than the emergency-powers tariffs the administration has used elsewhere. Discretion still enters through the exclusions: Canada and Mexico are exempt under the USMCA, as are several free-trade partners and a list of developing countries — forfeited if a country’s import share exceeds 3%.

The proclamation also directs the U.S. Trade Representative to negotiate export-limiting agreements that "may also include commitments to invest in QSP production... in the United States." No litigation over the measure has been reported.