The country exclusions are substantial, but they do not remove other trade measures. The product scope reaches slabs and fabricated items, including covered material finished in a third country, while natural stone is outside the definition. Importers also lack one operational record that matters: as of August 3, CBP had not posted a quartz-specific quota bulletin explaining opening mechanics and reporting instructions. The White House QSP safeguard proclamation of July 31, 2026 and the White House QSP tariff annex, July 31, 2026 fix the legal schedule. CBP's implementation notice will determine how that schedule is administered at the port.
The first-year 50 percent rate is only part of the change. The President kept the USITC's recommended four-year volume path but rewrote its rate path. The Commission proposed a constant 15-point spread between in-quota and over-quota entries. The final measure begins with a 25-point spread and widens it every year. An available square meter of quota becomes more valuable even as both rates decline.
The final schedule changes the economics
The USITC QSP safeguard report, Publication 5738 proposed 25 percent in quota and 40 percent over quota in year one. Both rates would have fallen by one point each year, leaving their difference unchanged. The President accepted the Commission's annual quantities but chose a steeper separation between the two rate lanes.
Quartz surface products safeguard schedule, final presidential action versus the USITC recommendation, effective August 15, 2026. Quantities and rates remain controlling unless the proclamation is modified or superseded.
| Quota year | Annual quantity (m²) | Quarterly base allotment (m²) | USITC recommended rates | Final rates | Final rate gap |
|---|
| Aug. 15, 2026 to Aug. 14, 2027 | 13,006,426 | 3,251,606 | 25% / 40% | 25% / 50% | 25 points |
| Aug. 15, 2027 to Aug. 14, 2028 | 14,771,583 | 3,692,896 | 24% / 39% | 23% / 49% | 26 points |
| Aug. 15, 2028 to Aug. 14, 2029 | 15,236,099 | 3,809,025 | 23% / 38% | 21% / 48% | 27 points |
| Aug. 15, 2029 to Aug. 14, 2030 | 15,700,614 | 3,925,153 | 22% / 37% | 19% / 47% | 28 points |
Rates in each pair are in-quota / over-quota. Quarterly quantities are the annex's stated allotments. Converting the Commission's square-foot recommendation to whole square meters produced annual and quarterly figures that differ by up to 2 square meters when the quarters are multiplied by four.
The remedy therefore rewards quota access more heavily over time. A buyer negotiating a delivered-duty-paid quote needs to know which lane the seller has priced. A buyer acting as importer of record needs the same answer in its own entry model. A contract that simply says “quartz tariff included” leaves a growing exposure unresolved.
This design shifts attention from the industry's annual import forecast to a narrower customs question. An annual volume may look ample while a quarterly pool is nearly gone. The relevant control is the quota balance when the merchandise is entered for consumption or withdrawn from warehouse for consumption, subject to the filing rules CBP publishes.
Four quota periods now matter more than one annual number
The annex divides each quota year into four periods: August 15 to November 14, November 15 to February 13, February 14 to May 15, and May 16 to August 14. CBP must add unused quantity from a period to the next period within 14 days. The text does not expressly resolve whether carried volume can roll again or how a fourth-quarter remainder is treated at the year boundary.
That architecture was deliberate. The Commission's report says quarterly allocation was intended to prevent a rush at the start of an annual period. Timing pressure remains, now spread across four smaller periods with a carryforward calculation between them.
Quartz surface products entry-control map as of August 3, 2026. CBP's commodity-specific quota bulletin remains pending and may change filing mechanics.
| Entry state | Chapter 99 heading | Safeguard result | File to confirm before entry |
|---|
| Origin is covered and quota remains | 9903.45.30 | In-quota rate for the current year | CBP quota status, declared square meters, underlying HTS, origin support |
| Origin is covered and quota is exhausted | 9903.45.31 | Over-quota rate for the current year | Same records, plus pricing or customer allocation for the higher rate |
| Origin is on the exclusion list | Neither QSP safeguard heading, if the exclusion is valid | No QSP safeguard duty | Product-of analysis, exclusion status on entry date, other applicable Chapter 99 measures |
| Non-exempt covered QSP is admitted to an FTZ on or after 12:01 a.m. ET on Aug. 15, 2026 | Use privileged foreign status under the proclamation | Rate and quantitative restriction apply on entry for consumption | FTZ admission status, entry date, quota status, CBP implementation instructions |
The table does not predict how quickly any period will fill. CBP's general quota administration guidance says an official opening can require simultaneous presentation and proration. Only quota left after an opening moves to first-come, first-served administration. The quartz bulletin must supply the commodity-specific rule, so arrival, warehouse admission, or FTZ admission should not be treated as securing the lower lane.
The safeguard rate is not the landed-cost rate
The annex is explicit that the quartz duty is additional to ordinary customs duty. It also leaves antidumping, countervailing, and other duties and charges in place. Existing QSP orders from China and from India and Türkiye remain active under Commerce's 2025 China QSP continuation notice and the Commerce QSP continuation notice, 91 FR 1751. Company-specific cash-deposit rates still require case-level work, not a country label.
A separate country-based tariff action is already live. USTR's July 23 forced-labor Section 301 final action took effect July 24 for products of 60 economies. U.S. note 52(a) applies the new Chapter 99 headings broadly, subject to stated exemptions. Neither underlying QSP provision, 6810.99.00 nor 7020.00.60, appears in the product lists in Annex I note 52(b)-(k) or Annex II. Rates and exceptions still vary by economy, so the broker's model must test note 52, origin, preference claims, existing China Section 301 treatment, and any AD/CVD case before adding the safeguard lane.
A country excluded from the quartz safeguard can still face a different Chapter 99 measure. A country covered by the safeguard may also be subject to AD/CVD. “Exempt” describes one legal layer, not the entry as a whole.
The origin file has to survive third-country processing
The proclamation excludes Canada, Mexico, specified free-trade partners, and qualifying developing countries from the QSP safeguard. Those exclusions can change. USTR may revise developing-country treatment after the specified import-share or status determination. If the President or USTR determines that imports surge from a country excluded under clause (2), USTR must extend the safeguard to that country. Circumvention action and agreement-based suspension remain discretionary and require the approvals and Federal Register notices stated in clauses (5) and (8).
The product definition creates a separate trap. Cutting, polishing, curing, edging, attaching, or packaging covered material in a third country does not take it outside QSP scope. Nor does attaching the material to another product. The annex does not, by itself, decide every country-of-origin question, so a ship-from address or finishing invoice is not enough. The entry file should trace the slab, the processing steps, the supplier's legal identity, and the basis for the product-of claim.
This is also where the new safeguard meets existing enforcement. The Commerce QSP scope determination, 87 FR 64009 found that QSP made in China and processed in Malaysia was covered by the China AD/CVD orders, and Commerce rescinded the parallel circumvention inquiry. The safeguard and the AD/CVD scope rules apply different legal tests, but both can demand the same upstream manufacturing evidence.
Build the control before the first quarter opens
For the August 15 start, the useful deliverable is not a single tariff percentage. It is an entry-level worksheet that can be refreshed when CBP posts the quota bulletin:
- Confirm that the merchandise fits the annex's silica-resin definition and one of the three underlying HTS provisions.
- Establish country of origin with records that cover slab manufacture and any third-country fabrication.
- Test the QSP country exclusion as of the entry date.
- Check CBP's open quota balance and the correct annual rate period.
- Apply 9903.45.30 or 9903.45.31, then test base duty, HTS note 52, existing Section 301 provisions, and AD/CVD separately.
- Record the quantity in square meters and retain the conversion support used on the entry.
- Put the 25-to-28-point quota contingency into purchase orders, customer quotes, and broker instructions.
Traverse's White House QSP proclamation Policy Signal should be paired with the broader Trade Act Section 201 safeguard tariff tracker. The earlier Trade Act Section 201 lamb industry-definition analysis explains the injury-stage questions that precede a remedy; this quartz measure is now at the opposite end of the process, where entry execution determines the result. Importers with Indian product can use the Commerce case A-533-889, Certain Quartz Surface Products from India as one starting point for the separate AD record.
The next controlling document is CBP's quartz quota bulletin or CSMS message. Technical HTS corrections, a change in country exclusions, a negotiated suspension, and the USITC's midterm review are later triggers. Until one of those records changes the system, the core rule is stable: the final remedy made each quarter's remaining quota more valuable than the Commission proposed, and that value rises through the fourth year.