Last updated: September 29, 2026. This is a live trade situation — the tariff rate, exemptions, and diplomatic developments described below can change with little notice. We’ll update this page as new information is confirmed.
Reviewed by Santiago Arroyave, Legal and Commercial Counsel at Nexo Legal.
Quick answer (US tariffs Colombia, September 2026): As of September 29, 2026, the United States is still charging a 12.5% tariff on most Colombian exports, in effect since July 24, 2026. In late September, Colombia issued Decree 1444 of 2026, banning imports of goods made with forced labor — the step the US said was missing. But the decree does not lift the tariff by itself: removal is a US decision, and as of this writing it has not been announced. If you run or advise a company that exports from Colombia, the practical takeaway isn’t “wait for the news” — it’s building your contracts and pricing so either outcome doesn’t catch you off guard.
Table of Contents
- US Tariffs Colombia 2026: The Current Rate Is 12.5%
- Why the Tariff Exists: The Forced Labor Compliance Issue
- What’s Exempt and What Isn’t
- Where Things Stand as of September 29: Decree Issued, Tariff Still Charged
- Two Separate Tracks People Are Mixing Up: The Earthquake Request and the Forced Labor Decree
- The Economic Impact — By Whose Numbers
- Colombia’s Competitive Disadvantage in the Region
- What This Means for a Foreign Company With Operations in Colombia
- What to Review in Your Export Contracts Right Now
- FAQ
US Tariffs Colombia 2026: The Current Rate Is 12.5%
Since July 24, 2026, most Colombian goods entering the United States have carried an additional 12.5% tariff, imposed by the US Trade Representative (USTR) under a Section 301 investigation. That 12.5% replaced a temporary 10% surcharge that had been in place since February 2026 — the two didn’t stack; the rate simply moved from 10% to 12.5%, a 2.5-point increase.
This is separate from Colombia’s long-standing free trade agreement with the US (the US-Colombia Trade Promotion Agreement, in force since 2012), which still governs the baseline tariff treatment for most goods. The 12.5% is an additional charge layered on top, tied to a specific compliance finding rather than a renegotiation of the trade agreement itself.
Why the Tariff Exists: The Forced Labor Compliance Issue
The USTR’s stated reason is not a trade imbalance or a tariff dispute in the traditional sense — it’s a compliance finding. In mid-2026, USTR concluded that Colombia was among roughly 54–60 economies that had not implemented an effective prohibition on importing goods made with forced labor into their own markets, a standard the US has been enforcing more aggressively through Section 301 investigations this year.
In practice, this means the tariff is directly tied to whether Colombia has, and enforces, its own import ban on forced-labor-produced goods — not to anything Colombian exporters themselves are doing. That distinction matters for the next section: the path to removal runs through a Colombian regulatory decree, not through negotiation over the export goods themselves.
What’s Exempt and What Isn’t
Several of Colombia’s largest and most politically sensitive export categories were carved out from the start:
Exempt:
– Coffee
– Crude oil
– Gold
– Bananas and plantains
– Avocados
– Certain sugars
– Coal
– Cocoa
Affected (12.5% applies):
– Cut flowers
– Textiles and apparel
– Aluminum and aluminum products
– Steel-related goods
Roughly one-third of Colombia’s exports to the US fall under categories where the tariff applies, according to trade compliance trackers following the July 2026 USTR action. Flowers and textiles are the sectors most exposed, both because they lack an exemption and because they compete on thin margins where a 12.5% cost increase is difficult to absorb without losing price competitiveness.
Where Things Stand as of September 29: Decree Issued, Tariff Still Charged
This is the part of the story that’s moving fastest, and where it’s easy to get ahead of the facts.
On September 4, 2026, Javier Díaz, president of the export association ANALDEX, told Colombian media that the 12.5% tariff “could drop to zero” and that “all the regulatory groundwork is ready” on Colombia’s side. On September 8, 2026, Colombian outlets were still reporting the same framing: an announcement of the tariff’s removal is expected “in the coming days,” led by Commerce Minister Mauricio Gómez Amín’s engagement with US trade officials — but no announcement had actually happened as of that date.
Here’s the mechanism officials describe: Colombia drafted a decree banning the importation of goods produced with forced labor and published it for public comment. Once that decree was formally issued, Colombian officials expected the US to treat it as satisfying the compliance gap that triggered the tariff in the first place, and remove the 12.5% charge.
Update, late September 2026: that decree is now final. The Ministry of Commerce, Industry and Tourism issued Decree 1444 of 2026, which prohibits the entry into Colombia of goods extracted, grown, produced, manufactured, assembled or processed, wholly or partly, with forced or compulsory labor. It takes effect the day after its publication in the Diario Oficial. Colombian press was clear on what it does not do: issuing the decree and removing the US tariff are separate decisions. The decree contains no mechanism for Colombia to lift or change a US duty, so exporters keep paying the 12.5% until US authorities act. ANALDEX’s president described the decree as “necessary, but not sufficient” — the next phase is bilateral, and it depends on the US evaluation and procedures.
In plain terms: the tariff is still being charged today. Colombia has now completed the regulatory step the US pointed to, which makes removal more plausible than it was in early September — but it is not yet a fact you should build a pricing model around.
Two Separate Tracks People Are Mixing Up: The Earthquake Request and the Forced Labor Decree
It’s worth being precise here, because two different diplomatic threads have been running in parallel and easy to conflate.
Track one — the earthquake request. After the magnitude 7.4 earthquake that struck Colombia on August 10, 2026, President Abelardo de la Espriella spoke with President Trump by phone on August 15–16 and asked him to suspend the tariffs to help Colombian businesses recover. Trump reportedly expressed condolences and support for reconstruction, and the US had already committed roughly US$26.5 million in disaster assistance. But there is no confirmed link between that call and any tariff action — the humanitarian aid and the tariff are, as far as public reporting shows, separate matters.
Track two — the forced labor compliance decree. This is the track that’s actually moving toward a resolution, and it has nothing to do with the earthquake. It’s a technical compliance process: Colombia adopts the import controls the US wants to see (it has now done so with Decree 1444 of 2026), and the US decides whether to lift the tariff in response.
If you see headlines suggesting the tariff is about to disappear “because of the earthquake,” treat that with skepticism — the more substantiated path to removal is the regulatory one, not the humanitarian one.
The Economic Impact — By Whose Numbers
Trade associations, not government agencies, are the source for most of the economic impact figures circulating around this tariff. Treat them accordingly — as informed estimates from interested parties, not official statistics:
- ANDI (Colombia’s national business association) has estimated that around US$5,000 million in exports were at risk under the tariff, though this figure has not been independently verified against a primary ANDI publication.
- Trade press has cited an estimate of roughly 2,490 additional companies affected by related steel and aluminum tariff measures — again, a gremio-sourced figure, not an official one.
- On the relief side, ANALDEX has said that if the tariff is removed, more than 1,700 Colombian exporting companies, concentrated in labor-intensive sectors like floriculture, would benefit.
None of these numbers come from DIAN, USTR, or another government source with audited data behind it. If you’re citing figures like this to clients or in your own reporting, attribute them explicitly to the trade association that produced them.
Colombia’s Competitive Disadvantage in the Region
While the 12.5% tariff is in effect, Colombian exporters compete at a real, quantifiable disadvantage against several regional peers that were not hit with the same increase. Trade compliance trackers following the July 2026 USTR action put the gap at roughly 2.5 percentage points against Ecuador, El Salvador, Guatemala, Honduras, and Mexico — countries shipping many of the same product categories into the same US market.
For a foreign company deciding where in Latin America to source or manufacture, that gap is a real, if temporary, cost differential. It’s also a reason this situation is worth tracking closely rather than treating as background noise: a 2.5-point tariff swing is large enough to change sourcing decisions at the margin, and it could swing back in Colombia’s favor just as quickly if the decree-for-tariff exchange goes through.
What This Means for a Foreign Company With Operations in Colombia
If your company exports from Colombia, sources from a Colombian supplier, or is considering Colombia as a manufacturing or sourcing base, here’s what actually changes depending on where you sit:
- If you export a product on the affected list (flowers, textiles, aluminum, steel-related goods): you’re paying the 12.5% today, full stop. Don’t assume relief is priced into your next shipment until it’s officially announced by USTR — not just anticipated by a trade association.
- If you export an exempt product (coffee, oil, gold, bananas, avocados, certain sugars, coal, cocoa): the tariff doesn’t touch you directly, but it’s worth monitoring in case the exemption list changes alongside any broader USTR action.
- If you’re evaluating Colombia as a new sourcing or manufacturing location (see our guide to landing an operation in Colombia): the current 2.5-point gap against Ecuador, Mexico, and other regional alternatives is a real factor, but a temporary one tied to a specific, resolvable compliance issue — not a structural cost of doing business in Colombia long-term.
- If you already operate in Colombia and this tariff doesn’t affect your product category: the bigger lesson here isn’t about tariffs specifically — it’s that US trade policy toward Colombia has moved twice in seven months (10% to 12.5%, and now potentially back down) without much lead time. That volatility is worth planning around structurally, not just reacting to case by case.
What to Review in Your Export Contracts Right Now
Whether or not the 12.5% tariff gets lifted this month, the underlying lesson is the same: contracts written when tariffs were stable often don’t account for the kind of rate swings 2026 has produced. A few specific things worth checking:
- Who absorbs a tariff change, and when. Many export contracts are silent on what happens if a tariff is imposed or removed mid-contract. If yours doesn’t specify whether the exporter, importer, or both share that cost, that’s a gap — not a theoretical one, given that Colombia’s rate has already moved twice this year.
- Incoterms and where cost responsibility actually sits. DDP (Delivered Duty Paid) terms put tariff exposure on the seller; other terms shift it to the buyer. Confirm your contracts say what you think they say, especially on agreements signed before July 2026.
- Price adjustment or hardship clauses. A clause that lets pricing adjust in response to a tariff change of a defined size (say, more than 2 percentage points) is a reasonable, negotiable addition for new or renewed contracts — and useful in either direction, whether rates go up again or the current one is lifted.
- HS code classification. If your product sits near the boundary of an exempt category (agricultural products, certain processed goods), it’s worth confirming the classification is accurate and documented — misclassification exposure works against you whether the tariff goes up or gets removed and audited retroactively.
- Force majeure language. Sudden tariff changes are not automatically covered by standard force majeure clauses, which typically focus on physical or legal impossibility, not cost increases. If tariff volatility is a real risk for your trade flow, this is worth addressing as its own clause rather than assuming force majeure covers it.
- Country-of-origin documentation. With a compliance-driven tariff tied to forced labor controls, expect more scrutiny on origin and supply chain documentation going forward, independent of what happens with this specific rate.
None of this requires waiting for the tariff situation to resolve. If anything, the uncertainty is the argument for reviewing these clauses now, while there’s still time to negotiate changes before the next shipment or contract renewal.
Talk to Someone Before Your Next Shipment or Contract Renewal
Because this situation is still moving — and because the underlying issue (contracts that don’t account for tariff volatility) doesn’t go away even if this specific rate is lifted — this is a good moment to have your export agreements reviewed rather than wait for the news to settle. For the broader picture, see our overview of the legal risks of doing business in Colombia in 2026. Our softlanding and market-entry team works with foreign companies operating in or sourcing from Colombia on exactly this kind of contract and compliance review, before a tariff change turns into a dispute over who pays for it.
FAQ
Is the US tariff on Colombian exports still 12.5% right now?
Yes, as of September 29, 2026. The rate has been in effect since July 24, 2026. Colombia issued Decree 1444 of 2026 banning forced-labor imports in late September, but the US has not announced any removal of the tariff.
Why did the US impose a 12.5% tariff on Colombia?
USTR found that Colombia had not implemented an effective ban on importing goods made with forced labor, one of roughly 54–60 economies flagged in a Section 301 investigation. The tariff is tied to that compliance gap, not to a trade dispute over Colombian export goods themselves.
What Colombian products are exempt from the tariff?
Coffee, crude oil, gold, bananas, plantains, avocados, certain sugars, coal, and cocoa are exempt. Flowers, textiles, and aluminum and steel-related products are not.
Is the tariff connected to the August 2026 earthquake?
Not confirmed. Colombia’s president asked the US to suspend tariffs as earthquake relief, and received expressions of sympathy and separate disaster aid — but the process that appears closest to actually lifting the tariff is a different one, tied to Colombia’s own forced-labor import controls, now issued as Decree 1444 of 2026.
How much is this tariff costing Colombian exporters?
Trade associations, not government agencies, have floated figures like roughly US$5,000 million in exports at risk (ANDI) — treat these as gremio estimates, not audited data.
Should I wait to sign export contracts until this is resolved?
No. The more durable fix is contract language that accounts for tariff volatility in either direction — price adjustment clauses, clear cost-allocation terms, and accurate HS code documentation — rather than waiting for one specific rate to settle.
Sources: La República, “MinComercio prohibió la importación de bienes producidos mediante trabajo forzoso,” Sept. 28, 2026 | Portafolio, “Decreto contra el trabajo forzoso: ¿le alcanza a Colombia para tumbar el arancel de 12,5%?,” Sept. 29, 2026 | USTR — Takes Action in Forced Labor Section 301 Investigations | La República, “En próximos días se anunciará el desmonte del arancel de 12,5% con EE.UU.,” Sept. 8, 2026 | La República, “Analdex dijo que Estados Unidos desmontaría arancel de 12,5% en los próximos días,” Sept. 3, 2026 | El Colombiano, “Colombia avanzó en normativa para que EE. UU. baje a cero el arancel de 12,5% por trabajo forzoso,” Sept. 4, 2026 | RTE, “Colombia president asks US to suspend tariffs over quake,” Aug. 16, 2026 | Green Worldwide Shipping — USTR Proposes 10% and 12.5% Tariffs on 60 Economies