Intel is headquartered in Santa Clara, California, but the vast majority of Intel CPUs entering the US are manufactured and assembled in Malaysia (Penang and Kulim facilities). This makes Malaysia the country of origin for US customs purposes — not the United States. Intel parts imported from Malaysia currently face the 10% Section 122 surcharge.
Intel is headquartered in United States, but most components are manufactured in Malaysia, Vietnam, Ireland, Israel, Costa Rica. For US customs purposes, the COO is where the component is manufactured — not where the company is based. Declaring United States as COO when parts ship from Malaysia is a customs violation.
| Country | Sec 122 | Sec 301 | Total |
|---|---|---|---|
| Malaysia | 10% | — | 10% |
| Vietnam | 10% | — | 10% |
| Ireland | 10% | — | 10% |
| Israel | 10% | — | 10% |
| Costa Rica | 10% | — | 10% |
* Section 301 rates shown for electronics HTS chapters (8541–8542). Rates vary by product.
| HTS Code | Description |
|---|---|
| 8542.31.0000 | Microprocessors (Core, Xeon, Atom) |
| 8473.30.1180 | Processor boards and modules |
For US importers, the country of origin (COO) of a Intel component determines which tariff layers apply at the border — not where Intel is headquartered. Under US customs law, COO is the country where the component was manufactured or substantially transformed, which is typically a fabrication or assembly facility rather than a corporate headquarters. Intel components manufactured in Malaysia carry an effective US import duty of 10%, reflecting the applicable MFN base rate plus any Section 301 or Section 122 surcharges in effect.
The total US import duty on Intel components is calculated as a stack of applicable tariff layers: (1) the MFN (most-favored-nation) base rate from the USITC HTS schedule — typically 0% for electronic components in HTS chapters 8541–8542; (2) Section 122 global surcharge of 10%, applicable to all countries since May 2025; (3) Section 301 China-specific surcharges of 50% for semiconductors and ICs (HTS 8541–8542) or 25% for passive components, applicable only to China-origin goods; and (4) Merchandise Processing Fee (MPF) of 0.3464% of customs value, with a minimum of $32.71 and maximum of $634.62 per entry. For Intel components manufactured in Malaysia, the combined effective rate is 10%. Electronics procurement teams should verify the specific COO at the lot or date-code level, as some manufacturers source from multiple facilities.
Correct HTS (Harmonized Tariff Schedule) classification is required for accurate duty calculation and CBP entry. Electronic components fall across several HTS chapters: integrated circuits (microcontrollers, memory, analog ICs) under HTS 8542; discrete semiconductors (diodes, transistors, MOSFETs) under HTS 8541; passive components including capacitors under HTS 8532, resistors under HTS 8533, and inductors under HTS 8504. Misclassification exposes importers to CBP penalties and potential back-duties. If you are unsure of the correct HTS code for a specific Intel part number, use TariffTracker's part number lookup to get a classification recommendation based on distributor and manufacturer data cross-referenced with the USITC tariff schedule.
Enter any Intel part number to get the COO, HTS code, and full duty calculation including MPF and HMF.
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