The Tariff Era: A New Equation for Importing Beauty
For more than a decade, Korean cosmetics entered the United States duty-free under the U.S.-Korea Free Trade Agreement (KORUS), in force since 2012. That structural advantage helped K-beauty become the largest source of U.S. cosmetics imports by 2024 (Associated Press, July 2025). The past 12 months have rewritten the math.
The shift began in April 2025, when the Trump administration announced sweeping “reciprocal” tariffs under the International Emergency Economic Powers Act (IEEPA), initially threatening a 25% rate on imports from South Korea (Business of Fashion, April 2025). Industry leaders described the moment as turning the beauty industry “upside-down,” with retailers and consumers shifting into panic-buying behavior (Business of Fashion, April 2025). After months of negotiation, Washington and Seoul finalized a framework deal in October 2025 setting the rate at 15%, retroactive to November 1, in exchange for a $350 billion South Korean investment commitment (Korea Herald, December 2025; Federal Register, December 2025). Separately, the de minimis exemption — which had allowed shipments under $800 to enter duty-free and was widely used by direct-to-consumer K-beauty brands — was eliminated on August 29, 2025 (White & Case, March 2026).
The picture changed again on February 20, 2026, when the U.S. Supreme Court ruled 6-3 in Learning Resources v. Trump that IEEPA does not authorize the president to impose tariffs (SCOTUSblog, February 2026). Within hours, the administration replaced the IEEPA tariffs with a 10% global tariff under Section 122 of the Trade Act of 1974, with the president announcing a day later that the rate would rise to the statutory maximum of 15% (Holland & Knight, February 2026). Section 122 tariffs are time-limited to 150 days, and the administration has signaled it will use that window to launch Section 301 investigations that could create longer-lasting duties.
Two things stand out. First, despite the policy whiplash, demand for K-beauty has held: brands continue to expand into Sephora and Ulta, and U.S. K-beauty sales were still projected to exceed $2 billion in 2025 (CNBC, November 2025). Second, value is shifting from the lowest-cost importer to the partners who can absorb tariff complexity, manage landed-cost calculations, and adapt quickly as the legal framework continues to move. Cross-border friction, in other words, is becoming a structural feature of the trade — and the brands that thrive will be the ones with operating partners built for it.