By and large, U.S. tariffs are among lowest in world By category of imported goods, 2017
Minerals and metals, as it happens, are one of the classes of imports on which the U.S. has had particularly low tariffs, according to data from the latest “World Tariff Profiles” report, produced jointly by the World Trade Organization, International Trade Centre and UN Conference on Trade and Development. The “average most-favored-nation applied duty” on minerals and metals was 1.7%, or 125th out of 138 countries and other economic units. (The “most favored nation,” or MFN, part of that metric refers to the tariffs each WTO member country promises to apply to all other WTO members, unless they’re part of a free trade area, customs union or other “preferential trade agreement.” Also, the report treats the 28-member European Union as a single entity, and it covers Hong Kong and Macao separately from the rest of China.)
By and large, U.S. tariffs are among lowest in world  | By category of imported goods, 2017  | Average most-favored.  | Global rank  | nation applied duty  | (out of 138)  | Beverages & tobacco  | 19. 1%  | 82  | Dairy products  | 16. .6%  | 61  | 16. 4%  | Sugars & confectionery  | 50  | Clothing  | 11.6%  | 94  | Textiles  | 7.9%  | 82  | Oilseeds fats & oils  | 7.2%  | 83  | Petroleum  | 6.5%  | 47  | Fruits vegetables & plants  | 4.7%  | 118  | Cotton  | 4.6%  | 59  | Leather, footwear, etc.  | 3.8%  | 123  | 3.3%  | 122  | Coffee & tea  | Cereals & preparations  | 3.1%  | 126  | Transport equipment  | 3.1%  | 122  | Chemicals  | 2.8%  | 96  | 2.4%  | 126  | Other manufactured goods  | 2.2%  | 128  | Animal products  | Minerals & metals  | 1.7%  | 125  | Electrical machinery 1.7%  | 125  | Non electrical machinery 1.2%  | 119  | Other agricultural products 1.0%  | 128  | Fish & fish products 0.8%  | 123  | Wood, paper, etc. 0.5%  | 129  | Note: Union, Ranking includes 137 individual countries and territories plus the European  | Union, which has a common tarif structure for its 28 member states.  | Source: Pew Research Center analysis of data from "World Tariff Profiles 2017" report.  | PEW RESEARCH CENTER 