January 14, 2026 9:41AM 

# Tariff Complexity Flowchart 2.0 Is Live 

By [Scott Lincicome](https://www.cato.org/people/scott-lincicome) and [Alfredo Carrillo Obregon](https://www.cato.org/people/alfredo-carrillo-obregon) 

---

<a class="js-popover-trigger cursor-pointer popover-trigger" data-bs-placement="bottom" data-bs-trigger="click" id="popover-trigger"> 

SHARE 

</a> 

Listen to this article 

Generated with [ ElevenLabs](https://elevenlabs.io/) AI technology. 

Loading the [Elevenlabs Text to Speech](https://elevenlabs.io/text-to-speech) AudioNative Player...

Back in December, we created a flowchart to map out the US tariff regime, which has become increasingly complex and convoluted due to President Trump’s tariff actions under Sections 232, 301, and the International Emergency Economic Powers Act (IEEPA). The first version of this flowchart is available [here](https://www.cato.org/blog/us-businesses-tariff-complexity-death-thousand-papercuts), along with our analysis on the complexity of the US tariff system, which we recently updated [here](https://www.cato.org/blog/us-tariff-system-keeps-getting-more-complex-will-supreme-courts-ruling-ieepa-tariffs-change).

Over the past few weeks, we’ve received some much-appreciated feedback on this chart, and US Customs and Border Protection released [additional guidance](https://www.cbp.gov/document/fact-sheets/unstacking-certain-tariffs-chart) clarifying which tariffs “stack” on top of each other. We have incorporated these comments and information and updated our tariff complexity flowchart accordingly.

![Tariff flowchart_v2_Jan 2026](https://infogram-thumbs-1024.s3-eu-west-1.amazonaws.com/aba1eec8-b5f0-412e-bb41-abb1017dc918.jpg) 

[Download full-size image ↓](https://www.cato.org/sites/cato.org/files/2026-01/tariff_jan2026_v4.png)

We hope this chart proves helpful in untangling the complexity of the US tariff code—or at least in gaining a better understanding of it. Of course, this chart is likely to change soon, possibly even within the hour, if the Supreme Court invalidates the administration’s IEEPA tariffs. We’ll continue to update this chart as the US tariff system changes.

##### Related Tags 

[IEEPA Tariffs](https://www.cato.org/ieepa), [Economics](https://www.cato.org/economics), [Trade Policy](https://www.cato.org/trade-policy) 

[![Creative Commons License](/build/cato_2020/images/creative-commons.svg)](http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-sa/4.0/) 
This work is licensed under a [Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-ShareAlike 4.0 International License](https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-sa/4.0/).