Printer, Toner and Copier Tariffs: What Changed on July 24, 2026

If you buy or lease office printers, copiers or toner, the tariff rules behind those prices changed last week. At 12:01 a.m. Eastern Time on July 24, 2026, new Section 301 tariffs on imports from 60 economies took effect, according to the Office of the U.S. Trade Representative and trade lawyers at Holland & Knight. They replaced a 10% global tariff that expired the same night.

The new rates look familiar. The bigger change is the calendar: the old tariff came with an expiration date, and the new ones don't. Here's what changed, what it means for printer and toner budgets, and how it shifts the buy-versus-lease decision for San Fernando Valley offices.

What changed on July 24?

One temporary tariff ended and an open-ended one began. The 10% global tariff imposed under Section 122 of the Trade Act of 1974 expired, and the new Section 301 tariffs replaced it, as UHY and Tradlinx explain.

The new duties come from a final action by the U.S. Trade Representative against 60 economies over their failure to impose and effectively enforce a ban on importing goods made with forced labor, as Greenberg Traurig summarized. The additional duties are generally 10% or 12.5%, in two tiers by country.

The reach is broad. Wirth Consulting, an office-imaging industry analyst that looked specifically at office printers and copier MFPs, says the new tariffs cover roughly 99.4% of U.S. import value. In practice, it's safest to assume an imported printer, MFP, toner cartridge or part is in scope unless your supplier tells you otherwise in writing.

How did we get here?

This year's tariff story has had several chapters, and each one changed the math on office equipment.

The February ruling and the Section 122 response are covered by Thomson Reuters and Tradlinx.

That history is also why our January post on tariffs and rising toner prices needs a caveat. It described the tariff rules in place at the time, and both the February ruling and the July 24 switch have changed the picture since. Treat its specific percentages and forecasts as out of date, and use this post for the current rules.

Which countries are in the 12.5% tier?

Japan and South Korea are in the 12.5% tier, according to Adnkronos, Asia Economy and Wirth Consulting. Beyond those two, we're deliberately not publishing a country-by-country list, because the summaries we reviewed don't all agree.

Taiwan is a good example: the sources we reviewed don't agree on how it is treated, so confirm its rate with a supplier or customs broker rather than relying on any single summary. Two practical points follow:

• A brand is not a country of origin. The tier depends on where a printer or cartridge was made, which may not be where the brand is headquartered.
• The headline rate isn't always what lands on your invoice. Customs classification and the pricing decisions of manufacturers, distributors and dealers all sit between the border and your quote.

Why does "no expiration date" matter more than the rate?

Because it changes your planning horizon. The Section 122 tariff was limited to 150 days, but the new Section 301 tariffs have no scheduled or statutory expiration and can remain in place indefinitely, according to Tradlinx and Wirth Consulting.

Under a 150-day tariff, delaying a purchase until it lapsed was at least a plausible strategy. With no scheduled end date, waiting for tariffs to go away is a guess, not a plan.

For an office budget, that means tariff-related costs are better treated as a baseline than a blip. It matters most for decisions that lock you in for years: a multi-year copier lease, a managed print contract, or a long-term supply agreement.

Will printer, copier and toner prices go up?

They can, but there's no honest single number for how much. Tariffs are charged when goods enter the country, and how much of that cost reaches you depends on each manufacturer's and dealer's pricing decisions.

What you can control is how you read a quote. A reasonable supplier should be able to tell you which products a tariff surcharge applies to and how it was calculated. If a quote adds a flat "tariff fee" across everything, including service labor, ask for the breakdown before you sign.

Should you buy or lease a printer now?

Decide on total cost over the years you'll actually keep the device, not on tariff headlines. With no scheduled end to these tariffs, "wait until prices come down" is a weaker argument, and the fine print in your contract matters more.

If you're leaning toward a lease

A lease spreads the cost into monthly payments, but the equipment price at signing still drives that payment. Before signing or renewing, look for clauses that let the lessor or service provider raise prices during the term, such as supply, service or "cost of goods" adjustments. Our guide to hidden costs in printer contracts shows what to look for, and if you're stuck in a lease that no longer makes sense, start with our lease exit guide.

If you're leaning toward buying

Buying means you absorb any tariff-driven price once, then choose where you buy toner and service. For an office with modest print volume, a right-sized printer owned outright can be simpler to budget than a lease with price-increase clauses.

Either way, put your real monthly page volume into our printer cost calculator to compare buying and leasing side by side, and check the tax implications of each. For the full walkthrough, see buying vs. leasing a printer in 2026.

What this means for San Fernando Valley offices

Nothing about these tariffs is unique to the Valley, but the decisions they touch are local ones. Whether you run a law office in Encino, a dental practice in Sherman Oaks or a warehouse in Van Nuys, the same few questions apply:

• Is a lease renewal coming up? Check your contract's renewal notice window now, so you have time to compare options instead of rolling over by default.
• Are you holding an old quote? Any quote issued before July 24 was priced before the switch. Ask the dealer to confirm or reissue it.
• Are you tempted to stockpile toner? A modest buffer is sensible. A year's supply ties up cash and shelf space, and it's wasted if you replace the printer.
• Is every page necessary? The cheapest page is the one you don't print, whatever tariffs do.

We work with offices across the San Fernando Valley communities we serve, and because we don't sell printers, we have no stake in whether you buy, lease or keep what you already have.

What to do now

1. Ask for updated quotes on any printer, copier or toner purchase priced before July 24, 2026, and ask the supplier to state each product's country of origin.
2. Ask in writing whether a tariff surcharge applies, which products it covers and how it's calculated.
3. Pull your current lease and service contracts, and note renewal dates and any clauses that allow mid-term price increases.
4. Run buy-versus-lease scenarios in the cost calculator using your real monthly page volume.
5. Set double-sided and black-and-white printing as defaults on shared devices to cut toner use.
6. Recheck supplier pricing every quarter, since these tariffs have no scheduled end date.

Want a second set of eyes on a quote or lease before you sign? Book a free virtual consultation and we'll walk through the numbers with you.

Update (September 30, 2026)

The new tariffs are being challenged in court. Importers, including small businesses, have sued to stop them, as NBC News, FreightWaves and Supply Chain Dive reported. A coalition of 25 states has also sued the Trump administration over the tariffs, according to CBS News, NBC News and Supply Chain Dive.

The lawsuits don't change the basic budgeting advice above: the tariffs still have no scheduled end date. They do add one step to your list: keep the quotes and invoices that show any tariff surcharge you've paid, so you have the paperwork if the rules change.