Import Marble & Travertine from Turkey to USA

Türkiye exports close to $2 billion of natural stone a year, and in 2024 the United States became its biggest market, buying about $432 million. The quarries and factories are inland: white and colored marble around Afyonkarahisar, travertine around Denizli, beige marble around Burdur, white and grey marble in Muğla. Most of it now leaves as finished product — polished slabs, cut-to-size tiles, tumbled pavers and mosaics — rather than raw blocks.

For a US buyer the duty picture is clear once the product is described correctly. Natural marble and travertine are outside the antidumping and countervailing duty orders on Turkish quartz surface products; they pay the ordinary duty for their HTS line plus the Section 301 duty applied to most Turkish goods since 24 July 2026. What goes wrong is weight, breakage and description: a 20ft container weighs out long before it is full, slabs crack if the A-frames are not braced, and an invoice that says 'quartz' for quartzite or 'marble' for an engineered product invites a scope inquiry.

We work through WCA partner agents in Türkiye; AGF has no office there. Our partner collects from the factory, checks bundles, A-frames, crates and gross weights, and loads at Aliağa near İzmir or at Mersin. AGF runs the US end from Glendale: the ISF before loading, the entry filed by our licensed customs brokers, and heavy-container trucking and unloading at your yard or fabrication shop through our drayage and trucking partners.

Last reviewed: October 2026

Shipping Marble & Travertine from Turkey to USA

Stone is weight cargo. A 20ft container's practical cargo for most US deliveries on a standard chassis is roughly 19–20 tonnes — as a planning guide about 300–350 m² of 2 cm slab on A-frames, or about 600 m² of 1.2 cm travertine tile on pallets — and the factory's packing list decides. Slabs travel upright in bundles or on braced A-frames, tiles and pavers on pallets or in crates, and raw blocks mostly as breakbulk or in open-top containers.

Stone from Afyon, Denizli and Burdur reaches Aliağa or İzmir by truck, and Mersin serves the south and east. On a direct service the East Coast is roughly two to three weeks away: one carrier's direct loop runs about 14 days from Aliağa and 20 from Mersin to New York, with Norfolk and Savannah two to four days later. The West Coast takes roughly four to six weeks via Panama or transshipment, so for California yards we also price East Coast discharge plus rail. Heavy 20ft boxes may need a tri-axle chassis or an overweight permit, and the rules differ by state, so we plan the load against your delivery address before the stone is loaded.

20ft containers loaded to the US road limit — roughly 19–20 tonnes of cargo for most deliveries
Slabs upright on braced A-frames or in bundles; tiles and pavers palletized or crated
Raw blocks by breakbulk or open top, planned by weight and dimensions
A-frames, crates and pallets heat-treated and stamped to ISPM 15
Verified gross mass checked at loading, not estimated from the order
Delivery on heavy-container chassis, with forklift or slab-clamp unloading at your yard

What Drives the Cost

Weight, not volume — every container is planned to its payload and the delivery route
Format: blocks, sawn slabs, polished slabs, cut-to-size pieces, tiles or mosaics
Packing — A-frames, bracing and edge protection — against breakage
Duty: the ordinary rate for the HTS line plus the Section 301 layer on Turkish goods, with no AD/CVD on natural stone — confirmed at quoting
Port of loading — Aliağa or Mersin — and East Coast discharge versus the West Coast
US trucking: tri-axle chassis, overweight permits and unloading equipment at the yard

HS Codes and Duty Notes

Classification guidance only — duty rates change and depend on your exact product. Our licensed customs brokers verify every code before you commit to an order.

HS Code	Products	Notes
2515.11 / 2515.12	Marble and travertine blocks and slabs — crude, roughly trimmed, or merely cut into rectangular blocks or slabs	Raw material for US processors. Once stone is polished, honed, edged or cut to shape it moves to heading 6802. Duty depends on the 10-digit line; confirmed at quoting.
6802.21	Marble, travertine and alabaster simply cut or sawn, with a flat or even surface	Sawn tiles and slabs not worked further; marble and travertine have separate 10-digit lines.
6802.91	Polished, honed, tumbled or otherwise worked marble and travertine — slabs, tiles, vanity tops, pavers	The main line for finished Turkish stone. Name the stone, the finish and any resin filling or mesh backing on the invoice.
6802.10	Mosaic tiles and cubes of natural stone, largest face under 7 cm	Mosaics on mesh sheets classify here whatever the stone.
6802.92 / 6802.99	Limestone and other calcareous stone; other natural stone such as quartzite	Natural stone outside the quartz orders — but quartzite must never be invoiced as 'quartz'.
6810.99	Engineered quartz surfaces (resin-bound) — not natural stone	Under antidumping and countervailing duty orders on quartz surface products from Türkiye (A-489-837, C-489-838). Listed so it is not confused with marble.

Regulations and Compliance

Quartz AD/CVD orders — and why natural stone is outside them

Commerce's orders on certain quartz surface products from Türkiye (A-489-837 and C-489-838), continued in January 2026, cover slabs and surfaces made from a mixture that is predominantly silica with a resin binder — whatever their size or finish, and even when attached to vanities or cabinets. The scope expressly excludes quarried stone such as granite, marble, soapstone and quartzite. The exclusion protects only what the paperwork proves: describe the stone by name, finish and any resin filling or mesh backing, and never use 'quartz' as shorthand for quartzite or 'marble' for an engineered 'marble-look' product.

The Section 301 duty on Turkish goods

Since 24 July 2026 most products of Türkiye pay an additional Section 301 duty, which USTR imposed on trading partners it found had not banned imports made with forced labor. It stacks on the ordinary duty, and the natural-stone headings were not on the exemption lists when we checked in October 2026. Türkiye has no free-trade agreement with the United States. Our licensed customs brokers confirm the total for your 10-digit line at quoting.

Classification: heading 2515 or 6802

Heading 2515 covers marble and travertine that is crude, roughly trimmed or merely cut by sawing into rectangular blocks or slabs. Stone that has been polished, honed, tumbled, edged or cut into shapes and finished articles is worked stone of heading 6802, where marble and travertine have separate lines and mosaics under 7 cm fall in 6802.10. CBP classifies from the written description, so the invoice should state the stone, the finish and the thickness; where a sawn slab sits between the two headings, our brokers settle it from the supplier's specification before shipment.

Wood packaging (ISPM 15)

A-frames, crates, pallets and bracing timber must be heat-treated or fumigated and carry the ISPM 15 stamp. Non-compliant wood packaging can lead CBP to order the whole shipment re-exported at the importer's cost. Natural stone itself is outside the Lacey Act, which covers plants and wood.

Container weight and US road limits

Every export container needs a verified gross mass before it is loaded. On US Interstates a truck is limited to 80,000 lb gross, which caps a 20ft box of stone at roughly 19–20 tonnes of cargo for most deliveries on a standard chassis. Some states, such as Georgia and Virginia, issue overweight permits for sealed ocean containers moving to or from a port, with their own axle, chassis and route conditions; others do not. An overweight box with no legal route is stranded at the port, so weights are checked at loading, not guessed from the order.

Crystalline silica: Proposition 65 and fabrication rules

Cutting, grinding and polishing stone releases respirable crystalline silica, which California lists under Proposition 65 as a cause of cancer, and stone sold in California commonly carries a warning naming it; old short-form warnings that do not name a chemical must be replaced by 1 January 2028. Marble and travertine are mostly calcium carbonate, but ask the supplier for a safety data sheet that states the silica content: Cal/OSHA's silica standard adds requirements for shops working natural stone above 10% crystalline silica, and federal OSHA's silica rules apply to every fabrication shop. California's proposed ban on fabricating high-silica engineered stone, still in rulemaking, targets artificial stone, not natural marble or travertine.

Door-to-Door Import Service

We start with the order — stone, finish, thickness and format, with weights per bundle, A-frame or pallet — which sets the HTS lines and how many containers you need.

Our WCA partner in Türkiye collects from the factory in Afyon, Denizli, Burdur or elsewhere, checks bracing, edge protection and ISPM 15 stamps, verifies the gross weight and supervises loading.

We file the ISF at least 24 hours before loading and book the sailing from Aliağa, İzmir or Mersin — direct to the East Coast where a service fits.

Our licensed customs brokers file the entry with the stone described by name and finish, so it stays clearly outside the quartz orders, and pay the duty and the Section 301 layer.

Our drayage and trucking partners move the container on a chassis suited to its weight, with permits where the route needs them, or transload it at a partner warehouse.

Delivery to your stone yard, distributor or fabrication shop, with unloading planned — forklift, slab clamp or crane.

Ocean Freight Customs Drayage Ground Transport Warehousing

Frequently Asked Questions

Is there a tariff on marble from Turkey?

Yes. Turkish marble and travertine pay the ordinary duty for their HTS line plus the Section 301 duty applied to most Turkish goods since 24 July 2026, and natural stone was not on the exemption lists when we checked in October 2026. There is no antidumping or countervailing duty on natural stone from Türkiye. Our licensed customs brokers confirm the total for your exact line at quoting.

Does the antidumping duty on Turkish quartz apply to marble or travertine?

No. The orders on quartz surface products from Türkiye cover engineered slabs made mostly of silica with a resin binder, and their scope expressly excludes quarried stone such as granite, marble, soapstone and quartzite. Describe the stone accurately on the invoice and packing list — an entry that says 'quartz' for quartzite, or 'marble' for an engineered product, invites questions.

How much marble fits in a 20ft container?

Weight decides, not space: roughly 19–20 tonnes of cargo for most US deliveries on a standard chassis. As a planning guide that is about 300–350 m² of 2 cm polished slab on A-frames, or about 600 m² of 1.2 cm travertine tile, depending on thickness and packing. We plan from the factory's packing list and weights before booking.

How long does shipping marble from Turkey to the USA take?

On a direct service, roughly two to three weeks to the East Coast: one carrier's loop runs about 14 days from Aliağa and 20 from Mersin to New York, with Norfolk and Savannah two to four days later. The West Coast takes roughly four to six weeks via Panama or transshipment. Add trucking from the quarry region to the port and the time to clear and deliver; we confirm the transit per booking.

Do imported marble slabs need a Prop 65 warning in California?

Stone sold in California commonly carries a Proposition 65 warning for crystalline silica, which is released when stone is cut, ground or polished. Whether and how your products need one depends on your role in the supply chain, so check with your compliance adviser. Ask the Turkish supplier for a safety data sheet that states the silica content — fabricators need it for their own OSHA and Cal/OSHA obligations too.

Can slabs, tiles and pavers from different factories share a container?

Yes. Our partner in Türkiye can consolidate slabs, tiles and pavers from one or several factories into one container, as long as the load works by weight and is braced so heavy pallets cannot shift against the A-frames. It suits distributors buying several stones or formats at once.

Marble & Travertine is just one example. AGF ships whatever your business moves — on this lane and beyond. If your commodity isn't covered by one of our guides, tell us what you ship and we'll build the logistics around it.