4th February, 2025
The USA Government will tonight remove the USD800.00 de minimis rule for Chinese manufactured goods, it currently sits at USD800.00. Any cargo imported to the USA which has a value less than USD800.00 was not subject to duty.
Many Chinese e-commerce companies have seen exponential growth from selling cheap goods into the USA under the USD800.00 threshold, in particular TEMU and Shein, Amazon had also taken advantage of the de minimis rule, manufacturing goods in China to compete against these entities.
Regardless of whether Chinese made goods are shipped from China or another country they will from tonight be subject to a 10% duty, cargo will be held at the US border, pending customs clearance and payment of the newly implemented duty.
As we can see from the recent announcement that tariffs will not be applied to Canadian and Mexican made goods the situation remains fluid and may change as negotiations between trading countries continue.
For interest the USA de minimis was previously USD200.00, it was increased to USD800.00 under the Obama Government.
If you are an Australian company exporting Chinese made goods to the USA and had been taking advantage of the USD800.00 de minimis, considerations needs to be given on how you now manage the newly implemented 10% duty.
Much of this business is likely moving via courier, we do recommend that you quickly reach out to your service provider to understand how they will manage the process and who will be responsible for the 10% duty, the terms of sale to your customer will determine this responsibility.
If you are not getting the desired details back from your service provider the team at SCC in conjunction with our USA freight partner are available to assist with the current need and then work with you on solutions for future orders of Chinese made goods.
For example if you are still seeking a door to consumer service that does not expose your customer to the payment of these duties, consideration to establishing your business as an importer of record in the USA and making payment of the duties is one possibility.
A second option could be to ship in bulk to the USA, be the importer of record, hold stock in a USA 3PL, and pick to order from the USA, this is essentially then a local delivery, you have not exposed your customers to import border processes, a by product of this arrangement would be an expedited delivery to your customers.
With the expertise of the SCC senior management team and our wonderful USA freight partners we can work with you to ensure the best practice for your business is adopted, your supply chain remains fluid and your customers are not troubled by these changes.
With over 30 years of experience, a customs broker and masters in logistics and supply chain, our Director, Greg McKillop is available to discuss these challenges with you directly, please reach out to greg@sccargo.com.au
