CBP implements end of Chinese de minimis under EO 14256

On 24 April 2025 U.S. Customs and Border Protection issued implementation guidance for the end of duty-free de minimis treatment for Chinese- and Hong-Kong-origin merchandise, effective 12:01 a.m. eastern daylight time on 2 May 2025, under Executive Order 14256 of 2 April 2025 (“Further Amendment to Duties Addressing the Synthetic Opioid Supply Chain in the People’s Republic of China as Applied to Low-Value Imports”).¹² EO 14256 sits in the lineage of Executive Order 14195 of 1 February 2025 (originating IEEPA fentanyl duty on China, with a § 2(g) withdrawal of de minimis treatment), Executive Order 14200 of 5 February 2025 (which paused the § 2(g) withdrawal pending CBP systems), and EO 14256 (reinstating and operationalising the withdrawal for an effective date of 2 May 2025).³⁴ The de minimis exemption itself is codified at § 321 of the Tariff Act of 1930, 19 U.S.C. § 1321(a)(2)(C), which permits duty-free entry of merchandise valued at USD 800 or less; § 2(g) of EO 14195 (as amended by EO 14256) provides that § 1321 treatment “shall not be available” for covered Chinese- and Hong-Kong-origin articles.⁵

1. From 12:01 a.m. EDT on 2 May 2025, low-value Chinese- and Hong-Kong-origin merchandise that previously cleared free of duty becomes subject to applicable duties. CBP Entry Type 86, the digital filing path used for de minimis entries under prior CBP guidance, is unavailable for covered Chinese- and Hong-Kong-origin goods; commercial shipments must be entered under a formal or informal entry in the Automated Commercial Environment by a licensed customs broker or self-filing importer of record.²

2. Postal shipments of covered articles are subject, at the carrier’s election, to an ad valorem duty or a per-item charge. As of 24 April 2025, the operative rates under Executive Order 14266 of 9 April 2025 § 4 are 90 per cent ad valorem or USD 75 per item, rising to USD 150 per item on 1 June 2025; a subsequent amendment raises the ad valorem to 120 per cent and the per-item charges to USD 100 (and USD 200 on 1 June) effective 2 May 2025.⁶

3. For non-postal commercial entries, duties cumulate on the covered article — the IEEPA fentanyl-China duty under EO 14195 (20 per cent), the IEEPA reciprocal-China duty under EOs 14257/14259/14266 (raised on 9 April 2025 to 125 per cent under EO 14266), § 301 China duties (Lists 1-4A at their established rates), and the MFN column-1 rate.³⁶ Cumulative exposure on covered Chinese-origin merchandise at the 2 May effective moment therefore runs to ~145 per cent on IEEPA grounds before § 301 and MFN are added.