ab ovo

Duty-free de minimis ends for Chinese- and Hong-Kong-origin imports

2 May 2025 · written 8 June 2026

At 12:01 a.m. eastern daylight time on 2 May 2025, the administrative duty-free exemption under § 321(a)(2)(C) of the Tariff Act of 1930, 19 U.S.C. § 1321(a)(2)(C), ceased to be available for products of the People’s Republic of China — which EO 14195 § 2(a) defines to include products of Hong Kong — in accordance with Executive Order 14256 of 2 April 2025, as amended by Executive Order 14259 of 8 April 2025 and Executive Order 14266 of 9 April 2025.1234 The lineage runs through Executive Order 14195 of 1 February 2025 (originating IEEPA fentanyl duty with the § 2(g) withdrawal), Executive Order 14200 of 5 February 2025 (pausing the withdrawal pending CBP system readiness) and EO 14256 (reinstating the withdrawal effective 2 May 2025).56 CBP implemented the change through its Federal Register notice published 28 April 2025 and through CSMS message #64917563.78

  1. Postal-channel shipments are subject to an ad valorem duty of 120 per cent of the value of the goods or, at the carrier’s election, a flat per-item duty of USD 100 (rising to USD 200 on 1 June 2025); the carrier’s election binds for the relevant window. These rates reflect EO 14266 § 4’s increase from the original EO 14256 rates of 30 per cent and USD 25 per item.3

  2. Non-postal commercial shipments must be entered in the Automated Commercial Environment under formal or informal entry by a licensed customs broker or self-filing importer of record (19 C.F.R. Part 111).9 The IEEPA fentanyl duty (HTSUS Chapter 99 subchapter III, 9903.01.20-24), the IEEPA reciprocal duty under EO 14257, § 301 China duties under USTR action and MFN column-1 duties cumulate on covered articles; EO 14289 of 29 April 2025 establishes anti-stacking precedence among five specifically named tariff actions but does not cover EO 14195/14256, EO 14257 or § 301 duties.1011

  3. E-commerce platforms — Shein, Temu and others — that previously aggregated low-value shipments under § 321 reorganise filing workflows; carrier capacity for ACE entries bounded by licensed-broker availability becomes the throughput constraint for redirected volume.7

Footnotes

  1. Executive Order 14256, “Further Amendment to Duties Addressing the Synthetic Opioid Supply Chain in the People’s Republic of China as Applied to Low-Value Imports,” 90 Fed. Reg. 14899 (Apr. 7, 2025) (FR Doc. 2025-06064). https://www.federalregister.gov/documents/2025/04/07/2025-06064/further-amendment-to-duties-addressing-the-synthetic-opioid-supply-chain-in-the-peoples-republic-of ↩

  2. Executive Order 14259, “Amendment to Reciprocal Tariffs and Updated Duties as Applied to Low-Value Imports From the People’s Republic of China,” signed 8 April 2025. https://www.federalregister.gov/documents/2025/04/14/2025-06378/amendment-to-reciprocal-tariffs-and-updated-duties-as-applied-to-low-value-imports-from-the-peoples ↩

  3. Executive Order 14266, “Modifying Reciprocal Tariff Rates To Reflect Trading Partner Retaliation and Alignment,” 90 Fed. Reg. 15625 (Apr. 15, 2025) (FR Doc. 2025-06462). https://www.federalregister.gov/documents/2025/04/15/2025-06462/modifying-reciprocal-tariff-rates-to-reflect-trading-partner-retaliation-and-alignment ↩ ↩2

  4. § 321 of the Tariff Act of 1930, 19 U.S.C. § 1321(a)(2)(C). https://uscode.house.gov/view.xhtml?req=granuleid:USC-prelim-title19-section1321&edition=prelim ↩

  5. Executive Order 14195, “Imposing Duties to Address the Synthetic Opioid Supply Chain in the People’s Republic of China,” 90 Fed. Reg. 9121 (Feb. 7, 2025) (FR Doc. 2025-02408) (§ 2(a) defines products of the PRC to include products of Hong Kong; § 2(g) withdraws de minimis). https://www.federalregister.gov/documents/2025/02/07/2025-02408/imposing-duties-to-address-the-synthetic-opioid-supply-chain-in-the-peoples-republic-of-china ↩

  6. Executive Order 14200, “Amendment to Duties Addressing the Synthetic Opioid Supply Chain in the People’s Republic of China,” signed 5 February 2025 (pausing § 2(g) pending CBP systems). https://www.federalregister.gov/documents/2025/02/12/2025-02635/amendment-to-duties-addressing-the-synthetic-opioid-supply-chain-in-the-peoples-republic-of-china ↩

  7. U.S. Customs and Border Protection, “Implementation of Duties on Low-Value Imports From the People’s Republic of China,” 90 Fed. Reg. 17763 (Apr. 28, 2025) (FR Doc. 2025-07325). https://www.federalregister.gov/documents/2025/04/28/2025-07325/implementation-of-duties-on-low-value-imports-from-the-peoples-republic-of-china ↩ ↩2

  8. U.S. Customs and Border Protection, CSMS message #64917563, 1 May 2025 (reminder on the 2 May effective time and entry processing). ↩

  9. 19 C.F.R. Part 111 (licensed customs brokers); CBP Automated Commercial Environment Filer documentation. https://www.ecfr.gov/current/title-19/chapter-I/part-111 ↩

  10. Executive Order 14257, “Regulating Imports With a Reciprocal Tariff to Rectify Trade Practices That Contribute to Large and Persistent Annual United States Goods Trade Deficits,” 90 Fed. Reg. 15041 (Apr. 7, 2025) (FR Doc. 2025-06063). https://www.federalregister.gov/documents/2025/04/07/2025-06063/regulating-imports-with-a-reciprocal-tariff-to-rectify-trade-practices-that-contribute-to-large-and ↩

  11. Executive Order 14289, “Addressing Certain Tariffs on Imported Articles,” 90 Fed. Reg. 18907 (May 2, 2025) (FR Doc. 2025-07835) (covering Section 232 auto/parts, EO 14193, EO 14194, Section 232 steel and Section 232 aluminum only). https://www.federalregister.gov/documents/2025/05/02/2025-07835/addressing-certain-tariffs-on-imported-articles ↩

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