February foreign trade new regulations: tariff policies, import and export bans
Date：2025-02-08 08:57:00 View：
In February 2025, the global trade pattern once again ushered in an important adjustment, especially the Southeast Asian market, the United States and Canada's foreign trade policies have changed significantly. These changes not only affect the import and export business of the countries concerned, but also have a profound impact on global supply chains and market dynamics. The following is a detailed interpretation of these new foreign trade regulations.
Southeast Asian market
1. Vietnam VAT policy adjustment
In February 2025, the Vietnamese government announced an important policy change, as from February 18, it will stop the policy of exempting small items imported by express delivery from VAT.
This change means that small goods imported through express channels in the past will no longer enjoy duty-free treatment, increasing the cost of imports. At the same time, Vietnam has also repealed a decision issued in 2010 on the import of duty-free goods through Courier services, further strengthening tax collection.
2. Thailand's tariff exemption policy
Unlike Vietnam, Thailand continues to implement the tariff exemption policy in 2025. According to the announcement of the Ministry of Finance of Thailand, from January 1 to December 31, 2025, the total value of imported goods not exceeding 1,500 baht (including freight and insurance) will be exempted from customs duties. This policy helps to promote the import of small goods, reduce trade costs, and has a positive impact on the trade flow in the Southeast Asian market.
American market
1. The United States announced a 10 percent tariff on Chinese goods
On February 1, US President Donald Trump signed an executive order imposing a 25% tariff on imports from Canada and Mexico and a 10% tariff on goods from China starting February 4. The White House said on the same day that the United States would impose a 10% tariff on all goods imported from China on top of existing tariffs.
2. The tax-free allowance of 800 yuan will be suspended
U.S. President Donald Trump has suspended his decision to remove tariff exemptions for small items under $800. This means that we can once again import goods to the US through the T86 customs clearance model (simplified process).
Twists and turns, changes in time and again, so that cross-border e-commerce sellers, customs staff, logistics practitioners scrambling, at a loss.
In fact, Trump's decision to suspend the "elimination of tariffs on small goods" was signed on Wednesday and was not announced until today.
Why the pause then? This is because US customs cannot cope with this huge change in the short term. T86 simplified customs clearance process for small items under $800. The removal of this clearance process means that more than 1 billion small packages will need to switch to the traditional T1 clearance process. This process is much more complex than the T86 customs clearance process, requiring much more inspection procedures and additional information (origin of goods, commodity code, tariff category, proof of value, etc.) to be submitted.
According to U.S. Customs and Border Protection (CBP) data, the current daily volume of low-value goods processed by customs has exceeded 4 million, compared to 1.9 million per day in 2022, which is a significant increase. This complex change has forced many service providers to suspend their services.
Although the resumption of service was soon announced, it still proved from the side that the switch of the customs clearance process can cause great difficulties and troubles. In fact, the suspension and restart of USPS packages triggered a cascade of disruptions that led to further delays in customs clearance, even for packages that had already paid duties, and a backlog at airports.
Us Customs and Border Protection (CBP), which screens e-commerce packages and collects duties, held a meeting with logistics experts on Thursday to discuss the status of the backlog of more than 1 million packages at New York's John F. Kennedy International Airport (JFK).
Customs officials have begun releasing packages detained at JFK airport in the face of huge logistical challenges, according to Reuters. The airport alone receives about 60 million duty-free e-commerce packages each year. Many shipping experts have said that eliminating the T86 clearance process, a huge shift, will overwhelm U.S. customs inspections because customs has not established the appropriate systems and processes, and the number of staff is not enough.
3. Mexico imposes a tax of 17%-19% on express imports of small goods
Mexico's General Tax Administration (SAT) on January 1 introduced a new 17-19 percent tariff on small shipments imported through Courier companies.
A 19 percent tariff will be imposed on goods imported through Courier companies from places such as China, which does not have an international treaty with Mexico. If imported through Courier companies in the United States and Canada that are signatories to the free trade agreement USMCA (United States-Mexico-Canada Agreement), a 17 percent tariff is imposed on goods between $50 and $117.
Canadian market
1. Tariff policy adjustment
Similar to the United States, Canada has also faced pressure from the United States to increase tariffs. However, unlike Mexico and China, Canadian goods enjoy certain exemptions in the U.S. market. In particular, energy or energy resource products are subject to an additional 10 percent tariff instead of 25 percent.
The new foreign trade regulations in February 2025 involve many countries and regions such as Southeast Asian markets, the United States and Canada. These new regulations not only affect the import and export business and market dynamics of the relevant countries, but also have a profound impact on the global supply chain and trade pattern. In the face of these changes, sellers need to pay close attention to market dynamics and policy trends, and timely adjust their import and export strategies and market layout.