Overview of US Tariff Adjustments to China
Date：2025-05-14 09:41:00 View：
On May 12th, the White House official website announced the latest tariff adjustment measures towards China.
First, let's talk about the situation of general goods tariffs. From 0:00 EST, May 14, the tariff on goods imported from Chinese Mainland, Hong Kong and Macao to the United States for consumption or withdrawn from bonded warehouses for consumption has changed.
Specifically, in HTSUS tax item 9903.01.63, the original tax rate of 125% has been reduced to 34%; In section 99, subchapter III, footnote 2 (v) (xiii) (10) of HTSUS, the original tax rate of 125% has also been reduced to 34%.
Moreover, for the next 90 days, starting from 0:00 Eastern Time on May 14th, the tariffs related to HTSUS heading 9903.01.63 and footnote 2 (v) (xiii) (10) of subchapter III of Chapter 99 will be temporarily suspended. However, the ad valorem tax rate of 10% will still be retained.
Let's take another look at the situation of small parcel tariffs. Also from 0:00 on May 14, Eastern Time, there are new regulations for small parcels imported from Chinese Mainland, Hong Kong and Macao to the United States for consumption or withdrawn from bonded warehouses for consumption.
In Executive Order 2 (c) (i) of April 2, 14256 (as amended by Executive Orders 14259 and 14266), the ad valorem tax rate for small packages valued below $800 was originally 120%, but has now been reduced to 54%.
The specific volume tariff of $100 per postal package, which came into effect on May 2nd, has not changed and will remain in effect until there are new revisions in the future. In addition, the regulation that originally planned to take effect on June 1st to increase the volume based tariff for small packages from $100 to $200 has now been cancelled.
Prior to this, on May 10-11, high-level economic and trade officials from China and the United States held talks in Geneva. The Chinese side stated that the talks were frank, in-depth, and constructive, and both sides reached important consensus and made substantial progress. On May 12th, China and the United States jointly issued a joint statement on the Geneva Economic and Trade Talks, which stated that both sides would work together to reduce tariffs and establish a China US economic and trade consultation mechanism to continue discussing economic and trade relations.
As we all know, the United States has imposed large-scale and significant tariffs on Chinese goods, which has seriously affected the trade between China and the United States, and the transportation volume of goods has significantly decreased. The most urgent ones here are the large supermarkets in the United States. If they cannot place orders normally in the second quarter and cannot ship in the third quarter, then this year's Christmas season in the United States is likely to be out of stock.
The latest agreement reached this time is like a breath of relief for the tense trade relationship between China and the United States. However, US President Trump often changes things, so there may be changes in the economic and trade negotiations between China and the United States. So, American importers are likely to seize this 90 day tariff buffer period and ship quickly. In this way, the US market may usher in a peak season.
On the shipping company's end, due to the previous decrease in cargo volume on the US route, they had to suspend some voyages, and the opening of new routes has also been postponed. Some of the transportation capacity has been withdrawn from the US market. If the cargo volume on the US route suddenly increases this time, the shipping company will have to reallocate its capacity. In this way, there may be a shortage of cabin space, a shortage of boxes and cabin space in the short term, and freight rates will also rise accordingly. Experts in the US market even believe that the magnitude and frequency of this fare increase may be comparable to those during the pandemic.
American ports are also facing significant challenges. It is expected that June to July will be the peak period for shipments in this round of market, and shipping companies will invest more capacity in the US route. At that time, the number of ships arriving at US ports will increase significantly, which may exceed the port's processing capacity. Port congestion may occur again.
However, there are still many uncertain factors regarding the prospects of China US economic and trade negotiations, and the market is becoming increasingly difficult to predict. Whether it's big shippers, shipping companies, freight forwarding companies, or terminal operators, they all need to pay attention to market changes in a timely manner and prepare in advance, otherwise they may suffer additional losses.