Following President Trump’s removal of the de minimis exemption earlier this week, on Friday, February 7, 2025, President Trump issued an amendment to his original Executive Order and temporarily reinstated the exemption until “notification by the Secretary of Commerce to the President that adequate systems are in place to fully and expediently process and collect tariff revenue for all Chinese products.”
It is unclear how long this pause will last, and no other information is immediately available. We discuss the scope of the IEEPA tariffs on China and original removal of the de minimis exemption in greater detail below.
In conjunction with the 10% tariffs imposed by President Trump on products of China and Hong Kong, this week U.S. Customs and Border Protection (“CBP”) had issued two guidance announcements through the Cargo Systems Messaging Service (“CSMS”) confirming the additional tariff with minimal exceptions and removing the de minimis exemption for most low-value shipments (although that has changed with today’s amendment to the Executive Order). We previously covered these tariffs, a first of their kind imposed under the authority of the International Emergency Economic Powers ACT (“IEEPA”) here.
Products of China and Hong Kong Subject to Tariffs With Few Exceptions
On February 3, 2025, per CSMS #63988468 and the corresponding Federal Register Notice, almost all products of China and Hong Kong will be subject to the new 10% ad valorem duty rate (90 FR 9038). These additional duties apply to goods “that are the product of China and Hong Kong entered for consumption, or withdrawn from warehouse for consumption, on or after 12:01 a.m. Eastern Standard Time on February 4, 2025.” These products will be identified by Harmonized Tariff Schedule (“HTS”) Code 9903.01.20.
Importantly, the additional tariffs will not apply to goods that are (1) “loaded onto a vessel at the port of loading, or in transit on the final mode of transport” before 12:01am on February 1, 2025; and (2) entered for consumption or withdrawn from warehouse for consumption before 12:01am March 7, 2025. Goods entering after that date, even if they were on the water before 12:01am February 1, will still be subject to the tariffs. “Final mode of transport” is key. For example, these tariffs would still apply to goods that had entered a third country’s port before February 1, 2025 but then was awaiting transport into the U.S. by commercial vehicle or other means.
Presently, there are only three types of shipments exempt (other than the de minimis reinstatement) from these additional tariffs: (1) donations, such as food, clothing, and medicine, intended to be used to relieve human suffering; (2) informational materials, including, publications, films, posters, photographs, and artworks; and (3) products for personal use included in accompanied baggage of persons arriving in the U.S. Further, no drawback is available with respect to the additional duties imposed.
The Husch Blackwell International Trade and Supply Chain Team is continuing to monitor these events and will provide updates as more information becomes available.