Important Tariff Updates: Impact on U.S. Imports
The following post contains two important updates from the week of Feb 10, 2025 affecting U.S. Imports.
UPDATE #1: Removal of De Minimis on Chinese Shipments Delayed Due to the Department of Commerce
Friday 02/07/2025 President Trump halted the executive order removing the De Minimis exemption for shipments from China and goods made in China. These goods for the time being will be allowed to claim the exemption until the Commerce Department is able to put adequate systems in place allowing them to “fully and expediently process and collect the tariff revenue”. With over 1 billion low value e-commerce packages arriving every year the Commerce Department needed extra time to create infrastructure to process these shipments without causing extreme congestion and backlog in the industry. USPS had announced they would suspend acceptance of inbound packages from China and Hong Kong last Friday. This delay will allow for USPS to continue accepting these shipments while working on internal changes to be ready when the executive order is reinstated. The Commerce Department has not yet advised timelines or plans for the changes necessary to continue with the order.
UPDATE #2: President Trump Issues an Executive Order Increasing Steel and Aluminum Import Duties by 25%
Sunday 02/09/2025 President Trump advised he would issue an executive order increasing Steel and Aluminum. The executive order issued on 2/10/2025 will go into effect 3/12/2025 and applies to all countries and removes previous exemptions that were granted. This includes the countries of Canada, Mexico, Japan, Great Britain, and the EU member countries who have previously had agreements to avoid the additional tariffs on steel and aluminum which were implemented during President Trump’s first term under the section 232 tariffs. President Trump advised that there will be “no exceptions”. The executive order raises the duty rate from 10% on Aluminum to 25% and targets many derivatives of steel including some finished products. The exact details have not been released in the Federal Register and a CSMS has not yet been issued by Customs and Border Protection. All the reasoning and some details were issued in this White House Proclamation.
Important Item to Note for Importers Re: Steel and Aluminum Import Duties:
Per the White House Proclamation, “CBP shall prioritize reviews of the classification of imported steel articles and derivative steel articles and, in the event that it discovers misclassification resulting in non-payment of the ad valorem duties proclaimed herein, it shall assess monetary penalties in the maximum amount permitted by law and shall not consider any evidence of mitigating factors in its determination. In addition, CBP shall promptly notify the Secretary regarding evidence of any efforts to evade payment of the ad valorem duties proclaimed herein through processing or alteration of steel articles or derivative steel articles prior to importation. In such circumstances, the Secretary shall consider the processed or altered steel articles or derivative steel articles for inclusion as derivative steel articles pursuant to clause 5 of this proclamation.”
The items affected by the steel derivatives tariff increases are still being determined and the proclamation states they will be finalized within 90 days of the date of proclamation.
eShipping continues to monitor this evolving situation. Should you have questions or wish to discus your International freight program, contact our team at www.eShipping.biz or email [email protected].