President Trump’s much talked-about global tariff hikes have now all gone live, while overseas e-commerce within the US is threatened by another ruling coming in May.
60 countries were due to be impacted by above baseline tariff hikes from yesterday, but this has now been delayed for 90 days, and the 10% baseline is currently effective for all countries except China.
China is currently subject to an incredible 125% rate after introducing retaliatory tariffs following Trump’s original announcement, but they have introduced an 84% tariff for American products themselves.
Trump also confirmed the removal of the ‘de minimis’ exemption for shipments arriving from Hong Kong and China mainland last week. This adjustment is set to be effective from May 2nd and will significantly impact e-commerce shipments.
The current ruling enables shipments with a value of less than $800 to be imported duty free. Trump attempted to cancel this rule in February, but neither the US Postal Service or US Customs could manage the duty collections.
Following the government’s firm request for solutions from both parties by 1st April, it appears one has been found.
An estimated 1.3 billion shipments arrive in the US under ‘de minimis’ per year, with the majority coming from Chinese e-commerce suppliers like Shein and Temu.
While it’s only shipments from China and Hong Kong targeted, there are fears that this could be extended to further countries, perhaps including the UK, in the coming weeks or months.
As ever, Killick Martin is monitoring developments closely.
