2025-04-19 BY
IN Industry trends
Declaration: This article aims to help professionals in the cross-border e-commerce logistics industry gain a thorough understanding of the customs policies of the United States, and there is no intention of any improper guidance.
At 04:40 in the early morning of April 19, 2025, Beijing time, the United States Customs issued an important announcement. Starting from 12:01 a.m. on May 2, 2025, Eastern Daylight Time in the United States, according to Section 2 (a) of Executive Order No. 14195 dated February 1, 2025, products originating from the Chinese mainland and Hong Kong, including international postal parcels sent to the United States through the international postal network, will no longer enjoy the “low-value duty-free” exemption stipulated in Section 1321 (a)(2)(C) of Title 19 of the United States Code. This policy adjustment means that goods with a value of $800 or less that previously enjoyed duty-free benefits will now have to be declared according to appropriate customs declaration types (such as Type 11 or Type 01 customs declaration) and pay all applicable duties, taxes, and related fees in accordance with the law. At the same time, applications for low-value customs declaration and clearance of ineligible goods will be rejected.
In terms of the goods transportation and customs clearance process, the new regulations have formulated detailed and strict specifications for the manifest customs clearance and goods release links of different transportation modes:
  1. Transactions of T86 Customs Declaration Type: The new regulations clearly state that ineligible transactions will be determined as the “Reject” status by the Automated Commercial Environment system (ACE) and attached with the error code 318 – COUNTRY CODE INELIGIBLE FOR ET86; if the Type 86 customs declaration is already in the released status before the arrival of the bill of lading, the declarant will receive the disposal information of “Release-Suspended” and the error code 33 – ET86 INELIGIBLE COUNTRY; CANNOT RELEASE. These regulations require cross-border e-commerce logistics practitioners to adjust their customs declaration and clearance operation processes in a timely manner to ensure the smooth customs clearance of goods.
  2. Air Transportation: For air waybills with a Customs Entry Declaration (CED) line for release from the manifest, new aviation Electronic Data Interchange (EDI) verification rules have been added. Once the declarant receives error codes such as 181 – COUNTRY OF ORIGIN CODE INVALID, 110 – CBP ENTRY LINE IGNORED, and 188 – EXPRESS RECORD INCOMPLETE, the goods will not be eligible for low-value duty-free customs clearance, and immediate measures must be taken to meet the requirements of Executive Order No. 14256.
  3. Truck Transportation: When the declarant receives the error code “470 (Inv Ctry of Orig for Shp)”, it also indicates that the goods are not eligible for low-value duty-free customs clearance and corresponding rectification work is required.
  4. General Provisions for All Transportation Modes: If the manifest is declared before the policy takes effect but the means of transportation arrives after the policy takes effect, the carrier will receive a notice informing that the goods are not eligible for low-value duty-free customs clearance; if the release information has been sent but the means of transportation has not arrived, the Automated Commercial Environment system (ACE) will cancel the release when the means of transportation arrives, generating a 4E (cancel entry message).
  5. International Mail Transportation: The new regulations have formulated strict provisions for the collection of duties on relevant goods in international mail transportation. Starting from May 2, 2025, for international postal parcels sent from China or Hong Kong to the United States through the international postal network, if they contain relevant products that were originally eligible for the low-value duty-free exemption, they will be required to pay an ad valorem duty of 120% of the value of the goods, or a specific duty of $100 per shipment (starting from June 1, 2025, the specific duty will be adjusted to $200 per shipment). The transportation carrier is required to collect and remit the duties in accordance with the specified method and must use a unified duty collection method for all goods. If it is necessary to change the collection method, it can be done within the specified time frame, but the U.S. Customs and Border Protection (CBP) must be notified in advance. In addition, carriers transporting such goods must hold an international carrier bond to ensure the smooth payment of duties.
This adjustment of the U.S. customs policy undoubtedly poses a severe challenge to cross-border e-commerce logistics practitioners:
  1. Significant Increase in Logistics Costs: A large number of low-value goods that originally enjoyed duty-free benefits now need to pay high duties. This additional cost will inevitably be passed on to cross-border e-commerce enterprises and consumers, thereby reducing the price competitiveness of goods and possibly leading to a decline in the number of orders.
  2. Substantial Increase in Customs Clearance Difficulty: The new customs clearance regulations and verification rules require logistics enterprises to invest more human, material, and time resources in handling customs declaration and clearance affairs. Once there are operational errors, the goods will face the risk of being rejected or detained, which will seriously affect logistics timeliness and the customer experience.
  3. Higher Requirements for Transportation Carriers: Transportation carriers need to meet a series of regulations regarding bonds and the collection and remittance of duties, and international mail freight forwarders will also be held accountable. This puts forward higher requirements for the financial strength and operation management capabilities of enterprises.
However, challenges and opportunities often coexist. As the saying goes, “The bigger the waves, the more valuable the fish.” There may be new development opportunities hidden in the difficulties.
In addition, regarding the situation of reciprocal tariffs, I personally hold a relatively optimistic attitude and look forward to a turning point this month.
Finally, I wish all goods in transit a smooth customs clearance without any inspections!