On May 12, 2025, President Trump issued an executive order temporarily adjusting U.S. tariff rates on imports originating from China. As part of a 90-day initiative to support trade negotiations, the U.S. has reduced tariffs on these goods from 145% to 30%. Tariffs on certain sensitive sectors, including national security-related and fentanyl-related items, remain in effect.
What This Means for netParcel Customers
This reduction in tariffs presents an important opportunity for businesses shipping goods originating from China into the United States. netParcel customers may see lower landed costs on many of these imports during this 90-day period, which could result in more competitive pricing, increased margins, or the ability to pass savings on to end customers.
We encourage customers to review their shipping portfolios and evaluate how this temporary change might impact their logistics strategies and pricing models. netParcel will continue to monitor developments and provide updates as negotiations progress or if additional tariff changes are announced.
Additional Notes
- No more duty-free entry. for items of Chinese origin, which will no longer qualify for the Section 321 de minimis exemption.
- 54 percent ad valorem tariff—and a US $100 minimum. The new rate (effective May 14, 2025) cuts back the temporary 120 percent tariff to 54 percent, but still imposes a flat-fee minimum of US $100 per shipment
- Collection delays or returns likely. The U.S. Postal Service isn’t set up to collect these duties at delivery, so packages may be held, require the recipient to pay upon pickup, or even be returned to sender if duties go unpaid
If you need to avoid steep USPS duty assessments on China-origin parcels, use our commercial carrier partners (UPS, Purolator, FedEx etc.), which under today’s deal faces a 30 percent ad valorem rate (still with a US $100 floor) for under-US $800 shipments.
For more detailed information on affected product categories, please consult the annexes of the executive order available on the official White House website.
