The White House has slashed tariffs on cheap Chinese goods from shopping sites like Temu and Shein — to as low as 30%, below the 54% rate included in President Trump’s executive order earlier this week, according to a report.
As part of a temporary deal with China, Trump lowered “de minimis” tariffs on low-value packages down to 54% from 120%.
But the majority of these packages are shipped through commercial carriers like United Parcel Service, FedEx and DHL, which can skip “de minimis” fees and pay the White House’s lower 30% tariff on China instead, according to a Reuters report.
That 30% tariff on China came down from 145% earlier this week, following US-China trade talks over the weekend in Switzerland. It consists of a 10% “reciprocal” tax on China, and a 20% duty related to fentanyl smuggling.
Meanwhile, an alternative flat fee of $100 per package remains in effect for packages not sent through commercial delivery firms.
The White House did not immediately respond to The Post’s request for comment.
Many Chinese imports will still be taxed at much higher rates under previous trade actions or through national security investigations.
Syringes and surgical gloves, for example, face a 100% tariff under an earlier trade action.
However, if these goods are shipped in quantities worth less than $800, they could qualify for de minimis and pay the $100 flat fee, a delivery expert told Reuters.
The de minimis exemption has faced challenges from Republican and Democratic lawmakers, who blame the loophole for letting dangerous products into the US, since these packages could skip random customs checks.
Trump in February ended the de minimis exemption, a longtime trade loophole that Temu and Shein used to send packages worth less than $800 into the US duty-free.
He has taken aim at the trade rule for allowing fentanyl into the US, since goods can skirt around the customs process, and for helping Chinese fast-fashion sites see explosive growth.
Last year, China exported $240 billion worth of goods that benefited from the de minimis exemption – accounting for 7% of the nation’s overseas sales and 1.3% of gross domestic product, according to Nomura estimates.
While the de minimis tariff has effectively been lowered to 30%, it’s still high for firms that previously paid no duties on low-cost items.
“Sellers are probably taking a wait-and-see approach but in general I think it’s fair to say the boom times of small package delivery from China to the US, the Golden Age is already gone,” Jianlong Hu, CEO of Brands Factory, a Chinese e-commerce consulting firm, told Reuters.
Temu and Shein have hiked prices across their sites and halted shipments of Chinese goods to US customers since Trump killed the loophole earlier this year.
Over the past few weeks, US shoppers have started to abandon the fast-fashion sites, taking their dollars instead to department and thrift stores at home, The Post previously reported.
Shein is more exposed to the changes, since it relies more heavily on air delivery to get packages to US customers quickly.
It might be more willing to pay the tax and continue sending some air freight packages from China in order to maintain that competitive edge, Hu said.
“If people are buying clothes on Shein and are told the product will arrive one month later, who will buy that?”
