Customs duty from China to United States: Import Duty Guide

Key Takeaways

• China and the US have no free trade agreement - imports pay standard MFN duty plus layered Section 301 tariffs, with no preferential relief available.
• Combined Section 301 tariffs (legacy 2018-2019 tariffs plus a new July 2026 layer) push the rate on many China-origin goods to roughly 37.5%, though this varies significantly by product category.
• China dropped to the US’s 3rd largest source of goods imports in 2025, at $308.65 billion, behind Mexico and Canada - a marked shift from its historical #1 position, driven by tariff-driven trade diversion.
• There is no de minimis exemption for US imports of any value from any country, China included - this has been the case since August 2025.
• CBP enforcement against transshipment (China-origin goods rerouted through Vietnam or other countries to evade duty) is unusually elevated on this lane.

China-US Trade at a Glance

China was the US’s third-largest source of goods imports in 2025, at $308.65 billion, down from its historical #1 or #2 ranking as tariff-driven trade diversion has pushed sourcing toward Mexico ($534.31 billion) and Canada ($381.92 billion) instead (US Census Bureau). The US ran a $202.67 billion goods trade deficit with China in 2025.

Is There a Trade Deal Between China and the US?

No. There’s no free trade agreement, and while an October 2025 truce briefly reduced one tariff layer (cutting an IEEPA-based fentanyl tariff from 20% to 10% and pausing further escalation), that entire tariff layer was struck down along with all other IEEPA-based tariffs by the Supreme Court in February 2026 (see below) - it’s no longer in effect either way. What remains are Section 301 tariffs, a different legal mechanism entirely, layered on top of standard MFN duty.

What Tariffs Apply Right Now Between China and the US (And Why That Keeps Changing)

US tariff policy has been through three distinct legal mechanisms in the past year and a half, which matters directly for understanding today’s rate on this lane.

The broad “reciprocal tariffs” and fentanyl-related tariffs imposed under the International Emergency Economic Powers Act (IEEPA) through 2025 were struck down by the US Supreme Court on 20 February 2026 in Learning Resources, Inc. v. Trump, which ruled IEEPA doesn’t authorize tariffs at all - CBP stopped collecting them on 24 February 2026 (SCOTUSblog; White & Case).

The administration’s replacement - a Section 122 balance-of-payments surcharge, statutorily capped at 150 days - was itself found to exceed presidential authority by the Court of International Trade in May 2026, and its statutory clock expired entirely on 24 July 2026 (Skadden).

The same day, 24 July 2026, USTR rolled out a new Section 301 “forced-labor” tariff program covering roughly 60 economies, with no statutory expiration date - already facing its own court challenges (Holland & Knight; Federal Register).

China sits in this program’s standard 12.5% additive tier with no preferential “net-of-MFN” treatment (unlike the EU, Japan, South Korea, Taiwan, and Switzerland).

Combined with the legacy Section 301 tariffs from 2018-2019 (7.5-25% depending on the HS code), trade press describes many electronics and consumer goods categories as facing a combined rate around 37.5% (Honigman; Customs Broker USA).

Given how many times the underlying legal mechanism has changed in eighteen months, treat any specific percentage here as a snapshot, not a settled figure.

How Much Will You Pay Importing from China to the US?

US import valuation uses FOB (the transaction value at the port of export, not including international freight) rather than the CIF basis the EU and UK use.

There’s no VAT - instead, a Merchandise Processing Fee applies (roughly $8.06 on a typical informal entry), plus a carrier disbursement fee of about 2-3% of the duty advanced. Critically, there’s no de minimis exemption at all, for any value, from any country - a $10 order and a $10,000 order both face duty.

This site’s live calculator uses a general-merchandise duty estimate that isn’t China-specific - given the roughly 37.5% combined rate many China-origin goods actually face, the calculator’s baseline estimate will understate your actual cost on this lane more than it would for most other origins. Treat its output as a floor, not a ceiling, until this site sources category-level China data.

FAQs About Import Duties from China to the US

Is there a US-China trade deal that lowers tariffs?

No ongoing preferential agreement. A late-2025 truce reduced one specific IEEPA-based tariff layer, but that entire layer was invalidated by the February 2026 Supreme Court ruling regardless - what applies now is Section 301 tariffs, unrelated to that truce.

Why did China drop from the US’s top import source?

Layered tariffs have made China-origin goods substantially more expensive relative to alternatives, accelerating a shift toward Mexico, Canada, and other Asian manufacturing hubs like Vietnam and Taiwan - a trend visible in Census Bureau data showing China falling to third place in 2025.

Does a low-value order from China avoid duty?

No. The US eliminated its de minimis exemption for all countries in August 2025 - every shipment faces duty and the Merchandise Processing Fee, regardless of value.

Why is transshipment mentioned specifically for this lane?

US Customs and Border Protection has flagged China-to-Vietnam (and other Southeast Asian) transshipment as a specific enforcement priority, since rerouting goods through a third country to disguise their true origin and avoid China-specific tariffs is a live compliance risk on this lane.