Processing De Minimis Shipments from China through ACE (CBP Guidance)

Trade Update • Feb 5, 2025

ustoms and Border Protection (CBP) has provided guidance to the trade in response to President Trump’s Feb. 1 Executive Order imposing additional 10% tariffs on U.S. imports from China which includes curtailment of de minimis-qualifying shipments from China, effective 12:01 a.m. ET, Feb. 4.

Executive Order (EO)

According to the EO, most products of China (including products of Hong Kong as explained in the Federal Register Notice regarding China and EO 13936 (July 17, 2020)) are no longer eligible for the administrative exemption from duty and certain tax at 19 U.S.C. § 1321(a)(2)(C) and are subject to the additional ad valorem rates of duty.

“Requests for de minimis entry and clearance for ineligible shipments will be rejected,” CBP said. “The filer/importer has the option of filing an appropriate formal or other informal entry and paying all applicable duties, taxes and fees.”

CBP added that the trade should be aware that where the manifest was submitted or an Entry Type 86 was created before 12:01 a.m. ET on Feb. 4, but where the shipment arrived after that time, the covered merchandise will not be eligible for the de minimis exemption.

Agency Guidance

The agency said any pre-arrival clearance for these shipments will be cancelled after 12:01 a.m. ET on Feb. 4, adding that it is the responsibility of the trade community to monitor unarrived conveyances. “Filers need to monitor messaging for their shipments and take appropriate action to clear the shipments under the auspices of the Executive Order,” CBP said.

Details of the CBP guidance for these shipments are provided in CSMS #63992482.

“As we transition to execution of the Executive Order, it is extremely important that the trade maintain awareness of the shipments they are responsible for and are aware of the messaging that they are receiving from CBP,” the agency said.

CBP will publish additional technical guidance as needed via CSMS.

According to CBP, these changes in ACE are available in the Certification Environment, starting at 5:30 p.m. ET on Feb. 3 and will be available in the Production Environment following a maintenance outage that is the subject of a separate CSMS message.

USPS Continues to Accept Shipments from China and HK

Effective February 5, 2025, the Postal Service will continue accepting all international inbound mail and packages from China and Hong Kong Posts. The USPS and Customs and Border Protection are working closely together to implement an efficient collection mechanism for the new China tariffs to ensure the least disruption to package delivery. (USPS)

How GHY Can Help

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