Any thoughts on the 145% Chinese tariff on purchases?

[Tijoe]

Ha anyone actually ordered and received items from Aliexpress since May 2nd?    I have been trying to find and read what the new system is dealing with items from China and Hong Kong.   Without the De Minimis, supposedly all the lower value items are supposed to be processed through the modified Type 11 Customs process.
Except...  There are some some interpretations of different fees that are being charged depending on  the level of automation and involvement by Customs.   Plus there are some percentage Tariff versus fixed charge regarding the tariffs.n On top of this, something about a huge fee being charged by USPS and/or the delivery carrier.   See below from one article I copied this from.

Entry Type 11 fees:

    $2.62 for Automated Entry or Release Not Prepared by CBP Personnel:
    $7.85 for Manual Entry or Release Not Prepared by CBP Personnel
    $11.78 for Entry or Release Prepared by CBP Personnel

In this example we will look at a shipment with customs value of $20 and country of manufacture of China. In this example, the shipment will qualify for Automated Entry or Release Not Prepared by CBP Personnel. The steps for calculating costs would be:

Since the shipment will be processed as Automated Entry or Release Not Prepared by CBP Personnel it will incur a $2.62 fee.


Since the Country of Origin is China, it will incur 20% IEEPA and 125% (now 10% for the next 90 days) retaliatory tariffs. 

Therefore, a $20 shipment will have a $2.62 additional fee from customs clearance and $29.00 tariff fee. Additionally, if it was mailed through the postal system there would be an additional 120% fee or $100 fee decided upon by the carrier.

The above examples assume that the merchant and their carrier complied with all the declaration requirements and, therefore, there were no additional delays. In cases of non-compliance, shipments will be held at customs, and further charges will be incurred for storage and brokerage. If the shipments are held too long, they will be “Returned to Sender” at the merchant’s expense, auctioned off, or destroyed.

Still very confusing regarding how much consumers will actually end up paying...

[coffeebreak]

Except...  There are some some interpretations of different fees that are being charged depending on  the level of automation and involvement by Customs.   Plus there are some percentage Tariff versus fixed charge regarding the tariffs.n On top of this, something about a huge fee being charged by USPS and/or the delivery carrier.   See below from one article I copied this from.

Still very confusing regarding how much consumers will actually end up paying...

While checking social media, I am seeing lot of people posting how UPS is ripping making money off of them by charging something called "broker fee". For example one guy was asked to pay nearly $400 in government charges (lol) and another 275 in UPS brokerage charge (LOL), so nearly $700. The package wasn't even from China but somewhere in Europe.

[Tijoe]

Another spin to the new China Trade deal.  Looks like our government is trying to cut out the ability of small businesses and consumers to be able to purchase items directly from China. 

Read this executive order

https://www.whitehouse.gov/presidential-actions/2025/05/modifying-reciprocal-tariff-rates-to-reflect-discussions-with-the-peoples-republic-of-china/

Summary by Axios:

https://www.axios.com/2025/05/12/china-trade-deal-shein-temu-trump

[Ludo]

Eu used to be clear, I am Not sure what changes : VAT + duty + fee from broker (often the carrier)

[MrJag]

If i understand right, up until now, you were paying nothing (no tariff, no VAT) on anything under 800? If so, how was that fair to 1. local businesses and 2. the state, as everything you buy locally gets taxed? Or is all this ON TOP of VAT?

We still paid state sales tax on imported items. Thats been built into the checkout process on Aliexpress for years.

[00Garza]

If i understand right, up until now, you were paying nothing (no tariff, no VAT) on anything under 800?

Correct. No VAT. Just what the item cost plus sales tax. Many of us US customers didn't know how good we had it. I'll admit it was unfair. Just hoping the tariff settles at a reasonable number.

[jonathanf2]

We still paid state sales tax on imported items. Thats been built into the checkout process on Aliexpress for years.

Unless you live in Oregon (and a few other states), no sales tax and those AliEx coupons really brought in massive savings.

Anyways, I'm probably going to take advantage of China's 10 day visa free/VAT free travel permit at some point. Probably pickup some groupsets while I'm there! 

[Chiyou]

How to avoid CBP scrutiny:
1. Route parcel through your favorite petrostate
2. Mark as 'aircraft parts'
3. Specify destination as Trump Presidential Library

Perfectly valid for goods worth up to $400 million.

[glepore]

How to avoid CBP scrutiny:
1. Route parcel through your favorite petrostate
2. Mark as 'aircraft parts'
3. Specify destination as Trump Presidential Library

Perfectly valid for goods worth up to $400 million.

That's sort of funny. Delta recently diverted an Airbus being delivered to the US to a overseas route for a couple trips so that it would come into the US as "used" as a tariff dodge.

[Tijoe]

Correct. No VAT. Just what the item cost plus sales tax. Many of us US customers didn't know how good we had it. I'll admit it was unfair. Just hoping the tariff settles at a reasonable number.

Unfair?  What does that mean?   Aliexpress is in effect just a direct to consumer business model.  Few to no middlemen, who increase the price you pay for literally no value add.  If you go back in history, the $800 De Minimis was originally at $250, then later increased to $800, based on the actual cost for US customs to process smaller packages - Labor, processing time, item throughput, and bandwidth based on funding allocated by congress.  Remember that US customs is not a profit oriented organization/agency.  They are just a giant screening filter there to enforce the trade policies and import restrictions established by the US government.    A huge "profit center" was developed around US customs where a lot of money is made by "middlemen"  - Bonding, brokers, warehouses, sorting, shipping.    As "just-in-time" delivery became prevalent for the majority of big and small US businesses via air cargo carriers, this opened up a window where consumers could benefit and cut out the middlemen.    So how is this unfair?

The way I look at it is that we, the consumer, found a way to avoid extra markups/profit for corporations and businesses. These companies lobbied to remove this path consumers started using more and more over the past 10 years, so that they can make more profit from us.

[courdacier]

"unfair" is typically coded to "unfair competition" in our media, whereas what is happening with China was hyper-competition.
is it unfair because of CCPs mercantilist policies? I don't know that I would go that far as a consumer.

[Ludo]

It’s unfair because middle man or John Doe bike shop owner had to pay the import tax that the deminimis allowed us direct buyer to get around of, that’s it. But in that respect, no doubt it was unfair.

[Chiyou]

We still paid state sales tax on imported items.

This is a minor point but I wonder how they will apply state taxes going forward: on the original AliExpress price or on the 'landed' price that has the various import fees/tarrifs/surcharges included in it.

[Tijoe]

It’s unfair because middle man or John Doe bike shop owner had to pay the import tax that the deminimis allowed us direct buyer to get around of, that’s it. But in that respect, no doubt it was unfair.

You forgot that the bicycle industry had tariff exemptions on the majority of bicycles and components entering the USA.  (Since 2018)  E-bike tariff exemptions expired in either 2023 or early 2024, and I believe in late 2024, exemptions for children's bicycle expired.

Edit:  It costs bike shops more money for their products because the majority of them purchase their bicycles/parts from dealers and distributors.  These "Middlemen" are making the most money in the cycling industry, not the shops.  I know several shop owners who were purchasing a significant portion of their inventory directly from China, just like we do through Aliexpress.  They were benefiting from the $800 De Minimis, jsut like we did. 

[Tijoe]

Since the Bicycle industry in the US is perhaps 3.5% of our economy, (Total sporting goods industry is less than 9%)   our current administration could care less about bicycles and component.   I read somewhere that cycling consumers were purchasing at most 5% of the total bicycles/parts imported into the US.   Our administrations originally went after the De Minimis because of the impact to textiles, consumer goods, and electronics and a few other commodities.   

For those of us on this forum, we are a very unique consumer that doesn't have any overall impact on the cycling industry.  If we can't support our addiction through Aliexpress, we will figure out another way to purchase what we want/need at a good price.