Importing from China after de minimis
The duty is the headline. The bigger change is that everything you never had to do — a customs entry, an HS code, a bulk MOQ, a supplier you have actually checked — all arrived at once, and being wrong about a supplier now costs a quarter rather than a weekend.
In short: low-value consignments from China now require a formal customs entry and attract duty in the US, EU and UK. Practically, that converts parcel shippers into bulk importers — needing an HS code per SKU, a named importer of record, a customs broker, local fulfilment, and for the first time a supplier worth verifying, because the cost of being wrong has gone up by two orders of magnitude.
This guide deliberately quotes no rates or thresholds. Those have moved repeatedly since 2025 and a figure published here would be wrong before it was useful. The official sources are linked at the foot of the page; what follows is the part that does not change.
What actually changed
For most of the last decade a low-value consignment could enter the United States without duty and without a formal customs entry. Enormous direct-to-consumer businesses were built on that. The relief has been withdrawn — first for goods of Chinese and Hong Kong origin, then across the board — and the European Union and United Kingdom have moved the same way on their own low-value reliefs.
Read the tariff as the smaller half of the story. The operational change is what breaks a business model.
The seven jobs that are now yours
| Job | What it involves | Who does it |
|---|---|---|
| Tariff classification | An HS code for every SKU. Duty follows classification, and classification errors are the importer’s liability. | A licensed customs broker |
| Formal entry | An entry filed for each commercial shipment, with value and origin declared. | Your broker |
| Importer of record | Someone must hold the duty liability and the record-keeping obligation. Normally you. | You |
| Record retention | Entry records kept for the statutory period, typically several years. | You |
| Bulk purchasing | MOQ negotiation, payment terms, tooling, lead times. | You |
| Quality control | One bad container is now the whole quarter, not a handful of refunds. | You, or an inspection firm |
| Supplier verification | Establishing that the entity you are wiring a deposit to is what it says it is. | You, or us |
Who is the importer of record
Most people meet this term the first time something goes wrong. The importer of record is the party legally responsible for goods entering a country: paying the duty, declaring a correct classification, value and origin, and holding the records. Customs authorities do not pursue a factory in Zhejiang. They pursue the importer, and that is normally you.
A supplier offering DDP — delivered duty paid — is offering to arrange and pay for clearance. That is a commercial convenience. It does not necessarily move the legal liability, and it frequently means an unfamiliar third party is named as importer on entries filed against goods you own.
Do this today if you buy DDP: ask your supplier or forwarder for a copy of the entry documentation for your last three shipments. If they cannot or will not produce it, you have an exposure you have not priced. Read more in who is the importer of record?
Rebuilding landed cost
The most common error at this point is rebuilding the model per shipment. Duty is charged on classification, and classification is per product — so the model has to be per SKU, or it will be wrong in a way that averages out on the spreadsheet and does not average out in the bank account.
Per SKU, the line items are:
- Ex-works unit cost
- Inland freight in China, export handling and documentation
- Ocean or air freight, apportioned per unit at your real order quantity
- Duty, at the rate for that SKU’s classification and origin
- Any additional trade measures applying to that classification
- Customs brokerage and entry fees, apportioned
- Import handling, drayage and storage
- Fulfilment or marketplace fees
- Returns and defect allowance — set higher for a new supplier than you think
Two things surprise people. Freight per unit changes dramatically with order quantity, which means your MOQ decision and your landed cost are the same decision. And the defect allowance for an unverified supplier should be materially higher than for a verified one — that difference is, in effect, what verification buys you.
Why the supplier now matters more than it used to
This is the part that gets missed. When you shipped parcels, a bad supplier cost you a handful of refunds and a bad week. When you ship a container, a bad supplier costs you the container — plus the duty you already paid on it, which is not refunded because the goods disappointed you.
Bulk buying concentrates risk. That is the entire reason supplier verification stopped being an optional nicety for small importers: not because fraud increased, but because the cost of being wrong went up by two orders of magnitude while the cost of checking stayed the same.
| Check | Why now |
|---|---|
| Registered entity and status | You are about to send a deposit large enough to matter |
| Manufacturer or trading company | Decides who actually controls quality, and what your recourse is |
| Bank account name matches the licence | The single strongest fraud indicator |
| Which entity will invoice and appear on the entry | It may not be the one emailing you |
| Certificates verified with their issuers | Your market may require them, and yours is the liability |
Negotiating your first bulk order
- Do not accept the first MOQ. Opening MOQs are usually negotiable, especially for a first order a supplier expects to repeat.
- Split the first order. A smaller first run at a slightly worse unit price is cheap insurance against a supplier you have not worked with.
- Tie the balance to inspection, not to despatch. Shipping documents prove the goods left. They do not prove the goods are right.
- Agree tooling ownership in writing if you are paying for a mould.
- Get the HS code conversation started early. Ask the supplier what code they export under; then have your broker confirm what you should import under. They are not always the same, and the second one is the one that binds you.
- Ask directly about subcontracting, and make the answer contractual.
A sensible sequence
- Verify the shortlist. Three or four registry checks tell you more together than one does alone — the differences are the information.
- Look at the plant before the deposit, by live video if not in person.
- Get a broker engaged and classification confirmed before you commit to a price.
- Rebuild landed cost per SKU with real duty and real freight at your real quantity.
- Split the first order and inspect before the balance.
- Then scale, and re-verify the supplier annually — companies change hands quietly.
Nothing on this page is customs advice, and we do not classify goods, determine value or origin, request rulings or file claims — that is work for a licensed customs professional, and we will name one. What we do is the supplier side: establishing who you are dealing with, and gathering the evidence your broker will ask for. Where we stop.
Buying in bulk from a supplier you have never checked?
One working day, US$95, and you know whether they are a manufacturer, a trader, or a company that no longer legally exists.
Sources
- U.S. Customs and Border Protection
- European Commission — Taxation and Customs Union
- UK Government — Import goods into the UK
- US Harmonized Tariff Schedule (USITC)
- National Enterprise Credit Information Publicity System (国家企业信用信息公示系统)
This guide is general information, not legal advice. Requirements vary by city, document and personal circumstances — confirm your specific case before acting. Last checked 23 August 2026.
