This week, starting from Wednesday (May 14th), the United States’ tax reduction measures towards China have been officially implemented. During the 90-day negotiation period, the tariff rate has been significantly reduced from 145% to 30%. The import duty on small parcels below $800 from China to the United States has decreased from 120% to 54%, while maintaining a flat tariff of $100 per small parcel.
Amidst this backdrop, certain Chinese e-commerce platforms that were almost halted due to high tariffs are seeing a resurgence in transactions. Some American users have started to explore overseas shopping again. However, due to the continued restrictions on small parcel policies, platforms like Pinduoduo (Temu) that rely on direct shipping are still facing challenges in shipping directly from China to the U.S., and they can only supply goods through U.S. local warehouses with additional shipping fees.
In contrast, Amazon, with its advantage of large warehouses, is still able to provide goods from China while maintaining certain price competitiveness and shipping efficiency. Meanwhile, China’s largest e-commerce platform, Taobao, due to its mature supply chain and logistics operations, has managed to reduce tariffs to a “minimum,” with consumers even discovering that prices are hardly different from before the tariff war.
From pajamas to umbrellas, car windshield wipers, and more, Mr. Yue used to frequently search for inexpensive goods on Pinduoduo (Temu). Since the imposition of high tariffs on May 2nd, he mentioned that he can still shop on Pinduoduo for goods shipped from local warehouses to the U.S., with an additional $2.99 shipping fee per item.
He believes it is still worth it, stating, “Some items are still cheaper even with the added shipping fee compared to American goods.”
For goods that need to be shipped from China, he noted that since May 2nd, he has been unable to purchase them. He mentioned, “They have stopped shipping, prices have increased several times, something that used to cost $10 now costs several times more, who would buy that? Their path has been completely blocked.”
Recently, Mr. Yue has turned to shopping on the American Amazon website. He purchased an air purifier filter the day before yesterday, and friends told him it was cheaper than at Home Depot.
Mr. Yue found that many low-tech daily products on the Amazon platform are shipped from Shenzhen, China. Through news reports, he learned that Amazon had already accelerated its inventory stocking before the U.S.-China tariff war, hence his goods may not see significant price hikes “for a year and a half.”
“They have a lot of warehouses, especially on Long Island before and after the pandemic, with a particularly large warehouse in Syosset,” he said. Amazon’s couriers pick up items from these warehouses, giving them a competitive advantage on certain goods.
However, Mr. Yue also noticed that prices for goods this year are still rising due to factors such as inflation. “Yesterday, I placed another order for a Chinese-made anti-UV sunshade for cars, it used to cost just over $30 last year, now it’s over $40.”
Although unable to shop on the Pinduoduo platform, overseas users seem to be unaffected by the small parcel policy after the recent tariff reduction, as they can still purchase items from China’s Taobao and have them shipped to the U.S. through forwarding companies.
During an interview with our newspaper on Wednesday, a Chinese individual named Doris mentioned that she had already reserved a complete set of Chinese educational books for her children on Taobao in China, intending to ship them to the United States. The air freight price, including taxes, was 180 yuan for the first 1kg (about $25) and 55 yuan for each additional kg (about $8), with customs clearance and delivery within a week. This new price is almost the same as the original, which was 170 yuan for the first 1kg and 48 yuan for each additional kg.
Ocean shipping rates remain relatively unchanged. The forwarding company informed her that, “For general cargo weighing over 12kg, the rate is 27 yuan per kg, with an estimated 30-day delivery time. For cargo under 12kg, confirmation is still pending.”
Due to the expensive prices of books in the U.S. and the difficulty in finding certain Chinese books, she believes that both ocean and air freight options are very cost-effective.
Based on her experience and analysis, Doris speculated that Chinese forwarding companies, after years of operation, have established a system where small parcels are consolidated into larger goods. This allows them to avoid the disadvantages of small parcels, easily exceeding $800 in value per shipment to comply with the 30% tariff policy, hence minimizing the impact of tariffs on each item.
“Perhaps these next three months are a good time for shopping,” Doris said.