August 2026

Formal Entry Explained: Every Parcel from China Now Needs One   A package that once would have cleared U.S. customs in minutes — without paperwork and without duty — now is subject to the same entrance process as a container of industrial machinery. That’s the reality on the ground for any entity moving goods from […]

Consolidation Warehouses: The New Trick for China-to-US Sellers     A Shenzhen seller distributes forty little shipments a week to customers in Ohio, Texas and Florida. Most of the boxes crossed the old $800 de minimis queue a year ago and entered the Pacific duty-free. Today each one stops at customs, gets its own entry,

Small Business Owners: What Changed Shipping from China to the US This Year     If you’re a small firm that sources products from China, the past twelve months have undoubtedly felt less like a succession of policy changes and more like a moving target. The rules that governed how your packages crossed the Pacific

Electric Vehicle Parts from China to the US: The 100% Tariff Trap     An importer that bought lithium battery modules from Shenzhen in early 2024 was paying the normal duty plus a 7.5 percent Section 301 charge. Try the same cargo today and the tariff on several battery lines has more than tripled while

Why Schedule Reliability Dropped to 61.9% for China-US Ocean Freight     If you’ve spent the previous few months chasing a container across the Pacific, you know the feeling. A ship that was due to dock on a Tuesday arrives the following Monday. A rolled cargo is secretly converted from a booking confirmation. That cargo-ready

Section 301, IEEPA, Section 122: A Plain-English Guide to US Tariffs on China     If you are importing from China in 2026, you have likely already seen that the duty charge on a single container can be traced to three separate legal agencies at once. A shipment of consumer electronics could be subject to

The Real Landed Cost Calculator: China to US Shipping in 2026     Ask a supplier in China how much it costs to move a container to Los Angeles and you’ll get a freight quote. Ask what it really costs to get that same container from a factory floor in Shenzhen to a shelf in

Los Angeles vs JFK: Where Customs Delays Are Worst for China Shipments     At renewal time, every importer exporting from China finally asks themselves the same question: Do I send the next consignment via the West Coast or East Coast? The answer used to be mostly a function of travel time and freight rate.

HTS Code Mistakes That Are Costing US Importers Thousands Right Now     A ten digit number is silently deciding if your import application is making or losing money. Most importers only look at the Harmonized Tariff Schedule of the United States (HTSUS) when a broker requests for it at booking time, and then never

How Temu and Shein Are Adapting to the End of US De Minimis     For a decade, a single customs law silently impacted how hundreds of millions of Americans shopped online. The de minimis exception allowed items valued less than 800 US dollars to enter the nation duty-free and with practically no paperwork. That’s