Signal US imposes 40 percent tariffs and penalties on transshipment

Summary

Washington's anti-circumvention measures start with abolishing the de minimis exemption for shipments under 800 dollars and stepping up investigations and negotiations aimed at Chinese rerouting. A reciprocal-tariff executive order effective 7 August 2025 requires the US to publish every six months the firms and countries caught circumventing and to levy 40 percent tariffs and fines on the goods involved. Offending firms and countries can also be barred from US government procurement. Washington announced high reciprocal tariffs on Southeast Asian economies closely tied to China, such as Vietnam at 46 percent, Cambodia at 49 percent and Laos at 48 percent. In talks with Vietnam, where Chinese inputs made up 28 percent of exports to the US in 2022 against 9 percent in 2018, it agreed on a prohibitive 40 percent tariff on transshipped goods.