Two weeks ago the headline was relief. The US–China truce, due to lapse November 10, would now run to January 10. Most sellers filed it under tariffs: fine till January.
For an Amazon importer, the truce hasn't set your tariff rate since February.
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What the truce actually holds
The truce agreed in Busan last October had a tariff piece and a trade piece. The tariff piece cut the fentanyl duties — which were emergency-powers duties. The Supreme Court struck those down in February. The piece of the truce that touched your duty rate went with them.
Your duty on Chinese goods now runs through Section 301, Section 232 and the ordinary rate for your HTS line. The truce doesn't set any of them. The Congressional Research Service put the average US tariff on Chinese goods above 36 percent in July, truce and all.
What the truce still holds is three things: China's retaliatory tariffs, China's rare-earth export controls — and the one that reaches your landed cost, the USTR port fees on Chinese ships.
In October 2025 the US started charging port fees on ships with a Chinese nexus: $50 per net ton for Chinese-operated vessels, and for Chinese-built ones the higher of $18 per net ton or $120 per container. Busan suspended them after four weeks. Carriers can pass fees like that straight through as a surcharge.
Now read the suspension itself. It's in the Federal Register: suspended through 11:59 p.m. on November 9, 2026. As of the summit, the White House hadn't formally documented the extension. Bessent announced a date on television. The White House's own fact sheet from the summit didn't mention port fees at all. The notice that controls the fee still says November 9.
Why the gap matters in November
Chinese New Year is February 6. Factories wind down in January. So the pre-holiday orders you place over the next eight weeks sail in December and January — after November 9, and some of them after January 10.
Most likely, USTR publishes a notice that matches the announced date and none of this bites. More than 200 shipping and trade groups have asked it to. Bessent himself said the current deal might simply roll again in January. But "most likely" is a freight forwarder's rate sheet, and you want to know whether yours has a clause for the other case before the container is on the water.
The Numbers
January 10, 2027 — the truce's new end date, as announced by the Treasury Secretary on September 23
November 9, 2026 — the end of the port-fee suspension as published in the Federal Register, unchanged as of the summit
$120 per container — the floor on the port fee for Chinese-built ships when it's live; $50 per net ton for Chinese-operated ones
36%+ — the average US tariff on Chinese goods in July, per the Congressional Research Service, with the truce in place
February 6, 2027 — Chinese New Year, which puts pre-holiday shipments on the water across both dates
Translation: The truce stopped protecting your duty rate in February; what it protects now is your freight. That's a smaller risk than the headlines implied and a more specific one — it lives in your forwarder's surcharge clause, and its legal date is November 9 until someone publishes otherwise. Find out whether your bookings carry that clause now, while the answer is free.
The Brief
Amazon is reportedly running a large round of Section 3 account reviews with live video identity checks. Cross-border trade press puts it around 20,000 accounts, with listings pulled and disbursements held while the review runs, and established accounts caught alongside new ones. Amazon hasn't announced a policy change; video verification itself is long-standing. If the person named on your account couldn't describe the business on a live call, fix that before peak, not during a hold.
Amazon Business now reportedly has a delivery bar for seller-fulfilled orders. From September 30, a 90 percent Business Hour Delivery Rate on orders to business buyers in the US, UK and Germany; sellers still below it on October 30 lose their seller-fulfilled offers to those buyers. FBA offers aren't affected. If you ship FBM to business customers, check the metric this week.
Chinese rare-earth magnet shipments to the US reportedly fell 20 percent in August. The truce is supposed to keep them flowing. If your product has a motor, a speaker or a magnetic closure, ask your supplier where their magnets come from before you ask about their CNY schedule.
Quick Win
Delegate to whoever books your freight. Twenty minutes, one email.
Pull every China shipment due to arrive at a US port on or after November 10 — including ones already on the water. Your forwarder portal shows the arrival dates. If you buy CIF or DDP, your supplier books the freight, so the email goes to them.
Send one email listing those shipments and ask: if the USTR port fees resume November 10, will you add a surcharge to these bookings, and how much per container? For bookings already confirmed, also ask for the carrier and vessel name.
File each answer against its PO.
The artifact: a per-container figure — or "no surcharge" — for every shipment landing after November 9.
It says nothing about your duty rate; that's your customs broker, by HTS line, and it isn't in the truce. "Subject to surcharges" isn't an answer — ask for the number. And don't cancel, reroute or pay extra to switch ships now: USTR may publish the extension any day.
The truce moved to January.
The fee date is still November, and it's in your forwarder's contract, not the headlines.
See you Friday.
Have any questions? Grab a 15-minute slot here: book a time here.
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— Dan
