If you’ve been watching the news lately, it feels like the "trade war" is constantly being born, dying, and then rising from the grave like a zombie. It’s exhausting. One day you hear about 60% taxes on everything from Beijing, and the next, there’s a "truce" signed in a fancy room in Seoul or Kuala Lumpur.
Honestly, the timeline is a mess.
If you are a business owner or just someone wondering why your next laptop might cost as much as a used car, you need to know the dates. So, when do Chinese tariffs start? Well, the short answer is that they’ve already started, but the "Big Ones"—the massive reciprocal hikes everyone is terrified of—are currently sitting in a state of suspended animation.
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The 2025 Rollercoaster: How We Got Here
To understand what’s happening right now in January 2026, we have to look at the absolute chaos of last year.
When President Trump took office for his second term in January 2025, he didn't waste any time. By February, he was already slapping tariffs on Canada and Mexico. China was right there in the crosshairs. We saw a flurry of executive orders—specifically using the International Emergency Economic Powers Act (IEEPA)—that pushed rates on Chinese goods up to 20% almost immediately.
Then came April 2025.
That was a brutal month for trade. The administration announced "reciprocal" tariffs. Basically, the logic was: "If you tax our stuff at 34%, we tax yours at 34%." It sounded simple, but by the time the math was done, some Chinese imports were facing rates as high as 125%.
It was a game of chicken.
The November 10 Truce
Everything changed on November 1, 2025. After a high-stakes meeting between President Trump and President Xi Jinping in South Korea, the two countries basically agreed to put down the hammers.
Here is the deal that defines the current landscape:
The U.S. agreed to suspend the heightened reciprocal tariffs until November 10, 2026. This is the date you need to circle in red on your calendar. Until that moment at 12:01 a.m. ET, the "extra" scary tariffs (the ones that would have hit 34% or 100%+) are on ice.
What Tariffs Are Active Right Now?
Just because there's a truce doesn't mean it’s free trade. Far from it. If you’re importing today, you’re still paying.
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- The 10% Fentanyl-Related Tariff: This is a big one. It was actually lowered from 20% to 10% on November 10, 2025, as part of the deal. It applies to almost all Chinese-origin goods.
- Section 301 Tariffs: These are the "old" tariffs that have been around since the first trade war. Most of these remain at 25%. However, the exclusions—the "get out of jail free" cards for certain products—were extended until November 10, 2026.
- The "De Minimis" Death: This is probably the biggest change for regular people. As of late 2025, the $800 duty-free limit is basically dead for Chinese imports. If you order a $20 shirt from a Chinese e-commerce site, it now faces the applicable tariff rate. No more free rides.
The Medical and Tech Schedule
Some specific items didn't get the "truce" treatment because they were part of a different policy track (the Biden-era Section 301 increases that Trump kept and modified).
Starting January 1, 2026, we saw new rates hit:
- Face masks and respirators: Jumped to 50%.
- Medical gloves: Hit a staggering 100%.
- Natural graphite and permanent magnets: Now at 25%.
China isn't just sitting there, either. On January 1, 2026, Beijing actually lowered tariffs on 935 products. It’s a strategic move. They want to make it cheaper for their own factories to get parts for "green" tech and robots. It's a weird contrast: the U.S. is building a wall, and China is opening small windows for things they specifically need to win the tech race.
Why the November 2026 Date Matters
Everything is riding on the November 10, 2026 deadline.
Think of it as a ticking clock. The U.S. has basically said, "We won't crush your economy today, provided you buy 25 million metric tons of our soybeans every year and stop messing with our shipping industry." If China doesn't hit those numbers, or if the political winds shift, those 125% tariffs don't need a new law to start. They just... resume.
It’s a "snap-back" mechanism.
Business experts like those at the Council on Foreign Relations and various trade law firms (shoutout to the folks at K&L Gates who track this stuff) are telling clients to prepare for a volatile second half of 2026. If negotiations fail, the cost of doing business with China could quadruple overnight.
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How to Navigate This Mess
If you're trying to figure out your next move, don't just wait for the headlines. The headlines are usually too late.
- Check the HTS Codes: Everything depends on the Harmonized Tariff Schedule. If your product is under one of the 178 extended exclusions, you’re safe for now. If not, you’re paying the 10% IEEPA rate plus the 25% Section 301 rate.
- Watch the "Secondary" Threats: The administration has been threatening a 25% tariff on any country that does business with Iran or 100% on those buying Russian oil (like India). This could create a "backdoor" tariff on Chinese goods that use parts from those countries.
- The USMCA Loophole is Closing: If you’re trying to dodge tariffs by shipping Chinese parts to Mexico, assembling them, and sending them to the U.S., be careful. New rules require at least 20% U.S. content for some "reciprocal" exemptions to apply.
It’s a complicated time to be in business. We’re essentially in a period of "armed peace." The tariffs are there, the paperwork is ready, and the start dates are mostly set for late 2026.
Next Steps for Your Business:
Review your supply chain for any "single-source" Chinese components that fall under the Section 301 list. Since the exclusions expire in November 2026, you have roughly ten months to either find an alternative supplier in Vietnam or Thailand (though they have their own 19-20% tariff rates now) or bake a 25-50% price increase into your 2027 budget. You should also audit your "de minimis" shipments to ensure you aren't running afoul of the new CBP enforcement guidelines that went into effect this month.