A loophole that has allowed American shoppers to buy lots of cheap goods from mainland China and Hong Kong without paying tariffs and filling customs forms is closing on Friday.

一个漏洞让美国消费者可以从中国大陆和香港购买大量廉价商品而无需支付关税和填写报关表格，它将于周五关闭。

Prices have already gone up.

价格已经在涨。

Orders for many imported goods from retailers like Shein and Temu could dwindle as consumers balk at the higher prices and new inconveniences. But, like much of President Trump’s trade war, the administration’s policy on the loophole has gone through changes. The president had ordered that the loophole be closed in February, but then reinstated it within a few days. Logistics experts said the short closure caused a pileup of packages at the borders.

由于更高的价格和新的不便让消费者望而却步，来自希音和Temu等零售商的许多进口商品的订单可能会减少。但是，就像特朗普总统贸易战的大部分举措一样，政府对该漏洞的政策也经历了变化。总统曾下令在2月份关闭这一漏洞，但几天后又恢复了它。物流专家表示，短暂的关闭导致了边境的包裹堆积。

What exactly is going away?

到底取消了什么？

Since 2016, items worth $800 or less could be imported into the United States without the recipient’s paying tariffs or even filing the paperwork typically associated with purchases of foreign goods. The loophole is known as the de minimis exemption. Mr. Trump is eliminating the exemption only for goods from mainland China, the largest source of de minimis shipments, and Hong Kong.

自2016年以来，价值800美元或以下的物品可以零关税进口到美国，甚至无需提交通常与购买外国商品相关的文件。这个漏洞被称为“小额豁免”。特朗普只取消了对来自中国大陆（小额豁免货物的最大来源地）和香港的商品的小额豁免。

A report for Congress this year said Customs and Border Protection processed over one billion de minimis packages a year. The average value of the shipments in 2023 was $54.

今年提交给国会的一份报告称，海关和边境保护局每年处理超过10亿个小额豁免包裹。2023年，这些包裹的平均价值为54美元。

Shipments worth under $800 have been exempt because Congress believed the expense and inconvenience of processing them would not justify the customs revenue. Mr. Trump is ending the exemption, in part, to try to prevent the flow of fentanyl and fentanyl’s precursor substances into the United States via de minimis shipments.

价值低于800美元的货物向来豁免关税，因为国会认为处理这些货物的费用和不便与它们带来的关税收入不符。特朗普终止豁免的部分原因是为了阻止芬太尼和芬太尼的前体物质通过小额豁免包裹进入美国。

De minimis shipments ballooned after Mr. Trump imposed tariffs on China during his first administration, suggesting that people and businesses were turning to smaller packages to avoid tariffs.

特朗普在第一任期内对中国征收关税后，小额豁免包裹发货量激增，这表明人们和企业正在转向这一途径以避免关税。

How is this hitting shoppers?

这对购物者有什么影响？

Since tariffs on Chinese goods are punishingly high, de minimis goods are already starting to cost a lot more.

由于对中国商品征收的关税高得离谱，小额豁免包裹商品的价格已经开始大幅上涨。

That’s evident to shoppers on the Chinese e-commerce site Temu. The company recently began detailing the cost that tariffs would add to their purchases.

中国电子商务网站Temu的购物者明显感受到了这一点。该公司最近开始详细说明关税将增加的购物成本。

For example, a cart of 10 items from Temu, including a 50 pack of heavy-duty hangers for $70.50, a men’s green linen shirt for $19.38 and a fluffy pink dog bed for $24.05, came out to $275.03, including international freight charges, and $10.20 in sales tax. But at checkout, the website tacked on $343.26 in import charges, bringing the total to $628.49. (Temu does give shoppers the option of buying goods marked as coming from local warehouses that do not incur import charges.)

举个例子，在购物车里放入来自Temu的10件商品，包括50个装的重型衣架，70.50美元；一件绿色亚麻男衬衫，19.38美元；一张粉红色毛绒狗床，24.05美元；合计275.03美元，包括国际运费和10.20美元的销售税。但在结账时，该网站增加了343.26美元的进口费用，使总额达到628.49美元。（Temu给购物者的选择是购买标明来自本地仓库的商品，这样就不会产生进口费用。）

At Temu’s rival Shein, a cart of 10 similar items came out to $244.03. Though it didn’t detail additional import charges on the goods, Shein’s website told shoppers: “Tariffs are included in the price you pay. You will never have to pay extra at delivery.”

在Temu的竞争对手希音，一购物车10件类似商品的价格为244.03美元。虽然没有详细说明商品的额外进口费用，但希音网站告诉购物者：“关税已包含在您支付的价格中。您永远不必在送货时支付额外费用。”

Still, shoppers said they’d seen prices for some items on Shein’s website rise over the weekend. Even though the tariff exemption isn’t expected to end until Friday, the charges are appearing already because orders placed now won’t cross the border until after.

不过，购物者表示，他们看到希音网站上一些商品的价格在周末有所上涨。尽管关税豁免预计要到周五才会结束，但这些收费已经出现，因为现在下的订单要到周五之后才会跨境。

Lindsay Olive of Atlanta, who shops regularly on Shein, put a number of summer dresses in her cart last week, including a blue one for $10.88 and a floral one for $11.29. When she went to check out this weekend, the price for the blue dress had increased to $13.88 and the floral had jumped to $15.43, according to screen shots she shared.

亚特兰大的林赛·奥利弗经常在希音购物，她上周在购物车里放了几件夏日衣裙，其中一件蓝色裙子售价10.88美元，一件碎花裙子售价11.29美元。她分享的截屏显示，当她周末去结账时，蓝色裙子的价格涨到了13.88美元，花裙的价格涨到了15.43美元。

“I knew things were going to start going up in price, and I wanted to get some summer dresses before that happened,” Ms. Olive, 39, said. She expects prices will climb further.

“我知道东西要开始涨价了，我想在涨价之前买些夏装，”39岁的奥利弗说。她预计价格还会进一步攀升。

Amazon said on Tuesday that it had considered detailing import charges on the part of its site — called Amazon Haul — that competes with Temu, but decided not to.

亚马逊周二表示，它曾考虑在其与Temu竞争的Amazon Haul网站上详细列出进口费用，但最终决定不这么做。

“Teams discuss ideas all the time,” the spokesman, Ty Rogers, said in a statement. He said it was never under consideration for the main Amazon site, adding: “This was never approved and is not going to happen.”

“团队总是在不断讨论各种点子，”发言人泰·罗杰斯在声明中说。他说，亚马逊的主网站从未考虑过这一方案，并且“这从未获得批准，也不会发生”。

The import charges can differ depending on how the goods are shipped. If they come on an express carrier like DHL or FedEx, the goods will be subject to tariffs as high as 145 percent, or $14.50 on a $10 T-shirt.

进口费用可能因货物的运输方式而异。如果通过DHL或联邦快递这样的快递公司运输，这些货物将被征收高达145%的关税，相当于一件10美元的T恤要缴纳14.50美元的关税。

Shipments coming in through the Postal Service will face a tariff equivalent to 120 percent of the value of the goods, starting Friday, or a fee of $100 per package. The fee increases to $200 in June.

从周五开始，通过邮政服务进入的货物将面临相当于货物价值120%的关税，或者每个包裹100美元的费用。6月份费用将增加到200美元。

What about the paperwork?

手续上有什么不同？

One of the conveniences of a de minimis shipment is that the recipient does not have to provide a Social Security number to get the goods, as is the case with other types of imports.

小额豁免包裹的一个便利之处在于，收货人不需要像领取其他进口商品那样提供社会保障号码来领取货物。

Instead, de minimis goods require only a name and an address.

收取小额豁免货物只需要姓名和地址。

As of Friday, de minimis shipments from China will be classified as “informal entry” imports. Informal entry goods, which can be worth up to $2,500, do not require a recipient’s Social Security number, Customs and Border Protection said in a statement. Still, the agency said in January that carriers often require Social Security numbers because having them speeds up clearance through customs.

从周五开始，来自中国的小额豁免货物将被归类为“非正式入境”进口。美国海关和边境保护局在声明中表示，价值最高可达2500美元的非正式入境物品不需要收件人的社会保障号码。尽管如此，该机构在1月份表示，承运商通常需要社会保障号码，因为有了这个号码可以加快通关速度。

FedEx said that, in accordance with Customs and Border Protection requirements, it would not require Social Security numbers on shipments from China that lose their de minimis exemption on Friday. DHL said it would not require Social Security numbers on informal entry shipments. UPS declined to say whether it would require Social Security numbers, but the company added that it had the expertise to help its customers “navigate global trade and follows all applicable laws and regulations.”

联邦快递表示，根据海关和边境保护局的要求，对于周五失去小额豁免的来自中国的货物，它不会要求提供社会保障号码。DHL表示，它不会对非正式入境货物要求社会保障号码。UPS拒绝透露是否需要，但该公司补充说，它有专业知识帮助客户“驾驭全球贸易，遵守所有适用的法律法规”。

A representative for the Postal Service said it would “not have a role in duty collection for items of de minimis value postal shipments.” Instead, the tariffs would have to be collected by the carrier bringing the goods into the United States.

邮政服务的一名代表表示，它将“不参与对小额豁免邮政货物的关税征收”。关税必须由将货物运往美国的承运人负责收取。

Will there be delays?

会有延误吗？

Collecting tariffs and checking a much larger number of packages could become a challenge for carriers and Customs and Border Protection. But it is not clear whether those actions would delay packages more than a day or two or much longer.

征收关税和检查更多的包裹可能为承运人和海关及边境保护局带来挑战。但目前尚不清楚这些举措是否会让包裹延误一两天或者更长时间。

The customs agency said in a statement that although it had “a huge task on its hand,” it was “uniquely positioned to implement and enforce the president’s tariffs.”

海关总署在一份声明中表示，尽管“手头任务艰巨”，但它“具备实施和执行总统的关税政策的独特优势”。