What it takes to buy from China, product by product

Why a product view

Most coverage of China trade follows the news: a new tariff, a new export control, a new list. A buyer's question runs the other way. It starts with one product and asks what every rule does to it. For a lithium-ion battery bought from China and used in the United States, that means at least four separate tests, decided by different agencies:

1. The import duty, set by its tariff classification and its country of origin.
2. China's export licensing, which decides whether the supplier may ship it, or its materials, at all.
3. The forced-labor presumption, which decides whether it is let in.
4. The tax-credit entity test, which looks at who owns the company that made it, not where it was made.

A product can pass three of these and fail the fourth, and each one has its own calendar. This site puts them side by side, starting with batteries and the critical minerals that go into them.

Guides

Batteries and critical minerals

• Tariffs on lithium-ion batteries from China — MFN, Section 301 and the 2026 forced-labor duty, layer by layer, with the HTS headings.
• Battery storage tax credits and Chinese-owned suppliers — the prohibited-foreign-entity thresholds, the cost ratio, and what a supplier certification covers.
• China's export controls on rare earths and battery materials — what is licensed today, what is suspended, and how a foreign buyer fits into the license.
• Rare-earth permanent magnets — duty by magnet type, China's license, and the defense-contract ban that widens on January 1, 2027.
• Graphite and anode material — the duty by HTS line, the AD/CVD case that ended without orders, and China's graphite license.

Electronic components

• Connectors and cable assemblies — duty by tariff line, the Section 232 copper duty on cable assemblies, and the auto-part route.
• Printed circuit boards — bare and assembled boards, the exclusions ending November 9, and the Defense Department's ban on Chinese boards.

US duties and import bans, any product

• The Section 301 forced-labor tariff — 12.5% on goods from China since July 24, 2026, the rates for 60 economies, and what is exempt.
• Section 301 exclusions expiring November 9, 2026 — the 178 still in force and what happens if they lapse.
• The June 2027 semiconductor tariff increase — a rate that must be announced by late May 2027.
• The UFLPA for battery and mineral importers — the forced-labor presumption, the Entity List and the evidence to keep.

Sourcing decisions

• Moving production out of China — when assembly elsewhere changes origin, what CBP has ruled, and which rules follow the product anyway.

Rules by jurisdiction

• EU rules for imports from China — CBAM, the Batteries Regulation, the Forced Labour Regulation and the parcel duty, with their 2026–2027 dates.
• The November 2026 US–China deadline — the truce dates as written in law, and the extension announced in September.
• Trade-rule calendar — every date above, in order.

How it is written

Every rate, threshold and date comes from the statute, regulation or official notice that sets it, linked beside the statement. Chinese measures are described from the official text, and we say when that text exists only in Chinese. Where sources disagree, or a government has announced a change without publishing it, the page says so. Nothing here profiles companies or rates suppliers. Read more about the site.