The United States increases taxes on Chinese products by 540%
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Recently, the U.S. International Trade Commission (ITC) announced a ruling that the U.S. industry has suffered substantial harm due to the import of "thermoformed molded fiber products from China and Vietnam." Immediately afterwards, the U.S. Department of Commerce determined that corresponding anti-dumping and countervailing tax orders would be implemented from January 23, 2026. The most stringent tax rate faced by China-related products is actually Breaking through the 540% mark .
The U.S. Department of Commerce will officially issue an anti-dumping and countervailing tax order on January 23, 2026, with the highest comprehensive tax rate levied on Chinese-related products reaching540.63%, the highest tax rate for Vietnamese products has also reached 265.62%.
This type of environmentally friendly tableware, called "thermoformed molded fiber products", is not an ordinary paper product. Its production process is complex and has clear environmental value. It is made through a special thermoforming process.
It uses sugarcane bagasse after sugar production as the main raw material, combined with renewable fibers such as bamboo pulp. In addition, agricultural waste such as wheat straw, rice straw, and corn straw can also be used. No wood is used at all. The production process is environmentally friendly, has superior performance, has a short degradation cycle, and has a wide range of applications. Designed to replace traditional plastic cutlery.
However, this type of product, which represents the direction of global green transformation, has now become another focus of the wave of trade protectionism.
What the United States has adopted this time is a combination of anti-dumping and countervailing measures. Taking Chinese products as an example, the tax rate consists of two parts.
The anti-dumping tax rate is 49.08%-477.97%, and the anti-subsidy tax rate is 7.56%-319.92%. When the two are superimposed, the maximum can reach 540.63%.
This measure will be effective for at least five years and will be imposed in addition to, rather than replace, existing tariffs on China.
According to the US Customs Tariff Number, it mainly involves two items: 4823.70.0020 and 4823.70.0040. Data shows that the amount of such products imported by the United States from China in 2024 will be approximately US0 million, forming an export market of considerable size.
But tariffs as high as 540% almost mean that such products will completely withdraw from the US market. For example, an environmentally friendly lunch box with an ex-factory price of US may cost more than US in tariffs after entering the US market, completely losing its price competitiveness.
Related products in Vietnam are also severely suppressed, with the highest comprehensive tax rate being 265.62%. The ITC has also rarely authorized the retroactive imposition of tariffs on imported products from Vietnam, that is, compensating taxes on past goods that have entered the U.S. market. Such retroactive measures are rare in U.S. trade cases in recent years.
This ruling is triggering a series of chain reactions. The most directly affected are manufacturing companies in China and Vietnam.
A tariff of up to 540% is equivalent to a "market ban". Chinese related companies are likely to withdraw from the U.S. market, and exports of approximately US0 million will face a sharp drop. This may result in some factories suspending production and employees losing their jobs.
The impact may also spread to the upper reaches of the industrial chain. Suppliers of raw materials such as sugarcane bagasse and bamboo pulp, as well as supporting industries such as molds and equipment, will all be affected.
The deeper impact lies in the disruption to the global green supply chain. This type of environmentally friendly tableware is an important alternative to plastic, but the high tariffs in the United States may distort the market, delay the environmental protection process, and even indirectly protect the traditional plastic industry.
It is worth noting that the ITC has made it clear that the "double-reverse" tariffs will be superimposed on the existing tariffs against China, further increasing corporate costs.
Broadening our horizons, trade protection measures are emerging in many places. In December 2025, the Mexican Congress quickly passed a bill, planning to impose additional tariffs on products from countries without free trade agreements, including China and Vietnam, starting from January 1, 2026. Vietnam also announced at the same time that it would carry out special operations to combat smuggling and trade fraud.
Behind this series of actions is a complex global trade game. Although the United States is targeting specific products this time, its strategic intentions are very obvious.
In recent years, in order to avoid trade risks, many companies have adopted the "China 1" strategy and transferred part of their production capacity to countries such as Vietnam. This time, the United States took action against China and Vietnam at the same time and applied retroactive tariffs to Vietnam, which undoubtedly sent a strong signal that simple relocation of production capacity is difficult to circumvent trade barriers and is intended to curb the migration trend of the supply chain.
