China Announces Duties for 2025 – Certain Fisheries and Aquaculture Products Imports Face Increased Import Duties in 2025

On 26 December 2024, China announced the revised import duties as detailed in the notice titled Announcement of the State Council Tariff Commission on the 2025 Tariff Adjustment.

Effective 1 January 2025, 935 tariff lines of products imported into China will be subject to new duties as part of a yearly adjustment plan.

Among the 25 fisheries and aquaculture tariff lines listed in the adjusted import duties for 2025, seven face increased duties from 2 percent to 5 percent from 2024. The tariff lines (CCCCS - Commodity Classification for China Customs Statistics) subject to higher duties include:

• Frozen horse-tongue flounder (Greenland plaice) (CCCCS 03033110)
• Frozen plaice (CCCCS 03033200)
• Frozen herring (CCCCS 03035100)
• Frozen cod (Atlantic cod, Greenland cod, Pacific cod) (CCCCS 03036300)
• Frozen Alaska pollock (CCCCS 03036700)
• Frozen Blue Cod (CCCCS 03036800)

Further, Fish Oil Softgels (CCCCS 15042000) also face increased duties from 6 percent to 8 percent from 2024.

Certain tariff lines present in the provisional import duties list in 2024 have not been incorporated into the 2025 review. Other frozen shrimp and prawns (CCCCS 03061790), Frozen Northern long-necked shrimps (CCCCS 03061640), and fresh, live, and chilled abalone (CCCCS 03078190) will not be subject to the provisional duties in 2025, thus in effect, their import duties will rise from 2024 levels. The import duties for shrimp and prawns are now 5 percent, up from 2 percent in 2024, and for abalone, it has increased from 7 percent to 10 percent.

Increased provisional duties on shrimps and prawns may substantially impact the global market wherein the trade flows from Ecuador, India, and Argentina are significant. China is the world's largest shrimp importer; imports in 2024 crossed one million tonnes. Although Ecuador and China signed a bilateral trade agreement, the preferential duties for frozen shrimp and prawns is 4 percent, which is still higher than the previously applied rate of 2 percent. For India, there is a preferential duty of 2.5 percent under the Asia Pacific Trade Agreement. It is also important to note that the provisional duties applied to fresh and chilled Atlantic salmon do not apply to products from Chile, Austria, and Iceland, as these countries enjoy a zero-duty rate under free trade agreements with China.