Air cargo volumes to North America from Asia fell by nearly 11% year-over-year in May, as China's e-commerce industry reeled from the Trump administration's decision to end duty-free exemptions for low-value shipments.

The U.S. ended de minimis exemptions for China and Hong Kong on May 2, which had previously allowed shipments valued at $800 or less to arrive in the country duty-free. That saw low-value e-commerce shipments from China to the U.S. fall by 43% between April and the end of May, Reuters reports.

Chinese retailers Shein and Temu had both previously used de minimis exemptions to ship millions of duty-free packages into the U.S. each day, while freight market data provider Xeneta estimates that e-commerce accounted for roughly half of all air cargo shipments between China and the U.S. prior to May 2.

Initially, de minimis shipments from China were subject to 120% tariffs after May 2, before the White House lowered the rate to 54% on May 14 as part of a 90-day pause on larger reciprocal tariffs against all Chinese imports. According to data shared with CNBC, Temu's daily active users dipped by 52% between March and May, while Shein's fell by 25%. Both companies have dramatically pulled back on ad spending in the U.S. as well, with Temu's falling by 95% year-over-year in May, and Shein's dropping by 70%.

Starting in 2027, the U.S. will end de minimis exemptions for all countries, as part of President Trump's sweeping "One Big Beautiful Bill Act" that was signed into law on July 4. That being so, roughly 76% of de minimis shipments tracked by Customs and Border Protection in 2024 came from China. The U.S. has also traditionally had one of the highest de minimis thresholds in the world at $800, compared to the EU's €150 ($175) cap, and the U.K.'s ceiling of £135 ($183).