Market Wire

Duty and Freight Add 26.0% to Batteries and Storage Cells From China

China shipped $12.2 billion of batteries and storage cells to U.S. buyers in 2025. USITC reported an effective calculated-duty rate of 24.0%, while measured freight added 2.0% of customs value — an additive 26.0%…

China shipped $12.2 billion of batteries and storage cells to U.S. buyers in 2025. USITC reported an effective calculated-duty rate of 24.0%, while measured freight added 2.0% of customs value — an additive 26.0% burden before domestic logistics. The CNY moved 0.3% against the buyer over the last two weeks of the FX window. No country-specific unit value is available for this lane, so it is not ranked by landed unit cost.

The alternatives, same arithmetic: Mexico at 2.1% uplift, Canada at 3.7% uplift, Hungary at 9.5% uplift. At least one listed lane has a lower duty-and-freight burden; total-cost ranking still requires comparable country-specific unit values.

The effective calculated-duty rate is USITC's reported calculated duty divided by the customs value covered by those duty observations for 2025; it is not a verified cash-payment amount or proof of any particular exclusion, quota, or trade-program claim. Freight is the lane's reported import-charges share of customs value. Reference data, not a customs quote.

Published 2026-09-22.