China–Latin America freight & customs policy brief

This is a rolling brief, not a one-off news post: the URL stays fixed, and we refresh the entries, the verification date and the modification date shown at the top whenever a change on this list is confirmed against an official source. It exists because a buyer or seller moving cargo between China and Latin America has to track a dozen customs authorities at once, and most changes are only ever announced once, in a gazette or a circular, in the local language.

This first issue covers July–September 2026. Each entry is short on purpose: what changed, who it affects, what to check before your next shipment, and a link to the official notice — or, where we have already written a full explainer, a link to that article instead of repeating it here.

A note before the list: several entries below are personal-parcel rules, not commercial-freight rules. Best Shipping is a commercial freight forwarder — for a single personal parcel or document, a courier is normally faster and cheaper, and each parcel entry below still closes with what the change means for commercial cargo.

Key takeaways

• Mexico closed six separate anti-dumping/countervailing cases against Chinese-origin goods between July and September 2026 — steel, two aluminum-profile products, paperboard, polycarbonate sheet and ammonium sulfate — each with its own fracción and rate, on top of ordinary duty and IVA.
• Argentina and Brazil both moved on postal/courier parcels, not commercial cargo: Argentina raised its personal-import ceiling and flattened the postal duty rate; Brazil’s Congress passed the bill letting the Finance Ministry reset the parcel-tax table, now awaiting presidential sanction.
• The Panama Canal cut daily transit slots again from low watershed rainfall, effective for bookings from September 4, 2026 — plan Q4 transits around reduced capacity, not around last year’s schedule.
• Colombia’s provisional anti-dumping duty on Chinese steel wire expires around September 25, 2026, with the final ruling still pending — importers of annealed or galvanized low-carbon wire should not assume the provisional rate disappears cleanly.
• China’s Mid-Autumn Festival (Sep 25–27) and National Day (Oct 1–7) fall inside three weeks of each other this year, which compresses the usual pre-holiday booking rush into one long window.

What changed, by country

Mexico

Between July 8 and September 4, 2026, Mexico’s Secretaría de Economía closed six separate anti-dumping/countervailing cases against Chinese-origin steel, aluminum profiles, paperboard, polycarbonate sheet and ammonium sulfate — full fracciones, rates and the exemption route are in Mexico’s September 2026 anti-dumping rulings on Chinese imports.

Argentina

Decreto 604/2026 (published July 17, 2026) folded Argentina’s postal-import duty into a single flat rate and lifted the FOB value cap on commercial postal exports. RG 5884/2026 (dated July 29, published July 30, 2026) replaced ARCA’s 2018-era postal procedure, equalizing personal postal imports with the PSP/Courier regime and raising the door-to-door ceiling to USD 3,000 FOB, up to three units of the same item, via Correo Argentino. RG 5883/2026 (July 29, 2026) separately removed the FOB limit on courier exports. All three target non-commercial, personal-use parcels — commercial cargo still moves through the standard import regime, and structuring a bulk purchase as a string of “personal” parcels to use this ceiling is a compliance risk, not a shortcut. Decreto 604/2026 · RG 5884/2026 · Gobierno: importación por correo

Brazil

MPV 1357/2026 — publicly nicknamed the “taxa das blusinhas” — was approved by Congress on September 3–4, 2026 as a Projeto de Lei de Conversão and is now with the presidency, with a sanction-or-veto window running to September 25, 2026. It would let the Finance Ministry reset the import-tax table for postal parcels rather than leaving today’s fixed brackets (0% up to USD 50; 60% with a USD 30 discount from USD 50.01–3,000 for Remessa Conforme–certified sellers) in statute. Separately, Brazil continues phasing out the legacy DI (Declaração de Importação) in favor of mandatory DUIMP registration under the Novo Processo de Importação — relevant to any commercial importer, not just parcels. MPV 1357/2026 tramitação · Receita Federal parcel-tax table · DI→DUIMP shutdown schedule

Colombia

Ley 2586 de 2026 (Diario Oficial 53.527, June 19, 2026) put a new customs sanctions and seizure regime into force — it predates this quarter but is still shaping enforcement risk through it. Separately, Colombia’s provisional anti-dumping duty on Chinese annealed and galvanized low-carbon steel wire (29.02% and 98.04% ad valorem, imposed by Resolución 214 of May 25, 2026 for four months) expires around September 25, 2026, with the investigation still open and a final resolution still pending as of the ministry’s last update. A proposed “aranceles inteligentes” decree — additional tariff measures framed as protecting domestic production — remains a draft open for public comment; it is not in force. Ley 2586/2026 · Steel-wire investigation status · Draft decrees register

Peru

RS 079-2026/SUNAT amends the general “Importación para el consumo” procedure (DESPA-PG.01) and the cargo-manifest rectification procedure (DESPA-PE.09.02) — most changes took effect the day after publication, but the provisions on partial dispatch and advance-dispatch exceptions take effect September 1, 2026. RS 162-2026/SUNAT, dated August 24, 2026, revises the physical-inspection and sampling procedure (DESPA-PE.00.03), effective August 25, 2026. Neither changes duty rates; both change documentation and inspection mechanics that a broker filing your entry needs to follow. RS 079-2026/SUNAT · RS 162-2026/SUNAT

Panama

The Panama Canal Authority’s Advisory A-29-2026 (August 20, 2026) cuts daily Neopanamax slots to nine and Panamax slots to twenty-five for bookings from September 4, 2026, tightening Panamax further to twenty-three slots for bookings from September 15; two scheduled draft increases (to 14.63m/48.0ft and 14.48m/47.5ft TFW) were also postponed. A separate temporary booking-system adjustment aims to widen slot access during the reduced-capacity period. Outside the canal itself, Panama’s customs authority (ANA) began requiring a formal Declaración de Reexportación from August 10, 2026, initially for Zona Libre de Colón, for foreign goods leaving the country without definitive customs clearance — relevant to anything transiting or re-exporting through Colón. Advisory A-29-2026 · Temporary booking adjustments · Declaración de Reexportación

Costa Rica

Resolución MH-DGA-RES-1205-2026 (Dirección General de Aduanas, July 27, 2026) suspends, through December 31, 2026, the requirement to demonstrate pre-import conformity for goods under tariff heading 9505.10.00.00.10 — “Christmas-party articles with lights, for a nominal voltage of 120V or less.” The suspension covers only notas técnicas 0369 (deadline), 0370 (quantity) and 0387 (weight); the underlying technical regulation itself (RTCR 510:2023, on labeling and specifications) is not suspended, so anyone importing these products into Costa Rica this season still has to meet its labeling and technical requirements — they just do not have to prove that compliance before the goods clear customs. The pre-import conformity requirement resumes automatically on January 1, 2027. MH-DGA-RES-1205-2026

Dominican Republic

From September 15, 2026, the DGA is tightening control over cargo transiting the Dominican Republic toward Haiti: transit operations need at least 24 hours’ advance notice, each company is capped at 20 containers, departures toward Haiti are limited to an 8am–1pm window, and higher-risk operations get additional monitoring. This applies to transit cargo, not to goods imported for consumption in the Dominican Republic itself. DGA notice

Uruguay

Comunicado 26/2026 (dated July 3, effective July 6, 2026) tightens how e-commerce postal parcels are declared: once a postal manifest has been officialized, an operator can no longer change a declared parcel’s shipment type, and any parcel added to an already-officialized manifest must be filed under a distinct “Tipo de envío R.” This is a manifest-mechanics change for consolidators and postal operators, not a new duty or ceiling. Comunicado 26/2026

Bolivia

Bolivia’s Decreto Supremo 5646/2026 cuts the Gravamen Arancelario across the entire tariff schedule, not a list of affected lines. We cover the cut, the customs-value change that comes with it, and what to verify before pricing a shipment in Bolivia’s 2026 import-duty cut.

United States (affects Mexico/Latin America transshipment and US-lane sellers)

Three US actions land on anyone routing cargo through Mexico or Latin America toward the US, or selling direct to US buyers, even though none of them is a China-specific tariff:

• USTR’s Section 301 forced-labor action (July 2026) sets tariffs of 10–12.5% on 60 economies found not to adequately enforce a ban on forced-labor imports. Mexico and Argentina are both on the list, at the lower 10% rate, because each already has or has committed to a qualifying import prohibition. Anyone routing Chinese-origin components with forced-labor supply-chain exposure through those countries before they reach the US should treat this as a live compliance question, not a China-only issue.
• CBP has indefinitely suspended duty-free de minimis treatment for shipments valued at USD 800 or less, following the president’s August 2025 executive order. Practically, all shipments valued at USD 2,500 or less are now subject to applicable duties except genuine gifts valued at USD 100 or less, and CBP is piloting enhanced electronic-entry data requirements for international mail.
• The USMCA joint review met virtually on July 1, 2026, and the United States did not agree to renew the agreement in its current form — USMCA is therefore not renewed, though it remains in force pending resolution or termination, and a further round of US–Mexico talks followed later in July. Anyone pricing a landed-cost model on continued USMCA preference into the US should watch this, not assume it.

USTR Section 301 forced-labor action · CBP low-value shipment processing · USMCA joint review statement

Routes and capacity

• The Red Sea situation has no direct effect on China–Latin America sailings. Those lanes already run trans-Pacific or via the Cape of Good Hope, not through the Suez corridor — it only matters here if your routing also touches a Europe- or Middle East-bound leg.
• Panama Canal capacity tightens in two steps, with no announced end date. Slot cuts apply from September 4, 2026 and tighten further from September 15 — see the Panama entry above for the current counts and draft limits, and confirm your specific booking period’s allocation directly with your carrier or forwarder rather than assuming last quarter’s numbers still apply.

China-side calendar

China’s Mid-Autumn Festival (September 25–27) and National Day / Golden Week (October 1–7, 2026) fall inside the same three-week span this year — see our full Mid-Autumn and National Day shipping calendar for the make-up workdays and a backward-planning schedule.

How to use this brief

• Check whether your HS code or fracción/subpartida appears on any ruling above — Mexico’s six 2026 rulings or Colombia’s steel-wire case — before you price a shipment in the affected product families.
• Do not assume a personal-parcel ceiling (Argentina, Brazil, Uruguay) covers a commercial purchase; commercial cargo keeps going through the standard import regime regardless of value.
• If cargo transits the Dominican Republic toward Haiti or Panama’s Colón Free Zone, confirm the new transit-declaration and advance-notice requirements with your forwarder before departure.
• If you are booking a Panama Canal transit for Q4, ask for the current slot allocation and draft limit for your specific booking period rather than assuming standing capacity.
• If your landed-cost model for US-bound cargo assumes continued USMCA preference or de minimis treatment, re-check both against the current US rules above.
• Book China-origin freight early for Q4: the Mid-Autumn/National Day closures and reduced Panama Canal capacity land in the same window this year.
• Confirm your importer-of-record status and any product-specific registration before booking — nothing in this brief changes that baseline requirement.
• Treat every rate, threshold and date above as a starting point: verify the live text at the linked official source before you commit a price or a booking.

Frequently asked questions

Is this brief legal, tax or customs advice? No. It is planning information summarizing official notices we have read ourselves. Confirm the exact text with the official source linked in each entry, and with a licensed customs broker or counsel, before pricing or booking a shipment.

Does Best Shipping clear customs directly under any of these rules? No. Customs clearance runs through the customs brokers we work with; Best Shipping is not itself a licensed customs broker or importer of record. Where a shipment needs a compliant import structure, we help arrange it and confirm the eligible importer of record, scope and feasibility per shipment on WhatsApp.

How often is this brief updated? On a rolling basis, at the same URL. We refresh the entries, the verification date and the modification date shown at the top when a change on this list is confirmed against its official source — we do not bump the date without a real change.

My product or country isn’t listed here — does that mean nothing changed? No. This brief only covers the changes we have verified against an official source for this window. Message us on WhatsApp with your product, HS code and lane, and we will help you check what applies.

If you want help checking whether any of the above applies to a specific shipment, message us on WhatsApp with your product, HS code or fracción, and the countries involved, and we will help you confirm what to check before you book.

Changelog

2026-09-05 — first issue, covering July–September 2026.