Semiconductors in 2025New market trends

Against the backdrop of the global semiconductor industry’s continued shift to Asia,China’s semiconductor equipment imports have maintained an average annual growth rate of 12%.According to the latest data from the General Administration of Customs,the import volume of lithography machines increased by 23% year-on-year in the first quarter of 2025,and the clearance time requirement for inspection equipment has been shortened to within 72 hours.

Core Customs Clearance Process Breakdown

The special regulatory requirements involved in the import of semiconductor equipment make its customs clearance complexity far exceed that of ordinary industrial equipment:

• Step1:TechnicalParameterVerification
  • Submittheequipmenttechnicalwhitepaper(includingnanometer-levelprecisionparameters).
  • Thedeclaredpowerconsumptionmustbeconsistentwiththeenergyefficiencylabel.
• Step 2: Precise Classification of HS Codes
  • Thelithographymachinefallsunder8486.2030andrequiresaresolutioncertificate.
  • Waferinspectionequipmentisapplicabletoadditionalclause9011.8000.
• Step 3: License Processing
  • Theequipmentlistedinthe"CatalogofKeyUsedMechanicalandElectricalProductsforImport"requiresapprovaldocumentsfromtheMinistryofIndustryandInformationTechnology.
  • Equipmentforprocessesbelow10nmmustapplyfora"Dual-UseItemsLicense."

Three major changes in tariff policy in 2025

• Theprovisionalimporttariffrateforsemiconductormanufacturingequipmenthasbeenreducedfrom5%to3%.
• TheimportVATonindividualcomponentsiseligiblefora50%immediaterefunduponpayment.
• ThetariffpreferencesforKoreanequipmentunderthefreetradeagreementhavebeenexpandedtocover92tarifflines.

Risk Warning of Typical Cases

A certain enterprise imported a used etching machine without conductingEnergy Efficiency Re-inspectionLate declaration fees of 380,000 yuan were incurred.Key areas for attention include:

• Theoldequipmentmustprovidetheoriginalmanufacturer’senergyconsumptiontestreport.
• ThecontrolsystemversionmustcomplywithCCCcertificationrequirements.
• Componentssuchasvacuumpumpsmustbeseparatelydeclaredforpressurevesselregistration.

Criteria for Selecting Professional Agency Service Providers

• Qualificationverification:Mustpossessthequalificationtoactasanagentfortheautomaticimportlicenseofelectromechanicalproducts.
• Hands-onexperience:Therehavebeennofewerthan50casesofsemiconductorequipmentcustomsclearanceinthepastthreeyears.
• Themainstreamchargingmodelsintheindustryin2025include:EstablishadedicatedcustomsclearancechannelforAEOcertification
• ServiceNetwork:Dedicatedinspectionareasforsemiconductorequipmentaresetupatmajorports.
• ComplianceSystem:EquippedwiththeEICCGlobalTradeComplianceManagementSystem

Analysis of Common Declaration Errors

According to the customs inspection data for 2025,36% of the declaration issues focused on the following aspects:

• Confusingtheintendeduseofequipment(differentregulatoryconditionsapplyforR&D/production)
• Undeclaredrandomsoftware(requiresseparateconfirmationofcopyrightregistration)
• Ignoretheenvironmentalcertificationoftherefrigerantinthetemperaturecontrolsystem(relatedtotheMontrealConvention).