The mining company CleanSpark recently revealed that the U.S. Customs and Border Protection (CBP) has continuously sent letters to it since May 27, asserting that the Bitcoin mining machines imported by CleanSpark from April to June 2024 come from China, thus requiring CleanSpark to pay high import tariffs on Chinese origin. (Background: Trump announced 100% semiconductor tariffs, TSMC invests $200 billion to 'avoid disaster' with a 5% opening increase) (Additional Background: Trump announced an 'important statement' at 12:00 AM on 8/7, are semiconductor tariffs coming?) CleanSpark disclosed in its Q2 2025 financial report that U.S. Customs and Border Protection (CBP) has continuously sent letters to it since May 27, asserting that the Bitcoin mining machines imported by CleanSpark from April to June 2024 come from China, thus requiring CleanSpark to pay high import tariffs on Chinese origin. A payment of $185 million is required. If CBP's accusations are substantiated and tariffs are levied on all mining machines imported by CleanSpark since April 2024, CleanSpark estimates it will incur a cost of $185 million, not including statutory interest. However, facing this exorbitant bill, CleanSpark firmly denies CBP's accusations. The company states that its import documents and supplier statements clearly show that these mining machines do not originate from China and fully comply with the terms of the purchase agreement. CleanSpark emphasized in its financial report: 'We believe CBP's accusation that the imported mining machines come from China is unfounded, and the company will do everything possible to defend its rights.' Currently, CleanSpark has not prepared funds in advance for this potential expense, as they believe the likelihood of having to pay this fee is low. CleanSpark is not an isolated case. In fact, CleanSpark is not the only mining company targeted by CBP. Another publicly listed miner, IREN, also disclosed earlier this year that CBP similarly accused it of importing mining machines from China between April 2024 and February 2025, involving a tariff dispute of up to $100 million. However, IREN also denies the accusations and actively defends against the action notice issued by CBP. The cases of CleanSpark and IREN demonstrate that U.S. customs authorities are conducting large-scale reviews of the origin of cryptocurrency mining equipment, undoubtedly significantly influenced by the U.S.-China trade war, and also bringing supply chain issues in the cryptocurrency mining industry back to the forefront due to tariffs. In the future, as the U.S. strengthens its regulation of imported goods, more mining companies may face similar challenges, especially since the largest manufacturers of mining machines are still in China.

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