Today, the Biden-Harris administration in the United States (US) announced new actions to strengthen efforts to target and block shipments that violate US laws and which exploit the US de minimis exemption. Using its executive authority, the Administration stated that it intends to issue a Notice of Proposed Rulemaking that would exclude from the de minimis exemption all shipments containing products covered by tariffs imposed under Sections 201 or 301 of the Trade Act of 1974, or Section 232 of the Trade Expansion Act of 1962.
According to the announcement, Section 301 tariffs currently cover approximately 40% of US imports, including 70% of textile and apparel imports from China. The announcement states that some e-commerce platforms and other foreign sellers circumvent these tariffs by shipping items from China to the US claiming the de minimis exemption. If the proposed rule is finalized, these goods would no longer be eligible for the de minimis exemption. The Administration said that it is also exploring other way to protect American textile and apparel manufacturers from unfair competition from several China-funded e-commerce giants that are alleged to be exploiting the exemption.
In addition, the Administration announced its intent to issue a Notice of Proposed Rulemaking to strengthen information collection requirements for de minimis shipments by requiring the submission of the 10-digit tariff classification number for the goods and the identity of the person claiming the de minimis exemption. The Administration also announced that the Consumer Product Safety Commission (CPSC) intends to propose a final rule that would require importers of consumer products to file Certificates of Compliance electronically with US Customs and Border Protection and CPSC at the time of entry, including for de minimis shipments. These additional measures are intended to strengthen the government’s ability to target and block unsafe products from entering the US market, as well as those that are abusing the de minimis exemption.