09/13/2024 | Press release | Distributed by Public on 09/13/2024 05:06
Administration Also Urges Congressional Action on De Minimis Reform
Today, the Biden-Harris Administration is taking new actions to enforce our laws and protect American consumers, workers, and businesses by addressing the significant increased abuse of the de minimis exemption, in particular China-founded e-commerce platforms, and strengthening efforts to target and block shipments that violate U.S. laws.
Over the last ten years, the number of shipments entering the United States claiming the de minimis exemption has increased significantly, from approximately 140 million a year to over one billion a year. This exponential increase in de minimis shipments makes it more challenging to enforce U.S. trade laws, health and safety requirements, intellectual property rights, consumer protection rules, and to block illicit synthetic drugs such as fentanyl and synthetic drug raw materials and machinery from entering the country.
The majority of shipments entering the United States claiming the de minimis exemption originate from several China-founded e-commerce platforms, putting American consumers at risk, undercutting American workers and businesses, and resulting in the importation of huge volumes of low-value products such as textiles and apparel into the U.S. market duty-free. A shipment is eligible for the de minimis exemption if the aggregate fair retail value of the articles imported is $800 or less. De minimis shipments enter the United States with less information than other imports and are not subject to duties and taxes.
The growing volume of de minimis shipments makes it increasingly difficult to target and block illegal or unsafe shipments. Foreign corporate giants who exploit the de minimis exemption do so for a variety of reasons. Some companies exploit the de minimis to conceal shipments of illegal and dangerous products and avoid compliance with U.S. health and safety and consumer protection laws. Other foreign entities use it to circumvent U.S. trade enforcement actions intended to level the playing field for American workers, retailers, and manufacturers.
With today's announcement, the Administration is using executive authority to stop the abuse of the de minimis exemption. The Administration also calls on Congress to pass legislation this year to reform the de minimis exemption comprehensively to further protect American consumers, workers, and businesses.
Administration Action Intended to Reduce De Minimis Import Volumes
New Rulemaking to Reduce De Minimis Volume and Strengthen Trade Enforcement: The Administration 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.
Administration Action to Protect U.S. Consumers, Workers, and Businesses
New Rulemaking to Improve Accountability and Enforcement in De Minimis Shipments: The Administration intends to issue a Notice of Proposed Rulemaking regarding the entry of low-value shipments that will propose to strengthen information collection requirements to promote greater visibility into de minimis shipments.
Final Rule to Prevent De Minimis Shipments from Circumventing Safety Standards: Consumer Product Safety Commission (CPSC) staff intend to propose a final rule requiring importers of consumer products to file Certificates of Compliance (CoC) electronically with CBP and CPSC at the time of entry, including for de minimis shipments.
Comprehensive Legislative Reforms on De Minimis Needed to Protect American Consumers, Workers, and Businesses
The Administration is pursuing significant regulatory action to address the surge in de minimis imports that put American consumers, workers, retailers, and manufacturers at risk. But further comprehensive de minimis reforms are needed, and these reforms require congressional action. The Administration stands ready to work with Congress to pass comprehensive de minimis reform legislation by the end of the year. Key reforms Congress should advance include:
Administration Action to Protect American Textile and Apparel Manufacturers
American textile and apparel producers play a critical role in the U.S. defense industrial base and support hundreds of thousands of direct and indirect jobs in the United States. U.S. textile and apparel manufacturers are facing unfair competition from several China-founded e-commerce giants, as these companies take advantage of the de minimis exemption to ship huge volumes of textile and apparel products to American consumers. In addition to the de minimis reforms highlighted above, the Administration is exploring other decisive actions to support U.S. textile and apparel manufacturers and their workers.
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