United States President Joe Biden administration said a few days ago that it was moving to curb low-value shipments entering the U.S. duty-free under the US$ 800 "de minimis" threshold that has been exploited by Chinese e-commerce firms such as Shein and PDD Holdings' Temu.
White House officials said they will propose a new rule to deny the exemption to packages that contain low-value goods subject to Section 301 tariffs on Chinese goods, Section 232 tariffs on steel and aluminum products and Section 201 on "safeguard" tariffs on products including solar products and washing machines.
The proposed trade rule includes the need for new information disclosure for small packages to help U.S. Customs and Border Protection agents to better identify contents for illicit or unsafe products such as precursor chemicals that can be made into the deadly opioid fentanyl.
"American workers and businesses can outcompete anyone on a level playing field, but for too long Chinese e-commerce platforms have skirted tariffs by abusing the de minimis exemption," said U.S. Secretary of Commerce Gina Raimondo.
The announcement comes two days after Democratic lawmakers urged President Joe Biden to use executive powers to close the de minimis provision, calling it a "loophole" that allowed Chinese imports to evade tariffs and ship narcotics without customs inspection.
The exemption has been part of the U.S. trade law since 1930 to accommodate individual travelers, but the threshold was raised to US$ 800 from US$ 200 in 2015 to help small businesses, including sellers on e-commerce platforms such as eBay.
Packages under the limit enter duty-free and with less customs scrutiny as long as they are addressed to individuals' residences.
The volume of packages under the US$ 800 threshold has exploded to over one billion last year from around 140 million a decade ago, White House officials said, attributing most of the growth to Chinese e-commerce firms.