Posted on 04/03/2025 11:08:55 AM PDT by E. Pluribus Unum
The de minimis loophole comes from back in the 1930s. The idea back then was, say you went on a vacation to Paris, you shouldn’t have to file customs paperwork or pay taxes if you decided to ship some little Eiffel Tower statues to your friends back home.
Congress in 2015 then raised the de minimis threshold from $200 to $800. However, the e-commerce world exploded, and Chinese companies began using the de minimis loophole to ship cheap goods (ex. Temu and Shein) into the USA direct to consumers without paying any customs duty.
Yesterday as part of the global trade reset and tariff structure, President Trump revoked authorization for Chinese goods to transfer to the USA using the de minimis rule. The de minimis exemption has been cancelled for all products coming out of China. The rule change only targets China and Chinese shippers. No one else.
The minimum duty is $25, and the tariff rate is 30% for all products mailed from China into the USA that previously qualified under the de minimis rule.
Beyond tariffs or sector specific countervailing duties, the removal of China to use the $800 de minimis exemption will destroy their economy. There is no way for manufacturers in China, marketed into the USA, to be able to survive if they are forced to collect and organize the requirements for U.S. custom and import duties. They will simply dissolve.
FACT SHEET – […] “Following the Secretary of Commerce’s notification that adequate systems are in place to collect tariff revenue, President Trump is ending duty-free de minimis treatment for covered goods from the People’s Republic of China (PRC) and Hong Kong starting May 2, 2025 at 12:01 a.m. EDT.
Imported goods sent through means other than the international postal network that are valued at or under $800 and that would otherwise qualify for the de minimis exemption will be subject to all applicable duties, which shall be paid in accordance with applicable entry and payment procedures.
All relevant postal items containing goods that are sent through the international postal network that are valued at or under $800 and that would otherwise qualify for the de minimis exemption are subject to a duty rate of either 30% of their value or $25 per item (increasing to $50 per item after June 1, 2025). This is in lieu of any other duties, including those imposed by prior Orders.
Carriers transporting these postal items must report shipment details to U.S. Customs and Border Protection (CBP), maintain an international carrier bond to ensure duty payment, and remit duties to CBP on a set schedule.
CBP may require formal entry for any postal package instead of the specified duties.
The Secretary of Commerce will submit a report within 90 days assessing the Order’s impact and considering whether to extend these rules to packages from Macau.” (more)
Good news.
There’s always a loophole.
I can live without temu but it is a little wrong rubbing when the bearing puller on Amazon is twice the cost of one on temu.
I get lots of cheap electronics parts from AliExpress, that may get more expensive...
I have a shipment of stuff on the way now, I hope it gets here and is not held up somehow.
I also get stuff from a parts supplier in Thailand, not sure how this might interfere with that...
But I will get by OK.....
I like to stop
at the Duty-Free Shop
Freaking AWESOME!!!!!
WTG, Mr. President!
I will gladly pay more or do without things if it means weakening the Chinese economy.
Goodbye Temu.
For me it’s cheap electronic components and PC boards from China. But they also sell total crap that doesn’t work, fakes parts, counterfeit parts that have been re-labelled, and at best the resellers either outright lie or just repeat lies from other sellers when it comes to specs and performance. Quality control is non-existent and most sellers have no idea what their products do. So I can live with higher prices if it encourages US-based resellers to buy in bulk and sell at attractive prices with the kind of support we expect. The only thing most Chinese ebay sellers to well is issue refunds, but that’s only to protect their seller’s status and not get booted.
Better yet, weakening the Chinese and their global take-over.
Interesting. I had not heard of the de minimus rule until a couple of weeks ago. I ordered a woodworking tool from a Canadian company wondering about tariff effects. Their website explained de minimus and that there would be no tariff on items less than $800.
I’ve seen so many complaints about Temu and many smaller Chinese vendors on Amazon that I’ve avoided buying from them.
Hopefully we can get rid of epaket and postal union regs or whatever it is that makes shipping from China to USA cheaper than shipping within USA.
All the Chinese made motherboards has backdoors for Chinese government to access your computer, is the cheaper price really worth that?
CCP = Cheap Crappy Products.
if it’s good new then expecting:
- dozens of high priced law-firms filing suits on behalf of (insert unmentioned grieving party)
- half a dozen small judges declaring this as unconstitutional.
- Lefty legacy media calling the action “unconscionable”, unfair, hurting poor and minorities, and children.
- Stocks to tank temporarily as panic ensues, then rises as purchases of cheap, drug-laden, slave-made carp from half-way around the world are replaced by cheap, domestic made carp. But it’s American carp.
This should have been done years ago.
I can’t believe it took so long and needed Trump to do this. It shows how dysfunctional and bloated American Federal Government is.
Its absolutely clear for at least 10 years that these “Chinese Amazons” were using this de minimus loophole to ship $billions of items via parcel, which would have otherwise had to pay normal duties if shipped/declared as normal bulk goods shipments.
I have actually had pretty good luck with temu and found that they are the very same items sold by amazon fro twice the price. I confess temu has been an outlet for wasteful spending on some things and a lark from time-to-time that I figured would not last.
All true and what is too good to be true usually isn’t and what looks suspicious usually is.
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