Pressure is Growing to Lower the $800 de Minimis Threshold

In this video from The Franklin Partnership, contributing author Omar Nashashibi explains the de minimis threshold and how any possible changes could impact importers and domestic manufacturers of merchandise valued at $800 or less.

Congress has held multiple hearings this year that included discussion about lowering the current $800 de minimis threshold for duty-free imports of merchandise. This comes as lawmakers are investigating imports from China under de minimis, and members of the public are raising awareness over illicit drugs and counterfeit goods entering the US.

In February 2015, then President Obama signed the Trade Facilitation and Trae Enforcement Act into law, raising the definition of a de minimis shipment of imported merchandise from $200 or less to $800 or less. (https://www.cbp.gov/newsroom/national-media-release/de-minimis-value-increases-800)

According to the U.S. Customs and Border Protection, total value of de minimis goods entering the U.S. between 2018 and 2021 was $192 billion. (https://www.cbp.gov/sites/default/files/assets/documents/2022-Oct/FY2018-2021_De%20Minimis%20Statistics%20update.pdf)

De minimis shipments entering the U.S. under Section 321 are imported duty free, except for merchandise subject to antidumping and countervailing duties, quotas, or special taxation such as alcohol. (https://www.cbp.gov/trade/basic-import-export/e-commerce/faqs)

Several of the congressional committee hearings on the de minimis exemption focused on enforcement at the Department of Homeland Security, screening for forced labor products, and how some importers from China break up shipments to keep their value below the $800 daily limit to enter the U.S. tax or duty free. (https://selectcommitteeontheccp.house.gov/sites/evo-subsites/selectcommitteeontheccp.house.gov/files/evo-media-document/6.28.2023-letter-to-usps-china-select-oversight-cmte.pdf)

Some leading lawmakers on Capitol Hill do believe that legislation lowering the de minimis threshold is possible in this Congress.

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