WASHINGTON – The Department of Homeland Security’s workforce, particularly U.S. Customs and Border Protection (CBP), is on the front lines of the Biden-Harris Administration’s new executive actions, announced today, to protect American consumers, workers, retailers, importers, and manufacturers by tackling the exponential growth of small packages claiming the de minimis exemption. CBP plays a vital role in implementing these Executive Actions by targeting and blocking shipments that violate U.S. laws as they arrive in airports, express consignment facilities, international mail facilities, and ports of entry across the country. CBP enforces trade laws to protect consumers, eradicate forced labor from supply chains and protect U.S. workers and businesses from unfair competition, ensure national economic security, and prevent dangerous and illicit products, including illicit opioids like fentanyl, from entering the United States.
The Executive Actions announced today are designed to combat a significant increase of shipments in recent years that claim the de minimis exemption, particularly from Chinese e-commerce platforms, by strengthening information collection requirements to improve accountability and enforcement, prevent the misuse of the exemption for allowing high-volume shipments of de minimis packages, and prevent shippers from circumventing safety standards. De minimis shipments, also referred to as Section 321 low-value shipments, refer to goods that are exempt from duty and tax under 19 U.S.C. § 1321(a)(2)(C) and 19 C.F.R. § 10.151. The de minimis exemption allows CBP to pass free of duty and tax, merchandise imported by one person on one day that has an aggregate fair retail value in the country of shipments of $800 or less. Every day CBP processes nearly four million de minimis shipments entering the United States. Although these packages have a low value, they may pose the same potential health, consumer safety, and economic security risks as larger and more traditional containerized shipments. As of July 30, 2024, 89 percent of all seizures in the cargo environment this fiscal year originated as de minimis shipments, including 97 percent of narcotics seizures, and 72 percent of health and safety seizures of prohibited items.
“The actions announced today by the Biden-Harris Administration will help the Department keep pace with global electronic commerce and improve our ability to protect communities from fentanyl and its precursor chemicals,” said Secretary of Homeland Security Alejandro N. Mayorkas. “Our Administration remains ready and eager to work with Congress to pass badly-needed, long-overdue comprehensive de minimis reform legislation and ensure border officials have the resources and tools they need to track and target the millions of small-dollar shipments that enter our country every day.”
“Today’s actions will give us strong tools to ensure that imported goods comply with U.S. laws that serve to protect Americans,” said Robert Silvers, DHS Under Secretary for Policy and Chair of the federal Forced Labor Enforcement Task Force. “We will leave no stone unturned in keeping fentanyl out of this country. We will not tolerate forced labor in our supply chains. With regulatory and statutory updates to modernize its enforcement mechanisms, CBP will have the instruments it needs to keep illicit goods out of our markets, while facilitating the legitimate trade that is the lifeblood of our economy.”
“CBP employs a multilayered enforcement strategy, but the fact remains we are operating under the constraints of outdated laws passed more than 30 years ago, with significant resource and enforcement limitations in a heightened threat environment,” said CBP Senior Official Performing the Duties of the Commissioner, Troy Miller. “These executive actions are a critical first step in modernizing our enforcement mechanisms in the small package environment so we can better protect the health and safety of Americans. However, we still need to modernize and enhance our trade laws so that CBP can implement a more strenuous enforcement architecture to further crack down on the individuals and networks attempting to abuse the de minimis environment.”
The new Executive Actions targeting the abuse of the de minimis exception and protecting U.S. consumers, workers and businesses include:
These Executive Actions will be carried out through the federal regulatory process in the coming weeks and months. For the full White House fact sheet, visit: FACT SHEET: Biden-Harris Administration Announces New Actions to Protect American Consumers, Workers, and Businesses by Cracking Down on De Minimis Shipments with Unsafe, Unfairly Traded Products
The Administration is also ready to work with Congress to pass comprehensive de minimis reform legislation by the end of the year, which is urgently needed even as these regulatory processes move forward. Key reforms Congress should advance include:
DHS is continuing to build on recent successes to strengthen enforcement of U.S. textile and apparel trade laws to support U.S. textile manufacturers and workers, and continues to prioritize eliminating forced labor from U.S. supply chains, including through the enforcement of the Uyghur Forced Labor Prevention Act (UFLPA). In April, DHS outlined an enhanced strategy to combat illicit trade and level the playing field for the American textile industry, led by CBP and Homeland Security Investigations (HSI). In Fiscal Year 2024 through September 1, CBP has:
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