US targets China-founded e-commerce platforms amid de minimis shipments

ISTANBUL

The US administration announced Friday it is taking steps to target China-founded e-commerce platforms amid de minimis shipments.

"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," the White House said in a statement.

"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," it added.

The White House said the majority of shipments entering the US 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 US market duty-free.

The US Customs and Border Protection's de minimis rule allows goods with an aggregate fair retail value of $800 or less per shipment to enter the US duty-free, speeding up the clearance of low-value imports and boosting trade efficiency.

"The growing volume of de minimis shipments makes it increasingly difficult to target and block illegal or unsafe shipments," said the White House.

The Biden administration called on Congress to pass legislation this year to reform the de minimis exemption comprehensively to further protect American consumers, workers, and businesses, it added.

The administration's regulatory action proposes to require specific additional data for de minimis shipments to improve targeting of de minimis shipments and facilitate expedited clearance of lawful de minimis shipments.

It also aims to clarify who is eligible for the administrative exemption, and requires filers to identify the person on whose behalf the exemption is being claimed.

"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," Commerce Secretary Gina Raimondo said in a separate statement.

She said the new actions are "standing up for American consumers and cracking down on Chinese companies’ efforts to undercut American workers and businesses."

"With these new actions, the Biden-Harris Administration is standing up for American consumers and cracking down on Chinese companies’ efforts to undercut American workers and businesses," she said. "I’m proud of the Commerce Department’s work with interagency partners to develop these new proposed rules that would promote consumer safety, prevent unfair trade practices, and protect American workers and industries."