U.S. Secretary of Commerce Gina M. Raimondo released the following statement after the Biden-Harris Administration announced actions to address the significantly increased use of the de minimis exemption, in particular from Chinese e-commerce platforms, and to protect American consumers, workers, retailers, importers, and manufacturers.

“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 Secretary Raimondo. “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. 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.”

A shipment is generally eligible for the de minimis exemption if the aggregate fair retail value of the articles imported is $800 or less. De minimis shipments enter the United States with less information than other imports and are not subject to tariffs. Over the last ten years, the number of shipments entering the United States under the de minimis exemption has increased significantly from approximately 140 million a year to over one billion a year, with nearly four million entering the United States every day in 2023. This exponential increase in de minimis shipments makes it more challenging to enforce U.S. trade laws, health and safety requirements, intellectual property rights, and consumer protection rules, and to block illicit synthetic drugs such as fentanyl and synthetic drug raw materials and machinery from entering the country.