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President Donald Trump temporarily interrupted measures to close a price exemption from low-cost expeditions of China while managers determine how to tax the millions of packages arriving in the United States every day.
In an amendment to an executive decree signed on Wednesday and published on Friday, the White House said that the so -called minimis arrangement – which exempts shipping less than $ 800 of rigorous tariffs and customs checks – would remain in place until “The appropriate systems are in place to treat and follow the pricing income fully and quickly”.
Trump had canceled the exemption in an executive decree last week which imposed an additional 10% rate on goods from China, which, according to the White House, aimed to punish Beijing for having allowed the Fenanyl Opioid Flux in the United States. The other rates remain in force.
China retaliated a few days later, announcing tariffs of 10 to 15% on American liquefied natural gas, coal, crude oil and agricultural equipment, which should take effect from Monday.
Trump said on Tuesday that he was “without haste” to speak to his Chinese counterpart.
The provision of Minmimis has been designed to help households and small businesses to buy low -cost items abroad without subjecting them to expensive customs checks. In recent years, there has been a boon for e -commerce platforms that send consumers directly, such as Shein and Temu in China.
But if the analysts have warned that the decision to cancel the exemption, which came into force a few days after its announcement, would oblige customs officials to apply the most complicated official entry process to each package arriving from China .
Customs and the protection of American borders estimate that it treats more than 4 million low value shipments per day. A report by the restricted committee of the congress in 2023 estimated that around 30% of these packages came from Temu and Shein.
This decision would also make parcels which would formerly qualify for the subject of minimis not only at the additional 10% tariff but also to existing commercial levies, according to experts.
The American postal service suspended Tuesday the reception of China’s packages, including Hong Kong, before going back a day later to accept expeditions. The USPS said that it worked with customs officials to establish an “effective collection mechanism”, because the rapid implementation of the directive increased workloads for customs managers and stifled disorders for exporters and carriers of goods.
Chinese electronic commerce sellers also said this week that certain logistics groups billed them with costs to cover the withdrawals and other customs costs.
US officials have long had the rules of minimis in sight. The national retailers who buy articles abroad in bulk have complained that the exemption gave Chinese commerce groups an unjust cost advantage.
The administration of former American president Joe Biden had proposed measures to tighten the rules concerning the minimis regime.
A Nomura analyst report, the Japanese investment bank, estimated that China has sent a value of $ 46 billion in the United States under minimis rules in 2024, and that the abolition of exemptions could eliminate 0.2 percentage points on Chinese economic growth in 2025.
