WASHINGTON (dpa-AFX) - President Donald Trump has signed an Executive Order suspending duty-free de minimis treatment for low-value shipments, closing the loophole used to evade tariffs and funnel deadly synthetic opioids as well as other unsafe or below-market products that harm American workers and businesses into the United States.
The White House said that effective August 29, imported goods sent through means other than the international postal network that are valued at or under $800 and that would otherwise qualify for the de minimis exemption will be subject to duties.
Longstanding exemptions under 19 U.S.C. 1321(a)(2)(A) and (B) remain in place, which allows American travelers to still bring back up to $200 in personal items and individuals can continue to receive bona fide gifts valued at $100 or less duty-free.
The Executive Order is aimed at putting an end to the proliferation of shippers worldwide that exploit the de minimis privilege in an effort to evade duties, inspection, and U.S. law.
Packages entering the United States using the duty-free de minimis exemption are subject to less scrutiny than traditional imports; subsequently, posing health, safety, national and economic security risks.
The de minimis exemption has been abused, with shippers sending illicit fentanyl and other synthetic opioids, precursors, and paraphernalia into the United States in reliance on the lower security measures applied to de minimis shipments, killing Americans. Enforcement data consistently shows that de minimis shipments account for the majority of all cargo enforcement actions. In FY24, 90% of all cargo seizures originated as de minimis shipments.
According to the White House, between 2015 and 2024, the volume of de minimis shipments entering the U.S. increased from 134 million shipments to more than 1.36 billion shipments. On average, CBP processes more than 4 million de minimis shipments into the U.S. each day.
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