New US legislation to fix import loophole, boost oversight unveiled

“The number of packages we receive in the United States has skyrocketed to more than two million daily packages—a number that will only climb in the coming years. As long as foreign companies that sell their goods in America are splitting up their shipments to evade tariffs and oversight, American businesses will continue to be put at a competitive disadvantage cost-wise,” said Blumenauer in a statement.

“This loophole also makes it easier for people to import illegal goods and harmful products, because there is virtually no way to tell whether these packages contain products made through forced labour, intellectual property theft, or are otherwise dangerous,” he said.

The legislation would prohibit goods from countries that are both non-market economies and on the US Trade Representative’s (USTR) watch list from using de minimis; prohibit goods subject to enforcement actions from using de minimis; and require the Customs and Border Protection (CBP) to collect more information on all de minimis shipments and prohibits use by bad actors.

Fibre2Fashion News Desk (DS)