Homeland Security Secretary Alejandro Mayorkas indicated recently that his agency is working to advance legislation that would lower the de minimis entry level, which he said is making it difficult for DHS to enforce laws prohibiting imports of goods made with forced labor and other restricted items.
Section 321 of the Tariff Act of 1930 allows for the informal entry of articles that have a retail value of $800 or less and are imported by one person in one day. These de minimis shipments are free of duty and taxes and are subject to expedited clearance processing. A November 2023 report from the International Trade Commission found that Section 321 shipments account for a substantial share of all U.S. e-commerce imports by quantity and that China is the leading source of de minimis imports by a large margin.
At a July 9 event at the Center for Strategic and International Studies, Mayorkas said that one of DHS’s challenges with enforcing the Uyghur Forced Labor Prevention Act is the “exploitation” of the de minimis exception, which “is built on a false premise that low value means low risk.” “If anyone here would join us at a facility at one of the airports or one of the mail facilities and watch the assembly line of packages in our screening and see what we discover, it is stunning,” he said, referring to the four million packages entered into the U.S. each day under this exception. “It is stunning from a point of view of forced labor … narcotics, controlled substances … ghost guns, and all sorts of contraband.”
Mayorkas said DHS is “working within our powers to enhance our regulatory authorities” over de minimis entries. For example, an enhanced strategy to combat illicit trade in textile and apparel products announced in April includes improved screening of de minimis entries for textile, UFLPA, and other violations, including expanded targeting, laboratory and isotopic testing, and focused enforcement operations. In addition, U.S. Customs and Border Protection has modified the so-called entry type 86 test, which is designed to expedite the entry of low-value shipments, in response to enforcement challenges the agency has encountered. More recently CBP suspended multiple companies from that test after determining that their entries posed an unacceptable compliance risk.
However, Mayorkas added, DHS is also “hoping to receive a legislative fix to give us greater authorities” over de minimis entries, and there have been efforts within Congress in that direction. In April the House Ways and Means Committee approved legislation that would prohibit the use of de minimis entry for imports subject to antidumping or countervailing duties and/or Section 301, Section 232, or Section 201 tariffs after rejecting a proposal to exclude all imports from China. In February two senators expressed support for excluding goods subject to partner government agency import notification requirements, Section 232 and 301 tariffs, and UFLPA import restrictions, as well as products in sectors designated as priority trade issues. And House Speaker Mike Johnson, R-La., has said he is working to have the House pass by the end of this year a package of China-related legislation that, among other things, would revoke the ability of imports from China subject to Section 301 tariffs to take advantage of de minimis entry procedures.
For more information on the possibility and potential impact of de minimis entry changes on your business, please contact Nicole Bivens Collinson at (202) 730-4956 or via email.
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