President Trump signed an executive order on February 7, 2025, temporarily suspending the prohibition against products from China being imported duty- and tax-free under the de minimis exemption for low-value imports. The executive order amends the February 1, 2025, executive order imposing 10% tariffs on all imports of Chinese-origin goods that became effective on February 4, 2025.
This latest executive order follows significant confusion as the February 1, 2025, executive order went into effect, with the US Postal Service suspending, then allowing, shipments of imports into the United States of low-value goods imported under the de minimis exemption provided at Section 321 of the Tariff Act of 1930 (19 USC § 1321). Duty-free entries of goods under the de minimis exemptions have exploded since the threshold to qualify was raised to $800 and the substantial growth of e-commerce, particularly during the pandemic. CBP estimates that the number of imports under the de minimis exemption has increased in the past ten years from 139 million per year to over 1 billion per year.
President’s Trumps amendment provides a temporary reprieve for Chinese-origin low-value goods to continue to qualify for duty-free entry under the de minimis exemption. The order directs that the suspension will be lifted once the Secretary of Commerce notifies the President that “adequate systems are in place to fully and expediently process and collect tariff revenue applicable” to Chinese-origin low-value imports. Meanwhile, the tariffs on Mexico and Canada that are currently suspended until March 4, 2025, contain the same prohibition against low-value imports under the de minimis exemption. And, two notices of proposed rulemaking issued at the end of the Biden Administration (here and here) are soliciting comments for the feasibility of such systems, mirroring the restrictions that President Trump introduced in his executive order.
