No De Minimis Entry for Imports Subject to Special Trade Measures Under CBP Proposal
Source
American Shipper
Post Date
01/22/2025
U.S. Customs and Border Protection is proposing to am its regulations to (1) exempt imported goods subject to Section 301, Section 232, or Section 201 trade measures from eligibility for de minimis entry and (2) require the 10-digit HTSUS classification to be provided with certain de minimis shipments. Comments on this proposal are due no later than March 24. CBP recently proposed to make other regulatory changes affecting de minimis shipments as well. 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. CBP states that the exponential increase in de minimis shipments (which now total more than one billion a year), and the ?ore limited data?the agency receives for them, ?ave d challenges with respect to the enforcement of trade actions designed to address threats to national security, unreasonable or discriminatory trade practices, and injury to domestic industry caused by import surges.?
CBP is therefore proposing to exempt from eligibility for de minimis entry imports subject to: - Section 301 tariffs, which are imposed to address unreasonable or discriminatory acts, policies, or practices that burden or restrict U.S. commerce (e.g., the current tariffs on hundreds of billions of dollars?worth of goods from China); - Section 232 tariffs, which are imposed to address goods being imported in such quantities or under such circumstances as to threaten to impair U.S. national security (e.g., the current tariffs on steel and aluminum articles from many countries); and/or - Section 201 safeguards, which are imposed to address goods being imported in such increased quantities as to be a substantial cause or threat of serious injury to a domestic industry producing like or directly competitive goods (e.g., the current tariff-rate quota on solar cells). Such goods would be barred from de minimis entry even if they have been accorded an exclusion from the applicable tariff or safeguard. To further prevent de minimis entries of such goods, CBP is proposing to require a 10-digit HTSUS number for goods entered under the proposed basic entry process outlined in CBP? related proposed rule (which would impose such a requirement for the enhanced process as well). CBP estimates that hundreds of thousands of shipments would have been subject to Section 301 or 232 tariffs or Section 201 safeguards in fiscal year 2023 had they not claimed the de minimis exemption, and the agency therefore anticipates that if this rule is finalized there would be a decrease in the overall volume of de minimis shipments.
