2023-06-25 00:01:27
U.S. Customs and Border Protection officer Elizabeth Alter displays counterfeit Louboutin high heels at a transfer warehouse in Long Beach, California, on August 16, 2012. Between July 27 and August 14, five shipments from China were seized at the ports of Los Angeles and Long Beach, including more than 20,000 pairs of high-heeled shoes infringing the trademark of a French designer, with a potential retail value of $18 million. (Kevork Djansezian/Getty Images)
[The Epoch Times, June 25, 2023](The Epoch Times reporter Lin Yan compiles and reports) In 2016, the U.S. Congress raised the threshold for duty-free postal parcels from $200 to $800. By 2021, the number of such international postal parcels will skyrocket. 2.5 times, of which the number of parcels from China accounted for 60%.
“Nobody thought it was going to happen. Now we have 2 million (international) Packages come in, almost all from China. We don’t know what’s in it. We don’t really know how much it’s worth.”
“I think everyone has to figure out what kind of a mistake this is,” he added.
Under current U.S. law, most imported goods under $800 mailed to individuals can enter the U.S. duty-free. It’s called the rule of de minimis.
Lighthizer urged Congress to repeal the de minimis rule entirely, or lower it to something even lower, like $50 or $100. Foreign companies are exploiting this “loophole,” he said, with the result that it has crushed domestic commerce and manufacturing, leading to layoffs in those industries.
During the Obama administration in 2016, Congress raised the threshold for U.S. government tax-free mail packages from $200 to $800. Since then, imports of such parcels have increased from regarding 220 million in that year to 771 million in 2021, with China accounting for regarding 60% of the total. In 2022, the total number of postal parcels will drop slightly to 685 million.
The new House Committee on China has called for legislation to lower the threshold for duty-free goods entering the United States, with a particular focus on “foreign adversaries including China” countries.
Exploiting the $800 threshold loophole, Chinese companies might become a primary means of selling directly to U.S. consumers and circumvent U.S. laws, particularly legal restrictions aimed at preventing the sale of forced labor products, the committee said.
The committee also said that due to the sheer volume of imports, Customs and Border Protection was “incapable of reasonably reviewing” shipments under $800 for forced labor concerns.
Temu app interface displayed on a mobile phone. (CFOTO/Future Publishing via Getty Images)
Congress concerned regarding Temu and Shein not paying any tariffs
The committee is most concerned regarding Chinese online fashion retailers Temu and Shein, which ship directly to U.S. consumers.
In a report released on Thursday (June 22), the commission said these two companies alone likely accounted for more than 30% of all de minimis shipments entering the U.S. each day, with nearly 600,000 shipments each day last year. Thousands of mail packages entered the United States.
The report pointed out that American apparel brands GAP and H&M will pay import tariffs of US$700 million and US$205 million respectively in 2022. In contrast, almost all goods sold by Temu and Shein have gone through the de minimis duty-free route, and importers are not required to pay any duties.
Rep. Jason Smith of Missouri, the current chairman of the House Ways and Means Committee, said he wants to have “a lot of conversation” regarding the $800 threshold.
Deals priced at $800 or less amount to free-trade agreements signed casually, with millions of such items coming in every day, he said.
“We need to pay attention to this,” Smith said.
Senator: Trump is the first to correct unfair trade with China
Meanwhile, a bill related to the topic was introduced in the Senate in June. One, from Senators Sherrod Brown (D-Ohio) and Senator Marco Rubio (R-Florida) , would block sanctions on certain countries, notably China and Russia. Imported products receive fast and duty-free treatment.
Another Republican, Senator Bill Cassidy of Louisiana, and Democratic Senator Tammy Baldwin of Wisconsin introduced bills that would not only target China and Russia equally, but also affect other countries. Business partner. It will do this by lowering the threshold for tax-free treatment to the amount used by other countries.
Cassidy said that on the issue of trade with China, it was former President Trump who really rebuilt the Republican Party’s ideas.
Cassidy said it was Trump who first pointed out that China is taking jobs in the United States in various ways, and the reason “is not because China outcompetes the United States, but because they provide subsidies, because they use forced labor and all that sort of thing. practice”.
Some chambers call to keep $800 tax-free limit, say tax isn’t worth it
In early 2022, as Congress considered adding the de minimis provision to the semiconductor bill, several business groups, led by the Chamber of Commerce and the National Association of Manufacturers, wrote to congressional leaders urging them to exclude the provision.
The changes, they said, would “impose significant costs on U.S. businesses, workers and consumers, add new inflationary pressures to the U.S. economy, and exacerbate ongoing supply chain disruptions at U.S. ports.”
The Associated Press reported that John Drake, vice president of the U.S. Chamber of Commerce, said lowering the threshold would not only mean a big increase in taxes for many small U.S. businesses, but many would have to hire customs brokers to handle their shipments.
Tariffs on these low-value goods are not worthwhile and current U.S. laws should remain, Drake said.
Editor in charge: Li Yuan #
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