Today, Senator Mike Braun and Senator Tammy Baldwin introduced the Ensure Accountability in the De Minimis Act. This legislation would provide clarity to what amounts to an illicit de minimis article that does not qualify for the de minimis administrative exemption.
“This bill would increase transparency and accountability for bad actors that take advantage of the de minimis threshold. In recent years, the majority of de minimis shipments have come from China, our top trade competitor. We need to make sure they are not gaming the system.”—Sen. Mike Braun
“We have a responsibility to ensure packages that are coming into our country are not harming Americans, but right now we are falling short. Bad actors in China are taking advantage of a trade loophole to traffic counterfeit goods that undermine our businesses and illegal substances like fentanyl that are crushing our communities. We must do more to stop it. I’m proud to work with Republicans and Democrats to give us tools to better identify these counterfeit products and harmful drugs from coming into the country, hold bad actors accountable, and protect American families. I am glad to take this step forward and will keep fighting to close this trade loophole that is allowing fentanyl into the country.”—Sen. Tammy Baldwin
Background
According to CBP data, de minimis shipments into the U.S. increased to 771.5 million in Fiscal Year FY 2021 from 360 million shipments in to FY 2018. From FY 2020 to FY 2021, de minimis shipments increased by 21.3 percent. Of the 771.5 million packages, 58 percent originated in China, 8.4 percent came from Canada, 2.8 percent derived from Mexico, and 30.8 percent are from other countries.
In addition, CBP and U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) apprehended over 20,000 counterfeit shipments in FY 2022. Of the seized shipments, approximately 21 percent derived from express consignment, 55 percent were located in inbound mail, 24 percent were discovered in other methods, and 41 percent originated in China.
