Administration Said to Be Pursuing Section 321 Changes

The Trump administration continues to seek some major changes to the Section 321 provisions that allow for streamlined customs processing for low-value shipments, said Megan Costello, a lobbyist with Sorini, Samet and Associates. Some in the administration want a total removal of the benefit, while others only want to make sure low-value shipments are subject to Section 301 tariffs, she said. Costello gave a presentation as part of the National Association of Foreign-Trade Zones virtual conference on May 13. An administration official said in April the Office of the U.S. Trade Representative was looking at how it can address some issues with the provisions (see 2004290052)

Costello also works on behalf of the 321 Coalition, an ad hoc group of trade associations and apparel companies that would like to see federal law changed to allow for de minimis entry for goods from foreign-trade zones. As part of that effort, she met with an undisclosed administration official in February that discussed the issues and pointed to three eventual goals. Some of the goals were also spelled out in a January Department of Homeland Security report on preventing counterfeit sales through e-commerce sites (see 2001240043).

The first goal was to make e-commerce marketplaces “ultimately responsible for the products put into the market,” Costello said. That also seems to be the goal of legislation introduced in March, which would create trademark liability for companies that sell counterfeit goods (see 2003030049). The second goal is to “force online sales platforms to disclose the country of origin of the merchandise they are selling,” she said. Another recently introduced bill seems to do just that (see 2005150003), though Costello didn't mention that bill. The final goal, according to Costello, is to bring the de minimis level back to $200. The White House didn't comment.