Acting CBP Commissioner Tells Congress Agency Needs Help With Reducing De Minimis Volume

Acting CBP Commissioner Troy Miller, just after telling an appropriations committee member that CBP's staff "need help in the de minimis environment," told her that there are legislative proposals, that if they were to pass, "allow us to actually bring that level [of shipments] down to a manageable level for us."

He testified in the House Appropriations Committee hearing that the number of packages entering through the de minimis entry channel has grown from 600 million in fiscal year 2022 to 1 billion in fiscal year 2023, and that if trends continue in this fiscal year, there would be roughly 1.3 to 1.4 billion de minimis entries.

A spokesperson from the agency did not respond to a request for clarification on whether Miller is endorsing a particular method to restrict eligibility for de minimis, or was saying that any approach that would reduce the number of packages would be helpful.

Rep. Ashley Hinson, R-Iowa, told Miller she heard about the problems of contraband entering through de minimis entries during her time on the House Select Committee on China, and asked him to address what concerns him in that arena.

Miller said CBP has seen precursor chemicals produced in China, then shipped through Southeast Asia, arrive at Los Angeles and New York international airports. Those chemicals are bound for Mexico, where cartels process them into fentanyl. Miller said the agency has sent more officers to those airports to try to detect and interdict the packages.

He said that pill presses and other equipment that helps shape opiates into counterfeit pills have been arriving via express carriers.

After Miller explained the paths fentanyl precursor chemicals and pill presses take, Hinson replied that she believes it is a "blatant and systematic attack" by China, and asked Miller if he agreed.

That's when he said the agency needs help addressing de minimis. He said there are "several packages" that would give CBP more data on de minimis shipments -- where the goods are from, what is in the package, and where it is going. He said there also need to be "appropriate penalties to assess those that are carrying those packages when they don't know what's actually in the package."

It was unclear whether Miller was referring to rulemaking (see 2309110059 and 2404190019), the Customs Modernization Act (see 2312110048), or both. CBP cleared the de minimis data rulemaking a year ago, but the proposed rule has not yet exited the interagency process.

A CBP spokesperson also didn't answer a question to clarify those remarks from Miller.

After Miller told Hinson that there are legislative proposals that would make the volume of shipments more manageable for CBP, she replied that Congress looks forward to working with CBP on the issue "because it's very clear, and it's appalling the lengths that China is willing to go to funnel these precursors into our country... to directly poison Americans and others around the world."

Hinson also asked why the administration's budget request is more focused on staffing than "autonomous systems," and Miller replied that CBP needs both more staff and more technology to tackle fentanyl smuggling. He said that CBP needs to use more "artificial intelligence, machine learning in particular at our ports of entry."