More Support on Finance for de Minimis Changes; Wyden Noncommittal

Sen. Chuck Grassley, R-Iowa, who has traditionally been a defender of the current law on de minimis (see 1907300048), said that while he's not up for lowering the $800 threshold, he would be willing to change the low value import process to combat fentanyl, as the White House is proposing.

This week, the White House called on Congress to require importers of small packages to provide additional information to CBP so it can "more effectively track and target the millions of small-dollar shipments that cross our borders every day -- closing a loophole that drug traffickers exploit (see 2407310030).

He is one of several Republicans on the Senate Finance Committee that is open to reopening the de minimis law in some way (see 2407100064). The House Ways and Means Committee moved a bill earlier this year that would require all de minimis packages to include a Harmonized Tariff Schedule code, and would not allow goods subject to Section 301 or other trade remedies to qualify for de minimis.

This issue has traditionally been pushed by Democrats, though Democrats on Ways and Means didn't vote for that de minimis bill.

Sen. Sherrod Brown, D-Ohio, said in a hallway interview: "I want to do anything we can do to stop the de minimis ... exception, and it's clear that China is sending stuff into our country that shouldn't be here. Yeah, because they figured out a kind of Whac-A-Mole way of doing it, and whatever it takes, any efforts."

Brown noted that he would be hosting an event in Ohio on Aug. 2 with a CBP agent, Cuyahoga County's sheriff, the Coalition for a Prosperous America's CEO and the CEO of a local textile mill on closing the de minimis loophole.

Brown is running for reelection this fall, and is considered one of the two most endangered incumbent senators on the ballot.

Senate Finance Committee Chairman Ron Wyden, D-Ore., didn't answer directly on whether his committee would take up a bill to help CBP better target the contents of small packages, as the White House requested. He said, "I can just tell you, I am all in on the fight on fentanyl. And we'll have more to say about that."