Desire for de Minimis Solution Bipartisan on House Ways and Means Committee

House Ways and Means Trade Subcommittee Chairman Adrian Smith, R-Neb., said members of Congress have a wide range of views "of what the reaction should be" to compliance weaknesses in de minimis shipments. "But I think we need to continue the conversation and look for solutions that can generate the results we need," he said. Smith said he thinks Congress can pass a de minimis bill this year.

He also said he doesn't think the differences on how to address de minimis break along party lines.

Rep. Richard Neal, D-Mass., the top Democrat on the Ways and Means Committee, said he's hearing from constituents that there are problems with de minimis, and he thinks that Rep. Earl Blumenauer, D-Ore., the top Democrat on the trade subcommittee, has "a legitimate, carefully crafted position, based on evidence."

The Ways and Means Committee passed a bill, with only Republican votes, that would not allow goods subject to trade remedies to enter under de minimis -- which, in practical terms, would eliminate about the 60% of Chinese goods subject to Section 301 tariffs.

CBP had worked on a rule that would have made the same change in 2020 (see 2009040026), but abandoned the effort with the change in administration.

Blumenauer's bill would prohibit shipments from China and goods of Chinese origin shipped from any country from qualifying for de minimis. Both bills would codify requirements for importers of low-value packages to submit information to CBP.

For a long time, CBP emphasized information collection and summary forfeiture for counterfeit or FDA-banned goods, but in recent months, agency leadership has started to say it wants Congress to restrict how many packages enter commerce through this channel (see 2407090058).

Neal said, "I think that [Homeland Security Secretary Alejandro] Mayorkas is on target." He said when companies send goods into the U.S. that don't have to pay tariffs, it undercuts local merchants whose goods did have duties paid when they were imported.

When asked if the reason the de minimis bill was not placed on this week's "China week" slate of bills is that Democrats warned they would not support it in the numbers needed for two-thirds passage, Neal said, "I don't think at the moment we've crafted that ultimatum, but I do think it's fair to say that I think that we will be much influenced by Earl Blumenauer's" approach.