Majority of House Democrats Ask WH to End de Minimis for E-Commerce

A regional union president for CBP officers asked Congress "to close the de minimis exception" or at least lower the de minimis threshold, but also to increase funding for frontline staff.

Heidi Tien, who represents CBP workers in Louisville (the UPS World Hub), Cincinnati (DHL North American Hub and central Amazon Prime hub) and Indianapolis, the sixth-busiest air cargo location, said CBP needs 5,800 additional officers to manage the flow of imports.

"For federal law enforcement officers like me who work at the ports, it is incredibly frustrating to watch helplessly as millions of international packages that could contain fentanyl and other contraband evade inspection every day because of this language in the law," Tien said during an online press conference hosted by Reps. Earl Blumenauer, D-Ore., Rosa DeLauro, D-Conn., and Tom Suozzi, D-N.Y. Suozzi will sponsor Blumenauer's bill to end de minimis for all Chinese-origin goods if the bill doesn't pass this year, as Blumenauer is retiring.

Tien said officers who oversee express consignment and mail shipments know they could stop more fentanyl if they had the tools to do the job.

Although the press conference was held during "China Week," a period when the House of Representatives is voting on a few dozen bills to confront China economically and otherwise, the thrust of the members' message was less about criticizing Republicans for not including a de minimis bill, and more about asking the White House to act, since Congress is stymied. The trio of members led a letter sent Sept. 11 to President Joe Biden that had 126 Democrats' signatures in all. They wrote: "In the absence of a legislative solution at this time, we urge you to use the full range of your authorities to disqualify commercial shipments from de minimis treatment, so that packages entering the United States no longer evade inspection, information disclosure requirements, or the requisite tariffs and taxes."

Leaders on the House Ways and Means Committee from both parties are talking about an approach that could pass with bipartisan support. A reporter at the press conference asked the members to confirm that Ways and Means Chairman Rep. Jason Smith, R-Mo., is considering removing de minimis eligibility for all apparel. That is one of the elements of the Senate de minimis bill, introduced by Senate Finance Committee Chairman Ron Wyden, D-Ore. Blumenauer was no longer at the press conference by the time reporters had an opportunity to pose questions, and the other members said they didn't know what had been discussed as a compromise.

National Council of Textile Organizations CEO Kim Glas said during the press conference that there are estimates that half of de minimis entries are textile and apparel products. "I can’t amplify this enough, the U.S. textile industry is facing a five-alarm fire," she said.

Ahead of the press conference, John Pickel, the National Foreign Trade Council's senior director of international supply chain policy, said that if the government had to collect tariffs on low-value packages -- the average de minimis shipment is worth $54 -- it would cost more than the tariffs received.

"Weakening de minimis would cost consumers billions, require new appropriations for CBP, and do nothing to enhance enforcement or improve security at our ports. American consumers, who are united in their concern about rising costs, should take notice that proposals to degrade de minimis are a regressive tax increase, ultimately passed to consumers and small businesses," he said in a statement.