Status Of The De Minimis Exemption For Section 201, 232, And 301 Tariffs

In the waning days of the Biden administration, the U.S. Department of Customs and Border Protection (CBP) proposed a regulation that, if finalized, would narrow the scope of the administrative exemption under Section 321(a)(2)(C) of the Tariff Act of 1930, also known as the de minimis exemption. Specifically, shipments valued at $800 or less that are covered by Section 201, Section 232 or Section 301 tariffs would be ineligible for the de minimis exemption.

If the regulation is finalized, importers of these goods would be required to pay both the standard duties and fees, along with any additional duties imposed pursuant to trade and national security actions. The proposed rule also would require a 10-digit Harmonized Tariff Schedule of the United States (HTSUS) classification for shipments claiming the de minimis exemption and entering under the release from manifest process, which, under the proposal, also would be renamed the “basic entry process.”

Read more about this proposal from Holland and Knight at this link.

How likely is it this rule will be finalized? As Connecting the Dots readers are aware, on his first day in office President Donald Trump suspended all Biden-era proposed rules and directed a review of U.S. trade policies. In other words, as experts at King and Spalding pointed out, it is possible the Trump administration could take a different approach to de minimis reform. President Trump’s statements on trade policy so far in his second term indicate de minimis reform is a priority for his administration, however.