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News February 10, 2025

President Trump Reinstates ‘De Minimis’ Exemption for China Imports

Even so, the president says he’s still aiming to ultimately eliminate the tariff loophole – a move that stands to impact importers in industries that range from retail e-commerce to promo.

By  Christopher Ruvo

Key Takeaways

• Back in Play: Importers can again use the “de minimis” exemption to bring products into the United States from China tariff-free following an order by President Donald Trump, who had previously suspended the levy loophole.

• Still in Play: The Trump administration still wants to eliminate the exemption. If that happens, it could impact a broad range of importing activity, with the promo products market experiencing effects too.

The “de minimis” exemption is back – at least for now.

President Donald Trump has issued an order that, in effect, again allows so-called low-value imports – those with retail values below $800 – to enter the United States without being subject to tariffs.

Trump had nixed the levy loophole for eligible imports coming from China as part of broader tariff actions. However, on Friday, Feb. 7, he issued an order that indefinitely delayed implementing the order that had made de minimis shipments from China subject to tariffs.

Trump is still indicating that he wants to eliminate the de minimis exemption, saying in his order that it “shall cease to be available … upon notification by the Secretary of Commerce to the President that adequate systems are in place to fully and expediently process and collect tariff revenue.”

Trump had also eliminated the low-value shipment loophole for products imported from Canada and Mexico. However, the president had already paused that action when he suspended planned tariffs of 25% on imports from Canada and Mexico until at least March 1st. The new tariffs of 10% on China, which are in addition to previous levies on that nation, that Trump set in place this month for imports above the de minimis threshold remain in place.

Analysts have said that immediately eliminating the de minimis exemption for China would have caused logistical nightmares for U.S. Customs and Border Protection (CBP).

“You would have to have a lot more people on the ground,” Clark Packard, a research fellow at the libertarian Cato Institute, told CNN. “The reality is that right now Customs and Border Protection is just not qualified or capable of handling this because of the volume of packages.”

In fiscal year 2024, total shipments to the U.S. claiming the de minimis exception tallied a total value of $1.36 billion, up approximately 880% from fiscal year 2015, according to CBP. China-based e-commerce retailers that ship direct to U.S. consumers have played a lead role in driving the increase, and their business models would be significantly affected by the de minimis exemption going away.

Promotional products importers have said suspending the de minimis exemption for imports coming from China, Canada and Mexico would impact certain types of industry importing and cross-border commerce. For instance, fulfilling U.S. orders from a Canadian or Mexican supplier location and small batch and/or custom orders coming from China would be subject to the levies and thus more expensive to import.

While logistical challenges may be involved, CBP has nonetheless been keen to close the de minimis loophole, too. The agency has proposed a rule that would eliminate the exemption for imports subject to 201, 232 and 301 tariffs, saying that doing so is in the interest of national security and pivotal to safeguarding American businesses and workers from unfair trade practices. CBP’s proposed rule hasn’t been finalized yet and remains in a public comment period.