Legal challenges for tariffs and de minimis, as EU eyes new ecommerce rules
Tariffs and ecommerce are in the legal spotlight on both sides of the Atlantic. A US ...
© Nataliia Kotliar
Preparing US customs systems for the end of the US de minimis exemption on imports from China will likely take longer than the 30-day respite announced by President Trump, according to the founder of Clearit Customs Brokers, Adam Lewis.
President Trump recently paused his decision to end the de minimis concession until 1 April, when it would be reviewed with recommendations from federal agencies.
But yesterday, Mr Lewis predicted it would take “longer than 30 days” to prepare, as the most likely ...
Comment on this article
Cindy Allen
February 13, 2025 at 5:42 pmWhat these concerns fail to recognize is that CBP is already processing all of these shipments through ACE. If the shipment is by air there is an ACAS filing, if by ocean there is an ISF filing, all shipments are manifested (and at the individual house bill level), and then there is a the release request. The only additional information the ACE system will have to accept is the entry summary process for informal and formal entries. And likely shipments will stop being manifested at the individual package level, so that volume will be reduced.
The real issue that I see is how the shipments arriving via the postal service will be processed. There is no automated or streamlined ability for these shipments to make entry and pay duty. Right now if a formal entry arrives in the postal system, the consignee is contacted and asked who their customs broker is. There is not an ability to do that for the million packages that arrive every day.
If you look at the actual language of the EO again allowing de minimis, it talks about delaying until systems are in place to collect the duty. The only place a system isn’t in place is postal. How will they address that? Who knows. Will the postal service appoint a customs broker? Will they obtain a system to do it themselves? Will they assess a flat rate of duty? That will drive the timelines.