Portland Courant

WASHINGTON, D.C. – Congressmen Earl Blumenauer (D-OR), Neal Dunn (R-FL), Senators Sherrod Brown (D-OH), Marco Rubio (R-FL) introduced the Import Security and Fairness Actto stop non-market economies from exploiting the de minimis threshold and require Customs and Border Protection to collect more information on de minimis shipments. The de minimis threshold allows imports valued under $800 to come into the United States without paying duties, taxes, fees or undergoing rigorous inspection.  

“The de minimis loophole is a threat to American competitiveness, consumer safety, and basic human rights,” said Congressman Earl Blumenauer, Ranking Member of the Ways and Means Subcommittee on Trade. “It is used by primarily Chinese companies to ship over two million packages a day into the United States. It puts American businesses at a competitive disadvantage while flooding American consumers with undoubtedly harmful products. There is virtually no way to tell whether packages that come in under the de minimis limit contain products made with forced labor, intellectual property theft, or are otherwise dangerous. It is time to close this loophole once and for all.”

“The current de minimis threshold provides incentive for the gaming of American laws. Foreign exporters can access our market for free when each importation is less than $800. Right now, the Chinese Communist Party is operating a shell game with their trade. The Import Security and Fairness Act is a momentous step in the right direction – by eliminating China from this non-reciprocal trade benefit and strengthening U.S. Customs screening, China will need to start complying with our trade laws,” said Representative Dunn. 

“Our trade laws can only protect Ohio workers and Ohio businesses if they aren’t riddled with loopholes. This loophole is essentially a backdoor way for competitors like China to ship goods into the U.S. without paying the tariffs and other taxes and fees they owe,” said Senator Brown. “Ohio workers should not be forced to compete with foreign competitors that cheat. Our bill would stop Chinese companies from abusing our trade laws to undermine Ohio businesses and their workers.”

“China exploits our capital markets and uses slave labor to undercut American businesses. It is bad for our country to let China flood our country with duty-free packages using the de minimis exception. The Import Security and Fairness Act will close this loophole and take another critical step to stop China from cheating on trade,” said Senator Rubio. 

The Import Security and Fairness Act would:  

·         Prohibit Goods from Countries that are Both Non-Market Economies and on the U.S. Trade Representative’s (USTR) Priority Watch List from Using De Minimis: To address concerns related to U.S. competitiveness, the legislation prohibits goods from non-market economies that are on the Priority Watch List, such as China, from benefitting from de minimis treatment. The U.S. government has found that such countries provide unfair benefits to their companies. This change ensures that shipments from these countries don’t benefit further under U.S. law.  

·         Require CBP to Collect More Information on All De Minimis Shipments and Prohibit Use by Bad Actors: To address concerns regarding compliance with U.S. laws, this provision makes common-sense changes that will require CBP to collect more information on de minimis shipments and prohibit importers that have been suspended or debarred from being able to use de minimis. This provision provides statutory support for the ongoing work that multiple administrations at CBP have already started. 

Endorsements: AFL-CIO, Alliance for American Manufacturing, Citizens Trade Campaign, Coalition for a Prosperous America, Communications Workers of America, IBEW, International Association of Machinists and Aerospace Workers, National Council of Textile Organizations, PeopleForBikes, Public Citizen, ReThink Trade, U.S. Footwear Manufacturers Association, United Brotherhood of Carpenters and Joiners of America, United Steelworkers. 

What They're Saying: 

“Foreign importers, primarily based in the People’s Republic of China, too often take advantage of the current $800 de minimis threshold to ship goods without needed oversight. This both negatively impacts American manufacturers and undermines U.S. efforts to eliminate forced labor across the supply chain. Rep. Blumenauer’s legislation creates a straightforward approach to address these abuses, support workers’ rights abroad and preserve domestic jobs.”

— Thomas M. Conway, International President of the United Steelworkers

“We support introduction of this legislation to reform the de minimis threshold, which is routinely exploited to evade U.S. enforcement actions against China and other trade cheats. The bill takes aim at the worst offenders, while also addressing loopholes used by bad actors to avoid paying taxes, duties and fees. We strongly encourage Congress to adopt these reforms while also ensuring that additional steps are taken to monitor transshipments and increases in de minimis volume from other countries.”

— Scott Paul, President of the Alliance for American Manufacturing

“The Import Security and Fairness Act will provide the necessary worker protections by enforcing fair labor standards,” said IAM International President Robert Martinez Jr. “I applaud Rep. Blumenauer for leading this fight. Our union knows all too well how unfair trade practices lead to massive job losses. This legislation will help fight against a rigged economy and put the power back in the workers' hands who help drive our nation’s economy. We urge Congress to pass this crucial legislation quickly.”

— Robert Martinez Jr., International President of the Machinist Union

“The anarchy of the de minimis loophole is an egregious governmental mistake that criminal organizations use to sell fentanyl, Chairman Xi uses to destroy American jobs, and Amazon uses to make Jeff Bezos even richer. This previously innocuous exemption from import inspection and duties was designed to allow families to send gifts from overseas and travelers to bring souvenirs without having to deal with customs officials and tariffs. But prior Congresses and administrations expanded the loophole to allow an import explosion of over 2 million uninspected packages per day. Those packages contain illicit drugs, counterfeit goods, and products that avoid consumer product safety testing. We applaud Congressman Blumenauer for this innovative legislative fix that will help reverse decades of harm to American workers and production while dramatically reducing our funding of China’s geopolitical ambitions.”

— Michael Stumo, CEO of the Coalition for a Prosperous America

“We commend Ranking Member Blumenauer for reintroducing legislation that aims to prohibit Chinese products, including goods made with forced labor, from exploiting the Section321 de minimis mechanism in U.S. trade law. This gaping loophole allows more than 2 million shipments a day to enter the U.S. market duty-free and largely uninspected. It endangers American consumers by allowing tainted products and counterfeits to land on our doorsteps, while also undermining the competitiveness of U.S. companies and workers as well as our Western Hemisphere trade partners. We sincerely appreciate the congressman’s leadership and look forward to continuing to work with the House Ways and Means Trade Subcommittee to address this critical issue in this session of Congress.”

— Kim Glas, CEO National Council of Textile Organizations

“The AFL-CIO strongly supports the bipartisan Import Security and Fairness Act. This bill will curb the rampant abuse of de minimis by China and also help ensure that products made with forced labor from the Xinjiang region are curtailed. “

— Bill Samuel, Government Affairs Director, AFL-CIO

Original source can be found here.