CBP has started to shift its enforcement focus to Type 86 entries as use of the relatively new entry type for de minimis shipments grows and the agency sees a "large percentage of violations" related to use of the entry type, CBP's James Moore said during an April 5 webinar hosted by the agency.
321 de minimis
De minimis is a policy described in Section 321, 19 USC 1321. It allows the import of articles duty and tax free, provided their aggregate fair retail value does not exceed $800 in the country from which the articles are imported. Additionally, the articles must be imported by only one person on one day. The previous de minimis threshold was $200, but the Trade Facilitation and Trade Enforcement Act increased it to $800.
U.S. Trade Representative Katherine Tai reassured the members of the National Council of Textile Organizations that the Office of the U.S. Trade Representative has no interest in loosening rules of origin for clothing made in Central America and the Dominican Republic. Some have argued that the CAFTA-DR has not lived up to its potential because its rules are too restrictive (see 2112030045 and 2104140047).
CBP issued the following releases on commercial trade and related matters:
CBP is opening up its Section 321 data pilot beyond the initial nine participants, and extending the pilot an additional two years, until August 2025, the agency said in a notice released Feb. 15. CBP also will allow submission of new, optional data elements as part of the pilot.
Two Democrats and a Republican are asking the CEO of Shein, a fast-fashion powerhouse, about its use of de minimis and its purchases of Xinjiang cotton. All products made in Xinjiang are barred from entry to the U.S., unless importers can prove they were not made with forced labor, but small packages imported directly by consumers escape CBP scrutiny.
CBP issued the following releases on commercial trade and related matters:
CBP released a report Oct. 17 with detailed statistics on Section 321 de minimis shipments during fiscal years 2018 through 2021. The report shows a continuous rise in volume of shipments during the period, which ended Sept. 30, 2021, from about 400 million to about 770 million. The value of shipments declined during the latter years of the period, however, rising from about $30 million in 2018 to about $56 million in 2019 and $67 million in 2020, before falling to about $40 million in 2021. The report also contains statistics on seizures by type, by mode of transportation and by country of shipment, as well as whether refused shipments were abandoned or returned to sender.
As CBP moves toward collecting data from “non-traditional” parties earlier in the supply chain as part of its reimagined 21st Century Customs Framework, major questions include the standard to which that data will be held, as well as how CBP will enforce those standards on supply chain actors beyond the agency’s jurisdiction, CBP and industry officials said during a panel discussion July 18.
CBP issued the following releases on commercial trade and related matters:
A panel of industry, trade group representatives and a customs broker disagreed on the proper approach to changing domestic de minimis policy, or even if it should be changed, but agreed that it's perverse that warehouses in Canada and Mexico are serving as way stations for small packages destined for U.S. consumers.