Shein, an apparel e-commerce platform that has been in the crosshairs of the House Select Committee on China (see 2305030077) U.S.-China Economic and Security Review Commission (see 2304140034), is ramping up its staffing for compliance, according to a memo sent to International Trade Today by a person close to Shein.
The subcommittee that covers intellectual property issues under the House Judiciary Committee questioned how Congress should address the escalating volume of de minimis packages -- and the opportunities those shipments provide for sending counterfeits and goods made with forced labor, but the CBP witness responsible for de minimis and IP declined to back any of the ideas that were bandied about.
FORT LAUDERDALE -- While CBP's Entry Type 86 pilot has allowed customs brokers to handle low value shipments, the agency also is seeing filers "abusing" the test by filing unverified data and pricing out other brokers who can't compete with the low fees the bad actors are charging, said CBP acting Commissioner Troy Miller in remarks at the National Customs Brokers & Forwarders Association of America annual conference April 17.
DHS Secretary Alejandro Mayorkas told an audience of domestic textile producers that de minimis is based on a "false premise" that low value means low risk, and said that is not the case.
DHS announced that more companies in what it called "the high-priority textile sector" should be added to the Uyghur Forced Labor Prevention Act's Entity List, joining the 10 already on that list -- just one item in what it's calling "a new comprehensive enforcement action plan" for textiles.
PHILADELPHIA -- When CBP ran an audit to estimate how many packages that enter under de minimis violate Customs laws, it found about 9% did, either through misclassification, insufficient documentation, or more serious violations, like smuggling narcotics.
CBP has “cleared” its long-awaited proposed rule on low value shipments, and the proposal will now go to the Office of Management and Budget for review, acting Commissioner Troy Miller said at a Commercial Customs Operations Advisory Committee meeting March 6. If OMB declares the rule “significant,” the proposal will then go for interagency review prior to publication in the Federal Register, Miller said.
With no legislative action on a proposal to end China's eligibility for de minimis shipments, one of its authors, Sen. Sherrod Brown, is asking the Biden administration to end de minimis treatment for all e-commerce purchases, or, at least, stop de minimis treatment for goods subject to partner government agency review, products that are trade priorities, and goods subject to Section 301 and Section 232 tariffs.
The shorter time frame for filing type 86 entries announced by CBP Jan. 12 is likely intended to allow the agency to target de minimis shipments in advance and give it more time to complete its targeting processes, said customs brokers asked about the policy change.
The government is considering adding seafood to its list of priority enforcement targets, joining cotton, polysilicon and tomatoes, according to testimony at a House Homeland Security Subcommittee on Oversight hearing.