In his first hours back in the White House, President Trump did more to curb the flow of illegal drugs and counterfeit goods from China — and protect American national security — than his predecessor did in four years in the Oval Office.
With a stroke of his pen, President Trump signed an executive order that mandated his Cabinet to investigate "the loss of tariff revenues and the risks from importing counterfeit products and contraband drugs, e.g., fentanyl" under a little-known trade loophole called the de minimis exemption, which allows for shipments to the United States valued at less than $800 to pass through customs duty-free and with little if no security scrutiny.
President Trump realizes that Chinese companies and bad actors are exploiting this loophole to flood the U.S. market with low-quality and counterfeit products that hurt American manufacturers, furtively import fentanyl, its precursor chemicals, and other deadly drugs that have caused so much pain in communities across the country; and ultimately threaten Washington’s national security interests and standing on the world stage.
The President realized the dangers the de minimis provision poses to the United States. Now it's up to the Homeland Security, Treasury, Commerce, and the senior counselor for trade and manufacturing departments to act quickly and decisively to recommend changes to the loophole — or, better yet, to do away with the troublesome exemption once and for all.
The de minimis provision made sense when it was first introduced in the 1930s to lighten the load on customs officials and not burden tourists bringing low-value knickknacks back home from abroad with unnecessary duty fees.
At the time, America was a manufacturing nation importing far fewer products from abroad than it does today.
Yet now, with nearly 17% of all products entering the U.S. coming from China alone and direct-to-consumer shipments to the U.S. from foreign businesses having more than quadrupled in less than a decade — thanks in large part to China-linked companies like Shein and Temu — American business competitiveness is facing a significant disadvantage.
Our customs and border agents struggle to keep ahead of the glut of goods entering the country daily.
What's in some of those shipments is also a major concern for U.S. national security interests, as Customs and Border Protection agents have time and again warned that the de minimis loophole is allowing dangerous drugs and weapons to enter the U.S.
Make no mistake, the fentanyl crisis — which causes one overdose death every 5 minutes in America — is a national security issue.
Whether it's Mexican cartels that President Trump wants to designate as terrorist organizations bringing drugs over the border, or shadowy Chinese operations sneaking precursor chemicals through our ports of entry thanks to the de minimis loophole, the epidemic caused by these illicit substances puts the U.S. firmly on the back foot when it comes protecting our citizens.
The Biden administration was unable to effectively stanch the flow of fentanyl into our country. Instead, it bogged down Customs and Border Protection with ineffective measures and more unnecessary red tape.
But, now back in the White House, President Trump has quickly shown that he will not allow bureaucratic malaise to stand in the way of protecting the American people and our national security interests.
Trump’s executive order to assess the flawed de minimis provision shows that he understands the threat to America’s safety posed by this unnecessary loophole.
Now, it's incumbent on his Cabinet to quickly review the de minimis provision and send a swift recommendation to the president’s desk to do away with this outdated and dangerous loophole once and for all.
John Burnett is the host of the First Edition Show on Newsmax2. He is an adjunct assistant professor at New York University and the founder of 1 Empire Group. Read John Burnett's Reports — More Here.