Postal shipments to the U.S. have fallen 80% since President Donald Trump dropped the de minimis exemption that made lower-value shipments exempt from tariffs, The Hill reported.
According to the Universal Postal Union, a U.N. agency, 88 shipping providers around the globe have completely or partially suspended shipping to the U.S.
Previously, the de minimis (meaning pertaining to minimal things) exemption said packages under $800 could be shipped without any duties, The Hill reported. The exemption let people and small businesses buy products from foreign countries without having to pay tariffs, The Hill said.
Trump ended the policy for China this year, and on Aug. 29 he ended the rule for the rest of the world.
"President Trump's ending of the deadly de minimis loophole will save thousands of American lives by restricting the flow of narcotics and other dangerous prohibited items, and add up to $10 billion a year in tariff revenues to our Treasury," White House trade adviser Peter Navarro told reporters on Thursday.
Many countries have halted their shipments to the U.S. because the de minimis exemption has been repealed, The Hill reported.
Postal operators have complained there hasn't been enough time to establish procedures to deal with the new system and have been unable to establish relationships with the relevant U.S. authorities, The Hill reported.
The National Coalition of Textile Organizations called the move a "historic win" for U.S. manufacturing by closing a loophole that allowed foreign fast-fashion firms to avoid tariffs and import apparel sometimes made with forced labor, undercutting American jobs.
U.S. Customs and Border Protection has estimated that the number of packages claiming the de minimis exemption jumped nearly tenfold from 139 million in fiscal 2015 to 1.36 billion in fiscal 2024 — a rate of nearly 4 million per day.
Information from Reuters was used in this report.
Sam Barron ✉
Sam Barron has almost two decades of experience covering a wide range of topics including politics, crime and business.
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