Direct shipments of goods from China to the U.S. worth $800 or less, which are exempt from current tariffs, appear to be growing, the Wall Street Journal said. The $800 threshold is known as the de minimis exemption.
WSJ cited data from the U.S. Census Bureau showing an 11% increase in the value of shipments of goods worth less than $2,000 since the trade war began in July 2018, despite the value of all shipments dropping around 15% over the same period.
Many consumers are purchasing the goods, which often include electronics, auto parts and clothing, directly from Chinese suppliers using marketplaces like Amazon.com.
US Trade Representative (USTR) Robert Lighthizer has voiced opposition to the current threshold and attempted to have it lowered for goods from Mexico and Canada during negotiations over the US-Mexico-Canada Agreement (USMCA). He noted other countries often set much lower de minimis thresholds than the US imposes on them and argued the situation “adds to the trade deficit,” in testimony to a House panel earlier this year.
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