The exemption of US tariffs for packages of packages with a value of less than $ 800 will permanently end on Friday, with a six -month transition period during which postal services will be chosen, they may choose to pay a fixed tariff of $ 80 to $ 200 per package, depending on the country of origin, Trump administration officials said.
The US Customs and Border Agency. This measure expands the cancellation by the Trump administration of the minimis exemption for shipments from China and Hong Kong earlier this year.
“The end of the dangerous Laguna of Minimis by President Trump will save thousands of American lives by restricting the flow of narcotics and other dangerous items forbidden, and will add up to 10 billion dollars annually in tariff revenues for our treasure,” said the commercial advisor of the White House, Peter Navarro, to the reporters.
“This is a permanent change,” said a senior administration official, adding that any attempt to restore exemptions for trusted commercial partners “is dead when you arrive.”
The Exemption of Minimis has been in force since 1938 and increased from $ 200 to $ 800 in 2015 as a means to promote the growth of small businesses in electronic commerce markets. But direct shipments from China exploded after President Donald Trump increased tariffs on Chinese products during his first term, creating a new direct business model to the consumer for electronic commerce companies Shein and Temu. Many of these packages entered without being reviewed, and the Trump administration has also blamed the exemption to allow the flow of fentanyl and its precursors to the US.
CBP has estimated that the number of packages that demand the exemption of Minimis increased almost 10 times, from 139 million dollars in fiscal year 2015 to 1.36 billion dollars in fiscal year 2024.
A second senior administration of the Trump administration said CBP has raised more than $ 492 million in additional tariffs on packages sent from China and Hong Kong since their exemptions were eliminated on May 2.
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The official said that complete tariff rates will be applied to all packages sent by express carriers such as Fedex, United Parcel Service and DHL, with companies collecting tariffs and processing the documentation.
Foreign postal agencies can choose to collect and process tariffs according to the value of the package content, or opt for the fixed rate method, collecting a fixed tax based on the “reciprocal” tariff fees of Trump that are currently in force for the products of the country of origin.
According to CBP guidelines, issued on Thursday, packages will be charged $ 80 to countries with tariff rates imposed by Trump below 16%, such as the United Kingdom and the European Union; $ 160 to countries between 16% and 25%, such as Indonesia and Vietnam; and 200 dollars to countries above 25%, including China, Brazil, India and Canada.
But postal services must go to the complete collection of “ad valorem” tariffs, based on the value of shipments, before February 28, 2026, said the second official.
This official acknowledged that some foreign postal services have suspended the mail towards the US. The official said that the United Kingdom, Canada and Ukraine have confirmed that their shipments continue.
With Reuters information.
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