The bill awaits the House of Representatives’ approval of the Senate’s final version before it can be forwarded to US President Donald Trump for his signature ahead of 4 July.
This adoption of the de minimis provision was welcomed by the National Council of Textile Organizations (NCTO).
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NCTO president and CEO Kim Glas said: “On behalf of the US textile industry, I would like to commend Senate leaders for including an important provision in the broader budget reconciliation bill that would permanently end de minimis for commercial shipments from all countries, effective July 2027.”
Glas believes this legislative move will create a more equitable environment for domestic textile producers who have witnessed the shutdown of 28 facilities within the last 23 months.
“We are urging congressional leaders to ensure inclusion of this critical provision in the final version of the reconciliation bill this week, which would bring us one step closer to marking a significant milestone for the US textile industry and a broad coalition of organisations dedicated to advocating for ending this destructive loophole,” Glas added.
What is De Minimis?
The US de minimis rule, also known as Section 321, facilitates e-commerce and minor international trade transactions by allowing duty-free entry into the US for goods valued at $800 or less without the need for a formal customs declaration.
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By GlobalDataHowever, this has led to challenges for Customs and Border Protection in effectively screening packages that may contain illegal substances such as fentanyl precursors, counterfeit goods, forced labour-made products, and other prohibited items.
In response to these challenges, bipartisan legislation titled “The Closing the De Minimis Loophole Act” was introduced by Sens. Sheldon Whitehouse (D-R.I.) and Lindsey Graham (R-S.C.) in May.
The proposed law aims to immediately remove de minimis exemptions for Chinese imports and gradually eliminate them for all other countries over four months.
Additionally, it tasks the Treasury Secretary with overseeing a rulemaking process to equip Customs and Border Protection with necessary tools and procedures to uniformly terminate de minimis privileges across all countries.
“We sincerely appreciate Senators Lindsey Graham (R-SC) and Sheldon Whitehouse (D-RI) for leading efforts on a legislative solution that would codify and permanently end duty-free de minimis treatment for millions of low-value packages from China and all countries, closing a loophole in US trade law that has harmed American manufacturers and workers and endangered American consumers,” Glas added.
In that same month, President Trump issued an executive order reducing the de minimis tariff on low-value shipments from China to potentially as low as 30%.
Glas stated: “We are also grateful that the Trump administration has already used executive authorities to end de minimis access for Chinese goods — which represent approximately two-thirds of all de minimis shipments — while also laying the groundwork to close de minimis to commercial shipments from all countries. We request that the administration utilise its executive authorities to immediately close this damaging loophole for commercial shipments from all countries in the interim until this legislation ultimately takes effect.”
