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US-China trade rule change hangs in the balance

12 1
25.02.2025

Questions are swirling about the status of a trade rule that President Trump canceled and then reinstated earlier this month after it proved unworkable, leading to logistical confusion, an outcry from businesses and a huge pile of unprocessed packages at New York’s JFK airport.

Speaking to a governors’ conference at the White House on Friday, President Trump appeared to believe he had ended the “de minimis” exemption, a rule that allows packages valued at less than $800 to enter the U.S. without being taxed or inspected and that critics say helps to facilitate illegal shipments of synthetic opioid fentanyl into the U.S.

“We’re not doing that anymore,” Trump said in response to a question on the de minimis rule from South Carolina Gov. Henry McMaster. Trump then spoke at length about how advertising campaigns were an effective measure against drug abuse, recommending that McMaster implement such a policy in South Carolina.

However, the U.S. is still accepting shipments under the de minimis exemption until “adequate systems are in place” to get rid of the rule and collect tariff revenues from the imports, according to a Feb. 5 executive order that has yet to be updated.

“Duty-free de minimis treatment … is available … but shall cease to be available for such articles upon notification by the Secretary of Commerce to the President that adequate systems are in place to fully and expediently process and collect tariff revenue … for covered articles otherwise eligible for de minimis treatment,” the order says.

Trump has set a March 1 deadline for certain tariffs on goods imported from Canada and Mexico, though he has reneged on multiple tariff roll out initiatives since taking office. The de minimis exemption cut off has been left open-ended.

The........

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