Low-cost imports to the US lose their duty-free status Friday as the government ends a loophole that has underpinned billions of dollars in global commerce.
The end of the “de minimis” exemption, which applies to packages valued under $800, has sparked concern and confusion among international exporters and mail carriers. Mexico on Thursday joined at least 30 countries that have suspended postal shipments to the US, in what Bloomberg’s Odd Lots described as a collective embargo on the country.
De minimis began as a modest tax provision, but has widened to become a fixture of e-commerce — and a trade policy lever. Fixing it makes sense, a Brookings expert wrote, but “scrapping a nearly century-old policy in less than a month does not.”
