Shanghai, China, Feb 5 (EFE).- More than 1 billion packages of low-cost products from China will be affected after US President Donald Trump announced the end of customs exemption for shipments from that country valued at less than $800, state media reported Wednesday.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
The number of packages imported into the US under this provision known as ‘de minimis’ increased almost tenfold between 2015 and 2024, from 139 million to 1.36 billion units, according to data cited by the economic news portal Yicai.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Although the exemption had been in force for almost a century, it had been the subject of scrutiny in recent years due to the explosion of China’s e-commerce due to companies such as Shein, Temu, and AliExpress.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Chinese retailers have been running massive digital marketing campaigns in the US, offering a vast inventory of cheap clothing, household items and electronics, putting them in direct competition with Amazon, eBay, and Etsy.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Temu denied that its rapid growth in the US depended on ‘de minimis’ exemption, while Shein said that it gave top priority to complying with import regulations, Yicai reported.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
In response, Temu has supported Chinese sellers by opening warehouses in the US that allow them to ship products from the country itself and thus avoid import taxes, while Shein has opened distribution warehouses and supply chains on US soil.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Yicai pointed out that US retailers such as Amazon and Walmart also benefited from this mechanism. For example, the former launched a platform called Haul through which sellers can send products\u2014all with a maximum price of $20\u2014directly from China to American buyers.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
The de minimis shipments were also in the spotlight because they were subject to more lax inspections, so it is believed that they have been used for shipments of fentanyl or chemicals to manufacture it. EFE<\/p>\n\n\n\n
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