The United States is going to take action against Chinese e-commerce companies. Will the lower import tariff of 800 change?

According to the Wall Street Journal website on April 6, the United States will crack down on an import method favored by e-commerce giants such as Temu and Shein.

According to reports, this method allows cheap clothing from China to flow into the United States without tariffs and almost without review. The report said that as part of a broader trade enforcement strategy, small packages will be subject to stricter scrutiny.

According to reports, the U.S. Department of Homeland Security said on April 5 that "small exemption" shipments, that is, low-value packages that are usually sent directly to U.S. consumers, will be subject to stricter scrutiny, including investigations into whether imported goods violate some U.S. bans.

The U.S. Department of Homeland Security said the action announced on the 5th will "expand the scope of targets", conduct laboratory testing and focus on law enforcement operations, etc.

It is reported that packages with a value of less than $800 sent directly from foreign countries are exempt from customs duties and will not be strictly inspected by US Customs. The number of such packages sent to the United States has surged in recent years.

In 2023, about 1 billion such packages entered the United States this way, most of which came from China. A report said that Temu and Xiyin likely accounted for nearly a third of the small exemption shipments.

Temu previously said that the allegations of its use of forced labor were unfounded and that the company's development did not rely on the "small exemption" clause. Xiyin also said that the company had "zero tolerance" for forced labor and that the "small exemption" clause was not the key to its success.

$800 tax to be changed?

In addition, it is worth noting that the new "lower limit" rule proposed by the United States may cause countries to pay different tariffs for their goods imported into the United States, and some countries may even lose this right completely.

Under the current Trade Facilitation and Trade Enforcement Act, the lower tax threshold for US imports is set at $800. However, US lawmakers have been seeking to reform this provision in recent years, especially due to the issue of duty-free low-value e-commerce imports. According to the Wall Street Journal, the resulting tax loss is as high as about $67 billion.

Republican Congresswoman Maria Elvira Salazar formally introduced the Americas Act on March 6, providing clear direction for the new lower limit rules.

The bill promises $14 billion in financial support to domestic textile manufacturing to incentivize nearshoring. The bill's sponsors propose raising revenue by adjusting lower tax rates to fund nearshoring.

Although the Americas Act is still in its early stages and has not yet been fully reviewed and voted on by the U.S. legislative system, calls to lower the lower threshold of $800 are growing louder.

A U.S. e-commerce industry insider said: "If the bill is passed, it will have a profound impact on importers and e-commerce logistics providers. In order to ensure that goods can avoid the lower limit threshold, more "creative declarations" may appear, and import business (especially air transport) will be the first to bear the brunt of the impact."

However, the source also pointed out that due to the uncertainty of U.S. politics in the short term due to the presidential election in November, he was skeptical about whether the bill could be passed smoothly.

The Ministry of Commerce responded: Serious concern!

In fact, this is not the first time that the United States has picked on Chinese e-commerce. As early as April 2023, the U.S.-China Economic and Security Review Commission under the U.S. Congress issued a report pointing out that Chinese e-commerce platforms such as Shein and Temu have problems with data security, procurement violations, and infringement of intellectual property rights, and recommended that the U.S. government remain vigilant.

In response, Shu Jueting, a spokesperson for the Ministry of Commerce, said at a regular press conference that the US report was unverified, used uncertain expressions, and quoted non-authoritative corporate statements to accuse Chinese e-commerce platforms, which was neither professional nor responsible. China expressed serious concern about this.

Shu Jueting pointed out that the Chinese government attaches great importance to data security and intellectual property protection, constantly improves the legislative system, improves law enforcement efficiency, guides industry self-discipline, and resolutely punishes illegal acts in accordance with the law. China is willing to strengthen cooperation with all parties to jointly create a fair and competitive business environment for global companies.

At that time, according to Sensor Tower data, four of the top five popular apps in the US app store were from China, including Temu, CapCut, TikTok and Shein.

 Enterprises and individuals engaged in trade-related activities, pay attention to new changes in the event!

Source: Comprehensively compiled from the Foreign Cross-Research Institute, Guanchazhe.com, etc. Disclaimer: The above manuscripts are original from the platform or reprinted from the Internet. If copyright is involved, or the copyright owner is unwilling to publish on this platform, please contact us. We will delete it as soon as we receive the information.

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