The Biden administration announced on Friday that it was taking new action against Chinese online companies like Temu and Shein.
China-founded e-commerce platforms have been accused by the White House of abusing the “de minimis exemption.” This exemption allows imports of an aggregate fair retail value of $800 or less to enter the U.S. duty- and tax-free.
According to the White House, the number of shipments entering the U.S. claiming the de minimis exemption has spiked from about 140 million annually to over 1 billion annually.
“This exponential increase in de minimis shipments makes it more challenging to enforce U.S. trade laws, health and safety requirements, intellectual property rights, consumer protection rules, and to block illicit synthetic drugs such as fentanyl and synthetic drug raw materials and machinery from entering the country,” a White House press release sent out on Friday read.
The press release announced that the Biden administration …