With de minimis in the news, the Congressional Research Service published two new reports on Section 321.

The first report is on Imports and the Section 321 (De Minimis) Exemption: Origins, Evolution, and Use. The report discusses why Congress enacted Section 321 in 1938, its policy expansion in the 1990s to “recast Section 321 as a tool of trade facilitation” and increased use in international negotiations, and emerging concerns and legislative proposals aimed at addressing the current de minimis framework.

Since the Entry Type 86 Test and the Section 321 Data Pilot were initiated, an increasing percentage of entries claiming the de minimis exemption have used the programs (Table 5). In 2020, 29% of de minimis entries entered using the Entry Type 86 Test and the Section 321 Data Pilot. By 2023, approximately 79% of de minimis entries had entered the United States under the Entry Type 86 Test and the Section 321 Data Pilot providing additional data, including HTSUS codes on de minimis entries.

As always, the CRS report concludes with considerations for Congress. It notes that Congress does not currently authorize the President to adjust the de minimis threshold to account for inflation and highlights that it is difficult to estimate the potential impact of eliminating Section 321 due to the wide variety of industries and countries involved, but cite a 2024 economic study that concluded eliminating de minimis “would reduce aggregate welfare by $10.9-$13.0 billion and disproportionately hurt lower-income and minority consumers.”

The second publication is an In Focus Report on China’s E-Commerce Exports and U.S. De Minimis Policies. The report provides insight into how China has intentionally grown their e-commerce expansion into the U.S. market through use of Section 321.

CBP estimates that from FY2018-2021, 67.4 percent ($228.3 billion) of U.S. de minimis imports were from the PRC ($149 billion from mainland China and $79.3 billion from Hong Kong). (Figure 2). It estimates that in 2023, total U.S. de minimis imports were one billion parcels valued at about $54.5 billion. The PRC reports $18.4 billion in 2023 de minimis exports to the United States; this amount is roughly one-third of the $54.5 billion U.S. de minimis imports from all sources that CBP reported for 2023. (Figure 1). While CBP data does not delineate which U.S. de minimis imports involve e-commerce transactions, the U.S. International Trade Commission estimated that in FY2022, 83% of total U.S. e-commerce imports were de minimis imports.

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