US Small Colishs Faille to close by pushing the prices for Shein and Temu

A fee in rights franchise for low -value packages is about to be closed by President Donald Trump, raising prices for American business customers like Shein and Temu.

The Chinese online giants of retail reluctantly relied on the so-called “minimis” exemption to sell and send items at low value directly to the United States without having to pay for imports or import taxes.

Supporters of the escape, who applied to parcels of a value of less than $ 800 (£ 600), argue that he contributed to rationalize the customs process.

But Trump and his predecessor, Joe Biden, said that he had damaged American companies and had been used to pass illegal products, including drugs.

De minimis is a Latin term, which literally translates into “smaller”.

In this context, it refers to an American commercial rule promulgated in 1938 to allow tourists to return to the United States to bring up to $ 5 (around $ 112 in money today) without declaring them to customs.

In the 21st century, it allowed retailers to send plans worth $ 800 to American customers without having to pay taxes or taxes.

Expension expeditions represent more than 90% of all cargoes entering the United States, according to customs and the country’s border patrol (CBP).

Chinese online retailers like Shein and Temu have greatly benefited from the escape.

The two platforms attracted millions of American customers with blitz marketing who showed their ultra-basé prices

And it was the minimis exemption that helped them offer these offers at a lower cost.

Shein and Temu did not immediately respond to the requests for comments from the BBC.

However, last month, in almost identical statements, rival companies said they had seen operating expenses increase “due to recent changes in global rules and prices”, adding that they will make “prices adjustments” from April 25.

In February, Trump briefly closed the fault.

The suspension was quickly interrupted while customs inspectors, delivery companies and online retailers have struggled to adapt to such a major short -term change.

During the initial suspension of the exemption, the American postal service temporarily ceased to accept the plots of continental China and Hong Kong.

The executive decree announcing the last decision said that it was aimed at combating illegal importing of synthetic opioids such as fentanyl.

He said that many Chinese shipments use misleading practices to hide illicit substances in low -value packages “to exploit the minimis exemption”.

“These drugs kill tens of thousands of Americans each year, including 75,000 deaths per year attributed to fentanyl alone,” he added.

Under the decree, these Continental China and Hong Kong packages will become subject to import rights on May 2 and the load will increase the following month.

The idea is not new. Last year, the Biden administration proposed rules intended to put an end to the “abuses” of the exemption.

“The growing volume of minimis shipments is increasingly difficult to target and block illegal or dangerous expeditions,” he said.

This decision complies with Trump policies to repress the goods of China.

Since his return to the White House in January, Trump has imposed taxes up to 145% on Chinese imports. Its administration said in April that when new prices are added to those existing, samples from certain Chinese products could reach 245%.

The American authorities also blamed the success of companies like Temu and Shein for having put strains on the border authorities, because the number of packages entering the United States under the flaw rose from 140 million ten years ago to more than a billion last year.

Even before these packages become subject to import taxes, American consumers have seen prices increase.

Shein and Temu began to set up prices for their American customers before the deadline of May 2 “due to recent changes in global rules and rates”.

The American Action Forum, a group of right -wing policies, estimated last year that getting rid of the exemption would lead to “$ 8 billion at $ 30 billion in additional annual costs which would ultimately be reflected in consumers”.

Chinese online retailers have also benefited from rules similar to the United Kingdom and the European Union to reach millions of customers.

It is feared that American repression can lead to cheap goods from China in the United Kingdom.

In a movement reflecting American action, the United Kingdom has announced an examination of low-value imports into the country.

In the United Kingdom, the current rule allows international retailers to send packages to the United Kingdom worth less than £ 135 without incurring import taxes.

Chancellor Rachel Reeves said that cheap products “undercoat British and British retailers”.

The European Union has also called on Member States to eliminate rights exemptions from rights for parcels worth less than € 150 (£ 127.50; $ 169.35)

And in February, the EU proposed new costs for packages shipped in the online retailers block.

This means that consumers in the United Kingdom and the EU may also see the price increase.

The packages that arrive in the United States under the exemption are inspected in the same way as other goods, in particular by being verified for illegal substances. And most synthetic opioids are brought to the country through the border with Mexico, according to officials.

Some experts believe that the end of the exemption will not do much to limit illegal drugs and not meet the challenges faced by American manufacturers.

There are also concerns that the decision will create more work for officials of the American borders, who are already stretched while they are trying to stop the smuggling of drugs.

According to the Pro-Opt Trading Association, the National Foreign Trade Council (NFTC), the abolition of the exemption from minimis “would distance attention from the border CBP, where a large majority of substances and illegal products enter the country”.

“The CBP should hire and train new staff members, cost the Millions Agency or have them moved agents from the already overloaded southern border,” he added.