Trump's Canada, Mexico, China tariffs suspend loophole behind fentanyl shipments
Donald Trump's new tariff orders against Canada, Mexico and China all contain clauses suspending a duty-free exemption for low-value shipments below $800 that is widely seen as a loophole that has allowed shipments of fentanyl and its precursor chemicals into the United States.
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Staunching that flow was a primary motivation cited by Trump in imposing sweeping import taxes on goods on the three largest U.S. trading partners. Absent a fully global end to the so-called «de minimis» exemption, it is not clear how effective Trump's approach will be at curbing the flow of fentanyl.
The suspension of the exemption is due to last as long as Trump's tariffs are in place. It also could cause problems for Chinese e-commerce companies, including Shein and PDD Holdings' Temu, which have exploited the exemption to ship individual consumer goods packages directly from China to avoid previous U.S. tariffs on Chinese imports.
Such small shipments often are not screened at ports of entry, allowing shipments of drugs and their ingredients to enter undetected. A Reuters investigation last year revealed how Chinese chemical traders are using the de minimis exception to sneak shipments of precursors into the United States, from where they are conveyed across the border to fentanyl labs in Mexico.
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