De Minimis

DHL Global Forwarding, a subsidiary of global logistics and express delivery provider Deutsche Post DHL focused on air and ocean freight, announced it has rolled out a new consolidated clearance service, which it said is geared towards U.S. imports to support retailers as they deal with trade shifts and tariff complexity.

While 32% of logistics stakeholders report operational disruptions like cost increases and slower deliveries, nearly half say they've seen no impact—suggesting a complex, uneven industry transition.

Logistics Management Group News Editor Jeff Berman spoke with Jeff Tafel, president of the Washington, D.C.-based National Association of Foreign-Trade Zones. Topics covered included: the impact of the recent removal of the de minimis exemption on Foreign Trade-Zone activity, the mission of the NAFTZ, and the impact of tariffs, among others.

Effective today, August 29, the de minimis exemption, which allows shipments under $800 sent to the United States to not be subject to tariffs, officially will be removed. That was the edict delivered in a White House executive order in late July.

Following an executive order issued in May, which ended the de minimis exemption—allowing shipments under $800 sent from China and Hong Kong to the U.S. to not be subject to tariffs, the White House this week issued a new executive order suspended the de minimis exemption for various imported goods.

The de minimis exemption, which allowed shipments under $800 sent from China and Hong Kong to the U.S. to not be subject to tariffs, and officially came to an end on May 2. With this change now in effect, it requires all shipments from these regions—regardless of value—to undergo full customs processing and be subject to applicable tariffs, as noted in various reports.

Following the United States and China announcing yesterday that they have agreed to drop substantial tariffs placed on each other for a 90-day period, through August 12, the White House announced later in the day, through an executive order, that it is lowering applied de minimis tariff rates placed on low-value imports under $800 imported into the United States from China and also Hong Kong.

This move is expected to have a major impact on online retailers like Shein and Temu, which rely on sending goods directly to U.S. shoppers without paying tariffs.

While the major focus of the White House’s executive order issued on April 8 was the increase in tariffs on imported goods from China into the United States to 104%, the executive order also included updates to the de minimis exemption, which allows goods under $800 sent from China and Hong Kong to the U.S. to not be subject to tariffs. 

In this podcast, Jeff Berman, Group News Editor for Logistics Management and the Peerless Media Supply Chain Group, interviews Paul Yaussy, Senior Director of Parcel Consulting, for San Diego-based Shipware, and Adi Karamcheti, Consultant, Professional Services at Shipware.

In addition to the implementation of sweeping tariffs on United States global trading partners earlier this week, the Executive Order issued by the White House also included language regarding the end of the de minimis treatment, which allows goods under $800 sent from China and Hong Kong to the U.S. to not be subject to tariffs. 

From tariff stacking to the end of de minimis, Flexport CEO Ryan Petersen and VP of Customs Bernie Hart break down Trump’s new trade orders.

The report, entitled “The E-Commerce Boom Isn’t Over: Implications for Logistics Real Estate,” examines how more than five years after the onset of the Covid-19 pandemic and the subsequent re-opening of the economy, recent consumer behavior is showing a return to value, convenience, and choice, while examining retailers, supply chains, and logistics real estate, as it relates to e-commerce going forward.

Craig Reed, SVP of Global Trade at Avalara, breaks down why the latest tariffs feel different, how the de minimis rule is being misread, and what China’s retaliation could look like.

Late last week, President Donald Trump inked an executive order that will take steps, albeit temporarily, to reinstate the de minimis treatment, which allows goods under $800 sent from China to the U.S. to not be subject to tariffs. The de minimis treatment being reinstated came shortly after in the executive order, entitled “Amendment to Duties Addressing the Synthetic Opioid Supply Chain in the People’s Republic of China.”