The de minimis loophole comes from back in the 1930s. The idea back then was, say you went on a vacation to Paris, you shouldn’t have to file customs paperwork or pay taxes if you decided to ship some little Eiffel Tower statues to your friends back home.
Congress in 2015 then raised the de minimis threshold from $200 to $800. However, the e-commerce world exploded, and Chinese companies began using the de minimis loophole to ship cheap goods (ex. Temu and Shein) into the USA direct to consumers without paying any customs duty.
Yesterday as part of the global trade reset and tariff structure, President Trump revoked authorization for Chinese goods to transfer to the USA using the de minimis rule. The de minimis exemption has been cancelled for all products coming out of China. The rule change only targets China and Chinese shippers. No one else.
[See Executive Order Here]
The minimum duty is $25, and the tariff rate is 30% for all products mailed from China into the USA that previously qualified under the de minimis rule.
Beyond tariffs or sector specific countervailing duties, the removal of China to use the $800 de minimis exemption will destroy their economy. There is no way for manufacturers in China, marketed into the USA, to be able to survive if they are forced to collect and organize the requirements for U.S. custom and import duties. They will simply dissolve.
FACT SHEET – […] “Following the Secretary of Commerce’s notification that adequate systems are in place to collect tariff revenue, President Trump is ending duty-free de minimis treatment for covered goods from the People’s Republic of China (PRC) and Hong Kong starting May 2, 2025 at 12:01 a.m. EDT.
Imported goods sent through means other than the international postal network that are valued at or under $800 and that would otherwise qualify for the de minimis exemption will be subject to all applicable duties, which shall be paid in accordance with applicable entry and payment procedures.
All relevant postal items containing goods that are sent through the international postal network that are valued at or under $800 and that would otherwise qualify for the de minimis exemption are subject to a duty rate of either 30% of their value or $25 per item (increasing to $50 per item after June 1, 2025). This is in lieu of any other duties, including those imposed by prior Orders.
Carriers transporting these postal items must report shipment details to U.S. Customs and Border Protection (CBP), maintain an international carrier bond to ensure duty payment, and remit duties to CBP on a set schedule.
CBP may require formal entry for any postal package instead of the specified duties.
The Secretary of Commerce will submit a report within 90 days assessing the Order’s impact and considering whether to extend these rules to packages from Macau.” (more)
This is an excellent, smart decision.
This puts the Chinese government and its puppets like Temu and Schein on notice that USA Greatnessis back.
Buy American and MAGA!
A welcome outcome is an end to their annoying online ads.
I have a lot of friends who are going to be heartbroken not to buy clothes and purses from Temu! LOL
It’s all garbage anyway.
LOL, when I complimented a friend in her tunic that had “glitz” scattered in it…she replied, she got it from Temu and it will probably disintegrate when she washes it.
Some Amazon stuff too. Bought a dog leash that came shipped from China.
When it was too large, they refunded my money but said keep it rather than send back to China. I donated to rummage.
Wonder how it will affect stores like H&M?
This is a major example of our own demise. Somewhere, sometime, some US citizens changed their way of thinking. Buy American made, hometown made, grown. The products used to be above grade for quality. I still own actual pieces handed down for generations. We need to begin to make quality products. We as buyers need to buy quality products. Cheap is just that.
I still wash and wear t shirts from the 70’s. They were quality made back then.
Sheets here!
Remember ‘Waccamaw Linen’?
I still have and wear a lovely blouse…my ’emancipation blouse’ that I bought on my first shopping trip in Dallas, as a young adult, alone…I was in college and shocked at how expensive Titche’s and Sanger Harris were…but I fell in love with the blouse and had to have it in 1977. And still do now.
This is a terrible decision
The Biden Family will now get less money from the CCP – how will Hunter survive?
There are probably hundreds (Congress) if not thousands in the corrupt DC are that benefited from this rule.
No more.
Listen to their cries and you will know who they are.
Like Mitch McConnell?
Absolutely! Who will think of the bought politicians at all levels of government? The business people who’ve happily sold out their country for decades?
What are they going to do now?
Not to mention puppets in the US. Looking at you, Mitch.
I hope this helps end the Chinese shippers printing fake postage labels that enables them to use USPS to deliver their crap for free.
As someone who was directly affected by trade/immigration policies going back decades, the de minimis rule was the coup de grace’ and finished off small manufacturing in the USA.
Good move, good start.
MAGA! America First!
What kind of tariffs will China have to pay when purchasing Bidens, oligarchs, Brian Kemp, legislators, General Milley and Gavin Newsom?
“Available Wherever Fine Senators are Bought and Sold!”
No question, for sale to the highest bidder.
Four of them made it obvious yesterday who they worked for.
Know mitch isn’t running again, even though the cabal has his replacement waiting in the wings. Aren’t there 2 more of those 4 exiting?
I used to kind of agree with Paul but he’s way off base on this issue.
Rand is bearing his libertarian “free trade” butt on this.
Gentle correction.. “fine” with “sorid”
Don’t forget the Bushes. GH was ambassador to China and W was not going to undo anything daddy did.
too many to name!
BTW, the tariffs that PDJT has imposed are ‘discounted’ – approx 50% of what the other country is charging (where >20%).
Therefore, the phrase ‘level playing field’ should not be uttered.
Is this the new liberal talking point? I saw this “discounted” line all over the place yesterday.
It has been discussed here that one of the attack points the left will use is – perfect os the enemy of good enough.
Seems like this is a good example.
President Trump briefed this off the chart that Lutnick handed him if you watched the ceremony.
Worse, his part in this production is the village idiot.
Yesterday Coffee and Covid has some thoughts on the manufactured “disarray of democrats”. They are not in disarray at all, merely biding their time while quietly (or not) waiting to pounce.
Excerpts:
Of course the Democrats aren’t led by the bumbling dummies out front, who can hardly scrape a coherent sentence together. They are led by Soros and Pritzger and the rest of their leftwing oligarchs. The left isn’t floundering. They’re testing, probing, and learning.
Wisconsin and Florida proved the Democrats’ secret leadership is not in any kind of disarray. They aren’t broke. They aren’t confused. They just mounted a massive, off-year special election machine spending record amounts of money—and still stayed off the radar. And —albeit at terrific cost— they held onto their Wisconsin Supreme Court seat.
While Republicans were relaxing because “Democrats are in disarray,” progressives were flexing and quietly lining up their next shots. Soros and Pritzger were testing their 2026 playbook. It was a field test, probing Republican defenses and weaknesses.
https://www.coffeeandcovid.com/p/liberated-wednesday-april-2-2025?publication_id=463409&post_id=160416791&isFreemail=true&r=209fvb&triedRedirect=true
Back in 2016 we heard the same stuff about how the democrats were destroyed and how would they ever recover. Didn’t take them long as I recall.
The democrats lost the special elections. Lost.
Even when republicans win some people have to pretend it’s a loss…
and we still see RNC still trying to ” clean ” voter rolls and establish ineffective ” get out the vote” programs using outdated processes. Why would you continue to send support dollars to the RNC – they are a phy-ops arm of the DNC as far as I am concerned.
Jay Valentine from Omega4America claims that his fractal computing operations effectively cross references existing computer accounts and identifies false addressing and relevant impactive election records/sources. IS he lying? He claims to have numerous successful operations in various states which effectively identified criminal election actions – why isnt the RNC using this – they appear silent and ignorant of it- why?
This gives President Trump an assessment time to see if further action is needed on a belligerent country, a bargaining tool for future carrot and stick diplomacy.
Yes. This encourages other nations to be “nice” because he is only halfway to exact Reciprocal Tariffs.
They know that the USA is at “carrot” and still has the opportunity to take the tariffs to “stick”.
NEVER let perfect be the enemy of good. Dude, this initial move by President Trump definitely qualifies as good. As Mr. Lighthizer mentioned on his Tucker interview, there will be many “small knob” adjustments in the months and years ahead. Including some possible mistakes and recalculations.
Methinks some people don’t understand the complexity and massive impact this has on a lot of organizations both inside and outside the U.S. Thank you, President Trump! This is exactly what you were elected to do…
” It Is Not the Critic Who Counts ” – TEDDY ROOSEVELT
https://www.theodorerooseveltcenter.org/Learn-About-TR/TR-Encyclopedia/Culture-and-Society/Man-in-the-Arena.aspx
GOD SPEED – POTUS Donald J. Trump – PRAYING For DISCERNMENT
So much for that loophole China was using.
Oh the gnashing of teeth from the Rino section. The gravy train of money for nothing is about to end. The ones whining about tariffs need removed from office.
No wonder McConnell was a no vote! I think he and his wife have enough gravy from that train.
Never enough gravy for these immoral swine.
Never!
Jesus took a whip to the money lenders outside the temple. In a sense that is what President Trump is doing with Doge and our tax dollars. There’s so much that is not what it is supposed to be. NO one cared enough to try to stop it, until POTUS and Elon Musk. One bullet could have changed the course of history. Thanks be to Almighty God for His excellent mercies!!
No doubt they do.
But they need to enrich all their extended family members and all their other assorted cronies.
The number of pigs feeding at the trough is always increasing.
Not exactly. McConnell voted No because his wife and her family own a shipping business that brings cheap Chinese goods into the US.
I wonder if there was a McConnelll Maga moment in the idea of bringing ship building back to the US?
Make Norfolk great again! American ships, built by Americans for America….for an ultimate crew of mariners, merchant and otherwise, from America.
There’s never “enough” for folks like the McConnell’s! Insatiable greed till their dying breath!
.
How is this to be enforced? Can’t they just ship them to a Chinese “clearing house” site they set up in another country and reship them from there?
.
They will ship to Canada, then Canada US
But Canada was subject to tariffs. I did hear, though, that they had caved. We’ll see, I guess. Canada has been a conduit into the U.S. for dumped Chinese goids for a long time (aluminum was a prime example, back in the day).
That’s why Trump made the claim that Canada is letting drugs through, calling it a national emergency.
Sneaky, sneaky.
This article shows how Trump can get around Congress:
https://www.millercanfield.com/resources-Can-President-Impose-Tariffs-Without-Congressional-Approval.html
It’s what they do now
And pay tariffs to Canada, then the trans-shipper pays Canada tariffs to the US? Plus Canada Post costs? Seems like they will get hit either way.
yes.
point of origin/”made in” should be the determining factor.
a bit of tweaking might be necessary to eliminate cheating,
but that can be done as necessary.
Back in the day…that was called “smuggling”…to avoid “import duties”.
With a multitude of protection type laws…if the average Joe did not “declare” foreign purchases over a dollar amount, when returning from abroad…one could get arrested.
Do they still have “Duty Free Zones in airports?
US Deep State GloboHomo ChiComm-bought-and-paid-for traitors hardest hit …
hopefully the ricardo wine vs wheat theory of comparative advantage all boats lifted as the tide rises etc. theory will be put to rest. it destroyed our industrial manufacturing base and doomed tens of millions and generations of americans to the advantage of foreign coolies. i’m long americans and short the world. maga!
This is how I like to start the day, kicking aces! Excellent work, Mr. President, Sir!
Yes, please.
Absolutely!
USPS is about to lose a ton of business. I expect TEMU discounting to happen fast. The hucksters will off load what the can on the way out of town.
That should improve the workload of the postal workers
Now reduce the Union Postal Workers!
Should improve the bottom line
Temu is crap
That dang autocorrect again!
Yeah, but I got a helluva laugh first thing this morning when I saw it! 😀
Hey Teaforall (and everyone else) – instead of making a second post, please just edit your original comment.
First, proof your comments before posting. Read your comment after posting. If you need to make a correction afterward, hover to find the tool icon for editing. You have a limited amount of time to do this, and cannot do it after someone replies to your comment.
If all else fails, one can email admins and ask for their post to be removed – or ask other Treepers to flag the comment to have it removed automatically. Usually, all subsequent replies will go bye-bye too, however. 😉
Auto Insert is a thing, isn’t it? I loathe it..
Auto Smell Stinks!
This has GOT to help the USPS as my belief is that they are delivering all this cheap Chinese product for free.
Aren’t they also subsidizing Bezos Amazon?
The sad panda picture is appropriate! LOL!
This will also eliminate the ability for Chinese gangs to bypass Customs inspections of containers as well. De Minimus allowed for anything and everything to come into America sight unseen.
Such as the components for making fentanyl into pills for easy distribution…
such as humans including children.
I do not have data on that, specifically with regard to De Minimus shipments..
However De Minimus typically is Chinese companies pre-packaging, sealing, and then affixing USPS labels to, (while paying little or no postage to the US), whatever they choose to put in boxes or shipping bags.
Those sealed packages are then loaded into containers which have special labeling that allows them to completely bypass US Customs inspections either leaving China or arriving in America, picked up and distributed to American addresses by our very own USPS.
I shudder to think children are packed in between boxes on those containers… 🥹😢
Lord have Mercy…
And Glock handgun “switches” that turn that brand of semi-automatic handguns into fully automatic weapons!!
Is Wall Street throwing a tariff temper tantrum today or what? Little stompy feet CEOs of multi-nationals and the so-called “smart money” crowd expect us to believe that they were caught totally unprepared for yesterday’s announcement by the best President EVER! I’m not buying their BS. Nor should anyone else.
Best thing to do is ignore the talking heads – who are screeching already – and enjoy the day. (They’ve been wrong about everything anyway. Today will be no different.) Do something else besides obsess over the value of your 401K. You will not be living in a cardboard box tonight, tomorrow night or the next night. Over.
Epic thoughts…401’s money you don’t control….if you treat it as casino money life is better. Trust me
If you don’t liquidate, you don’t lose. Your losses are on paper, and they will be recouped in time. If you are still buying and dollar cost averaging, you’ll make out like a bandit.
Exactly! Stay the course. The worst thing you can do is move to cash. On a long-term chart of the S&P, these downturns are mere blips.
Well Said Boss. This is a historical reset for America. The American worker has been screwed for many many years. Listen to the “All in” podcast with Howard Lutnick. Eye opening. I see all those beautiful US factories & American jobs coming home. Trump has been talking about the unfairness of Taxes since the 90s.
“Tariffs”, not taxes.
The “smart money”crowd lost all credibility in 2008..
Hear, hear!
Amazing. I have even more respect for President Trump than I did before yesterday. I don’t think people realize the tremendous pressure he likely faced from lobbyists, Wall Street, and perhaps even within his own circle. Anyone else would have folded like a cheap suit. We all know how spineless these politicians are. This has been nothing less than historic.
A lot of people, and almost everyone here, do understand the tremendous pressure President Trump faces from those mentioned.
We watched it the first time he fixed and then unleashed the economy. We benefited greatly from it, until the globalists unleashed covid.
Then obama’s biden’s IC’s globalists demons took from US what President Trump made good, and would have continued to do much much worse. Hence the pressure campaign from those about to lose their ill gotten gains.
We are in the process of Taking It All Back. ‘Tis all.
“So, where did the tariff rates for all these obscure countries come from?”
Answer: they are, across the board, 50% of what those countries now charge us!
For almost 100 years, the USA has paid tariffs without collecting them. We have been played for suckers – and, we were.
Try telling that to the media and Wall Street. It’s been nonstop screeching. God forbid we use tariffs just like every other country does. The sleazy politicians don’t surprise me, but it is interesting how the communist MSM also does Wall Street’s bidding.
I consume a large amount of business media (WSJ/Bloomberg/CNBC) as part of my profession. A good portion of even that has always been propaganda. As SD says, once you see the stings on the marionette, its very hard to ignore them after the fact.
I keep waiting for someone to point out that the world for almost 100 years has been applying tariffs to US exports with little to no complaints from the globalists. Why is it good for the EU/India/Chine et al but not for us?
Further, every “Free Trade” agreement in the history of our nation was 100% pure propaganda. There never was free trade. These agreements were always “managed trade” in codifying foreign nations tariffs on US goods. Remember: every congressional bill’s intention is the opposite of what its called (“Patriot Act,” “NAFTA,” “Inflation Reduction Act” “Patient Affordability Act”).
The tariffs are effectively eliminating the profits the “Wall street/Globalists folks” were reaping with their creation of “Proactive Financial Footprints” (to the detriment of Americans) in these countries (slave labor, crappy products, paultry regulations, no tariff into the US market).
Now, with the “Incentive” nuked.. they are left with worthless investments.
FAFO
The doomesday predictions on X are off the charts.. Trunp
is tanking the economy… the markets are crashingetc.. oh and
they are wondering
and insinuating why Russia has no tarrifffs and someone
pointed out neither does N.Korea.(Yes it was pointed out to
them the reason why)
If I were India, Vietnam, Bangladesh, Honduras, etc…. I would be racing to the White House today to wave any tariffs on US goods. Americans will still want cheap stuff.
I hope he doesn’t waive them honestly. We need to break the cycle of importing cheap junk from third world countries.
I agree.
You can buy a cheap tool that will break and make you bust your knuckles, or buy a good tool for a little more and it will last for years and so will your knuckles
Throughout our country’s rich and exceptional history, we have always imported goods from other places. That shouldn’t and won’t change.
Who says it shouldn’t? I can see importing goods that we (legitimately) can’t make or that are unique to a specific geographical location, but there is absolutely no reason that we need to import medications, hammers, screws, nails, wire, most clothing, and the list goes on. Just because we have done something in our “country’s rich and exceptional history” doesn’t mean that it’s right. We also allowed slavery at one point, but no one is advocating for that now. We certainly don’t need junk from Vietnam, Bangladesh, Honduras, etc. like you mention.
I would also mention that tariffs and a desire to protect domestic manufacturing have been apparent from the late 1700s through the 1900s. Even after the Revolutionary War, there was concern about limiting British imports. Their cheap/slave labor was undercutting American prices, and they understood that this was a matter of national importance. I would also study Calvin Coolidge. He once said, “The chief business of the American people is business.” At the same time, he kept tariff rates high to protect American manufacturing profits and high wages.
I disagree with your entire premise. Your thinking is outdated corporatist nonsense, and it’s the reason we’re in the position we’re in now. We’re going to see major changes moving forward thankfully..
Chill. Pls note my comments on this and other threads. I am 100% behind Trump’s strategy on tariffs. It is naive to think or expect that we will stop all imports. It would be foolish to do so.
Telling me to “chill” is a lame response, mostly because the original point you made is indefensible, corporatist propaganda. Where did I say that I want to stop all imports? I specifically said that I don’t support importing products from third world countries that we can produce ourselves. I believe that we should be manufacturing products that are economically feasible here in the United States. In instances where we cannot, or there is a unique import that can’t be obtained here, then by all means, let’s import. But to have no trade barriers with Vietnam, Bangladesh, China, Honduras, etc, so they can take advantage of and undercut our prices and manufacturing sector…that’s a hard NO from me.
People can’t get past the “reciprocal” part, reacting as if we’re acting unilaterally, initiating a “trade war.”
It already WAS unilateral, one-way AGAINST us.
But if the goal is free trade then the only option is to waive them once the tariffs on U.S. goods are removed. It’s not about revenge it’s about resetting global expectations regarding the U.S.’s position on being taken advantage of for over 75 years.
You think China is going to magically waive all their tariffs? I mean this in the nicest way possible…keep dreaming. That may be the long-term goal, but in the immediate future, President Trump has specifically said that his goal is to penalize companies for not manufacturing here. Those tariffs will drive up costs for foreign exporters, and his hope (mine too) is that this incentivizes them to make investments in America. That’s why he keeps saying, “If you produce your product in America, there will be no tariffs.”
Some say Chinese manufacturers already operate on only a 10% margin, and therefore CANNOT eat the 25% cost alone.
Thus Costco and Amazon will be forced to pass on the cost, and as happened during Covid, they may use Mexican brands to avoid the tariff.
Vietnam already did.
The notion that Americans will still want cheap stuff got us into this mess in the first place. Buy Made in the USA.
I will happily pay more for products that last. There will always be a market for poorer quality products for people who barely use them or simply cannot afford better quality. That’s okay.
I want screws that are made from US steel that don’t strip when you use a power tool on them. That alone, would make me happy. I would pay double/triple the price for them.
I think that there is a market for all sort of price points. Some people ONLY care about getting something for the lowest price. Great for them. Some of us will pay for quality and Made in the USA. That is me.
Also, remember the PDJT’s plan is to get No Income Taxes on people making less than $150,000. That puts more money in American’s pockets. That means that Americans have more money to spend and/or more money to save/invest. WHEN the stock market starts booming again then think of how much money you could put into stocks and make a killing.
Amen. My granddaughter will be forced to stop buying tacky crap from Temu. 🙂
Chyyyyna going to be big 😡
BEA-HAHAHAHA !!!!
China had an opportunity to be nice and let Canadian “leaders” cooperate with PDJT. Instead, China decided to pick a fight with PDJT via Canadian leaders. Now, he is punching back bigly.
Quilting is my hobby. I did a shallow dive into where the basic cotton for making quilting fabric comes from. It’s called greige goods.
China, 24.2% is the top producer of cotton in 2024, followed by India, 23%, Brazil, 12.8%, the USA, 10.2%, then Pakistan, 5.9%. US cotton produced is a highly mechanized production process, China uses slave Uyghur labor production using low tech methods.
This griege goods are then sent to South Korea, Japan, the US, India for producing quilting cotton. Other countries, most in China & southeast Asia, export textile with the US being 8th in the top 10, in 2022.
I think the tariff equalizing will spur US production of cotton & textiles. There are some US textile producers, for quilting cotton. Clothworks is one.
Fellow quilter here. I would love to see textile production shift back into the United States too, even just a little.
A single county in VA lost 10,000 well-paying jobs when textiles disappeared.
My home town is littered with empty factories that used to employ thousands at good jobs. It’s really sad.
Look at NYC Garment District
Cotton fields are being paved over with solar farms as I have seen with Mk 1 eyeballs.
Cotton fields are still king in my part of the world…(Ga)
Is where I saw them being destroyed.
I see cotton fields here in North and North East Texas as well.
I’m not a quilter myself, but with all the news on tariffs, I read about one company in the U.S that actually makes cotton linens from cotton grown in Alabama.
Not sure if this will help quilters as I think they offer finished product, but might be worth contacting to ask if they know of U.S. sourced cotton material for quilters.
The company is Red Land Cotton. From their site: “Luxury linens crafted from the finest quality cotton grown on the rich red land of North Alabama.”
https://www.redlandcotton.com
Interview with Mark Yeager, the co-founder’s of Red Land Cotton — His take on tariffs and our gutted textile industry: “It could supercharge our industry”
https://1819news.com/news/item/it-could-supercharge-our-industry-moultons-red-land-cotton-owner-offers-positive-view-of-trumps-tariffs
They advertise high quality bedding on TV. Good for them!
Thank you sunrei. I will look into the information you have provided. Have a wonderful evening.
NurseSusy, I am a quilter. The best cotton quilt fabrics years ago were USA made and beautiful patterns. Hoffman was my favorite. Are they still producing fabric!
I actually have a ‘concern’ – which is, when the communist ruling party of China removes Premier Xi, blaming him for the economic ruin which is about to befall China, is he replaced with a hardline military general whose only idea for fixing things is to attack Taiwan to stop the trade between Taiwan and the US, especially the chip making companies, leading to WWIII.
Hope that likely possibility has been worked into the calculus of the Trump-47 team.
Taiwan Semiconductor (TCMC) is hedging and building plants in the USA. They will still be around long after the Chicoms take control over Taiwan.
Should have done this a decade ago.
That’s my concern too. Xi will take the fall; hardliner comes in to take his place.
And then what about halting pharmaceuticals? Where will all our sick, diabetic population get their insulin? If China produces 95% of it?
People in my little corner of the world (indie publishing) are losing their collective minds over this. China has basically cornered the market on book printing. They’re all melting down about it and heaven forbid you suggest that just maybe US printers will start to pick up the slack. They genuinely seem to believe that this is the end to any kind of physical book printing. And of course, there’s nothing I can say without risking getting blackballed out of the community… it’s sad.
In other words….they’re all liberals, right?
Perfect summation!
Touché
I like Good Qualiy when I spend my money,
buy American made like back in 50’years a go,
The minimum duty is $25, and the tariff rate is 30% for all products mailed from China into the USA that previously qualified under the de minimis rule.
That will kill off a LOT of stuff on eBay, at least until they establish a collective warehouse where small sellers can bulk ship to the US or to US sellers OR do the same in China which then ships to a warehouse in the US for fulfillment. There is LOTS of direct from China stuff on eBay which, to add insult to injury, gets shipping from China cheaper than within the US due to the following. Has this been ended?
Why and How China Post and USPS are Killing Your Private Labeling Business
February 6, 2023
https://www.ecomcrew.com/why-china-post-and-usps-are-killing-your-private-labeling-business/
October 2018: The Trump administration has announced plans to pull out of the Universal Postal Union which would effectively end ePacket. [apparently didn’t happen – see next paragraph – W]
For many years, sellers in China have been able to ship for less from China to America than local American sellers can domestically, thanks to something called ePacket. In September 2019 this was all set to change, however, the Universal Postal Union and the United States reached a deal that will allow countries to set rates for individual countries more freely.
The United States did not ultimately pull out of the Universal Postal Union (UPU); instead, a compromise was reached in September 2019 that allowed the U.S. to remain a member while implementing self-declared rates for high-volume mail importers.
In 2010-2011, USPS entered into an agreement with Hong Kong Post and China Post that came into effect in 2011 to offer a shipping option called “ePacket”. What an ePacket basically boils down to is that merchants in Hong Kong and mainland China could now ship packages up to 4.4 lbs, with tracking and 7-10 business day delivery times. But here’s the kicker – shipping a package from China to the U.S. is about $1 cheaper than from within the United States. That’s not a typo. It’s $1 cheaper to ship from China to the USA than from the USA to the USA.
USPS reports its loses, on average, to be $1.10 for each package it delivers from China. In fact, in 2014 USPS reported that they lost over $75 million delivering foreign mail. U.S. congress held meetings regarding the subject in 2015.
Amazon’s Chinese stuff will be less affected because they can simply ship bulk to Amazon warehouses and have Amazon do the fulfillment. Price will go up due to Amazon’s cut and tariffs, but at least shipping to customer will be much faster.
Wrong. The bulk shipments still have be declared when entering the country. They will still pay a tariff. A value is put on the declaration. If they catch them lying the shipment does not enter until tariffs are paid.
You’re missing the point. A minimum of 25 dollars on a 5 dollar item is crushing. On a container of 5 dollar items not so crushing.
Until they get inspected.
Yes if the just tariff a container true.
I am sure they will try lots of things to work around. I do know President Trumps team is top notch, and have probably thought this out.
Chinomart gonna be raising prices fast and there will be a lotta empty shelves.
This will be a blessing for our business. Temu and Shein not only copy our products and use our logo and copyright, but they also take over the 1st page of Google and other search engines. They will not be on Amazon, Etsy, or eBay either. I hope this sticks.
Since I expected this, I looked for it. US Customs will be overwhelmed.
Trump pauses de minimis repeal as packages pile up at US customs
February 7, 2025
https://www.reuters.com/business/trump-signs-order-delaying-tariffs-de-minimis-imports-china-2025-02-07/
Maybe they can hire more people? PDJT is in the Job Creation Mode right now.
They have the funding for 87,000 IRS agents, i.e., federal employees. Hire them and then reclassify their job as Customs inspector, or, as Trump mentioned, External Revenue Service (ERS) has their first employees and job duties.
Now we know the US is serious about bringing back made in the USA.
POTUS 47 is serious. Unless CONgress gets serious…
Dang. I should have shorted Ebay.
I don’t short anymore, I learned the hard way not to.
But, it might be time to sell Walmart and Amazon.
Fixing another abuse that many current politicians were paid off to allow.
Another great option would be to punish Chinese companies for sending garbage. Many times they just straight up lie on compliance paperwork. Yet, for imports into China they place crazy compliance demands far beyond what we require in the US. This is for things like radio interference, safety testing, meeting general specifications such as for Cat 5e Ethernet cable. So they send us garbage, yet create barriers to keep our goods out. We were being taken for fools.
A few years ago when we were still exchanging physical Xmas gifts with family members from out of state (not just gift cards, LOL), one Xmas morning after unwrapping all the boxes just for fun we looked at the origin of the items. Except for the wool winter socks I purchased for my husband that were made in the USA , every single item was made in China, including a rather upscale item supposedly from Germany.
Trump is poking the panda. I hope China doesn’t respond with military escalations in the region or the threat of a world war.
Sometimes, you have to do what you have to do. What are we just supposed to sit back and never do anything to make sensitive China upset? Nobody seems to care when they poke us. Driving policy based on the fear of consequences with China is what I call bad policy. Things have to change, and sadly, President Trump is one of the few who gets it.
China will respond by devaluing their currency.
No they wont de value their currency. This is a trade war.
China will hit back in tougher ways. Like crashing our stock market, Attacking the dollar as the worlds reserve. Breaking supply chains and that sort of stuff.
China is fully prepared to meet President Trump head on in this carnage.
Cry a little more. Every time I see your username, I know that tariff fearmongering is coming.
LOL, you have no clue.
China needs the USA.
The USA does not need china.
The chinese cannot “crash” our stock market.
The chinese cannot attack the dollar without destroying their own currency.
The only supply chain they can destroy is their own.
They can cause problems, but causing those problems hurts them worse than us.
What’s to prevent the Chinese from setting up in Singapore or Malaysia, shipping to warehouses there and then on to the US? I wouldn’t discount the Chinese for one second that they won’t have a workaround.
They were doing this previously. There are a few ways I can think of to combat this, but they require research and time, so it will likely be difficult.
I am sure they will try lots of things. That is exactly what Mexico and Canada were doing under Biden.
There is a President now that says hell no.
I’ve read several years ago that many of the factories in the region outside of China, including some in Taiwan, are actually Chinese owned. I won’t dig it out this morning. It will take some time for many facts to emerge.
Your are exactly correct on the work around. The Mexicans and Canadians were happy accomplices, as that’s what is behind a great deal of the issues we now have with them.
My guess is that Team Trump has already expected that to happen. We have historical data on how much product is being shipped into the USA from each country. If it increases dramatically then Team Trump will know it and will respond with Punitive Tariffs on the country that allowed the Chinese to cheat in addition to increasing tariffs on China.
I think we put it out there that any country working with China in this way will receive the same treatment.
“Dr” President Trump:
“THE OPERATION IS OVER! THE PATIENT LIVED, AND IS HEALING. THE PROGNOSIS IS THAT THE PATIENT WILL BE FAR STRONGER, BIGGER, BETTER, AND MORE RESILIENT THAN EVER BEFORE. MAKE AMERICA GREAT AGAIN!!!
https://truthsocial.com/@realDonaldTrump/114274050526883988
There might be aspects of Trump’s tariff policy that make sense, but overall, his policy is a bad one based on all kinds of faulty assumptions.
Trump thinks that his tariffs will dramatically reduce or eliminate the trade deficit. They won’t. Our trade deficit is a consequence of the fact that our government always runs big budget deficits, which boost aggregate demand for all goods and services, including imported ones, but do not stimulate demand for our export goods, and because the US dollar is the world’s reserve currency, which means there’s always strong demand for dollars, which props up the exchange value of the dollar, making imports relatively cheap while making our exports relatively expensive.
Trump’s policies actually perpetuate the root causes of the trade deficit. He’s doing nothing meaningful to reduce the federal budget deficits, and he’s adamant that other nations continue to use the dollar as their reserve currency.
The upside to Trump’s tariff policy is that some jobs will return to the US. This will happen very gradually and take years. The benefit of this job repatriation is extremely unlikely to offset the big downside to his policy, which is that it will make the price of all kinds of goods more expensive, effectively making us all poorer.
I voted for Trump three times and, as long as he does what he said he’s going to do (which is looking increasingly iffy), I will continue to support him, but I think this policy may wind up tanking his presidency.
(Failing to end the war in Ukraine, which should be dead easy but Trump is making difficult, and letting Israel lead is into war with Iran, are two things that would also tank his presidency.)
For your consideration: http://www.coffeeandcovid.com/p/morning-in-america-thursday-april?publication_id=463409&post_id=160491111&isFreemail=true&r=33sue3&triedRedirect=true
What will do in PDJT and his Administration in 2026 if he doesn’t pay proper attention is election integrity and illegal campaign monies (ActBlue for one).
Politics, the next election, needs to be Republican’s Priority One. PDJT’s dreams for this country and his legacy will be based on election for the foreseeable future. I think he doesn’t pay it enough attention. The RNC needs to be taken down and rebuilt.
Here’s a clean link:
https://www.coffeeandcovid.com/p/morning-in-america-thursday-april
Well okay then. I guess we should all throw our hands up and just quit.
Run for President and show us how you can fix everything. Please announce your run for President!
Go away. If you actually supported Trump, then you would be ecstatic by this development. Tariffs have been the hallmark of his economic policies since he started in 2015. Instead, you come here with your condescending, concern troll post which sounds like Wall Street/corporatist talking points. They’ve been wrong for the last 50 years, and they’ll continue to be wrong. We’ve been waiting for this moment for 10 years, and it’s finally here. He’s doing exactly what he said he’s going to do, so I don’t know what’s looking “increasingly iffy” to you. You must be watching too much CNN/MSNBC.
Targeted tariffs where they are genuinely appropriate are OK to level the playing field. Some of Trump’s tariffs do that. Most of them don’t and aren’t reciprocal in any way.
Trump assumes that if a nation runs a trade deficit with us, it must be because they’re imposing tariffs on our goods, which, as a general rule, simply isn’t true. The way he’s calculated what tariff to impose on a given nation is 0.5*(value of exports to the US/value of imports from the US). This just economic illiteracy. And for nations who don’t run a trade surplus with us, he’s slapping a 10% tariff on their goods anyway.
Your insistence that everyone has to cheerlead every one of Trump’s policies is obnoxious. Political factions fall from power exactly because they lack the capacity for self-criticism. This policy is going to cost Trump quite a lot of support, mark my words.
“Your
insistence that everyone has to cheerlead every one of Trump’s policies isobnoxious.”FIFY
“…mark my words..”
Same old sad ending. We already marked your words out.
lol. You didn’t vote for Trump. You’re either a Nazi or a Palestinian.
Lol. Sure, buddy. Whatever you say.
Tell us all about how much you love Israel.
Not even you believes you.
The motivation for the current policy is simply equal treatment for US companies, and thus workers. Trump is stating his motivation often, along with a well conceived goal to off load much of the tax burden from American incomes to a type of sales tax aimed towards non US production.
Our economy needs to reap the benefits of the production necessary to sustain us. This is one step in that direction. No one believes this is a total solution.
I do not subscribe to the notion that our aggregate demand would be lower if the federal budget were to balance. Clearly, net aggregate demand should increase with a more natural allocation of resources, a lowered confiscation of the people’s labor, and reduced demand on the capital required for future growth. If your referencing that the federal deficit is added to the gdp, I understand. Our method of counting gdp should not allow unbridled government spending to create the illusion of growth.
The notion that Trump is not attempting to reduce federal spending does not merit a response. I know where your going to go, and that is not worth a response either.
As far as the comments on the war, perhaps you should actually read this site occasionally. He did give a way for opponents, like you, to accuse by over promising a settlement. But it could not be more obvious that the war is being propped up by our so-called allies, who are now being exposed for the 1930’s style totalitarians they actually are. With arbitrary cancellation of elections, assassinations, and jailing of political opponents, (talking about Europe) as SOP, I don’t know how anyone rational could call this dead easy.
Trump can end the war in Ukraine more or less immediately by halting all aid to Ukraine. Ukraine will collapse and they will be compelled to agree to Russia’s terms, which are laid out in the Istanbul Treaty.
We don’t need to be bombing Yemen, which poses no national security threat to us. Trump is bombing Yemen entirely for Israel. The Houthis are attacking Israeli shipping because Israel violated the ceasefire agreement that Trump himself brokered.
Iran likewise poses no national security threat to us. The source of Middle Eastern instability is Israel, which doesn’t have a foreign policy, only a defense policy. If Trump weren’t in thrall to the Israel lobby, he could easily use the enormous leverage we have over them to compel them to learn to live in peace with their neighbors. If Trump takes us to war with Iran, it will be a disaster for us and Trump’s presidency will be finished.
and with this ^ ^ ^ . . . you are busted.
Just another deranged marxist.
Your last sentence gave you away, both points you tried to make about Ukraine and Iran are clearly false.
My grandmother use to say that people always tell the truth. You just have to know when they are telling it.
I don’t know what you heard but he said he was going to this during the campaign many times.
Poor thing. You’re getting run over by a steam roller.
“I voted for Trump three times”
Sure you did. Sure.
“He’s doing nothing meaningful to reduce the federal budget deficit”
HE. Tell that to Judges and Congress.
March 25, 2025
Is the American Stock Market Overvalued?
This page reports on a daily updated valuation model of the US stock market. The model estimates the long-run equilibrium between market capitalization and cyclically adjusted corporate earnings.
https://www.estimite.com/post/is-the-us-stock-market-overvalued/
[graph]
The American stock market currently appears to be overvalued by 63%. In other words, it would take a 39% drop to bring the market back to its long-run equilibrium level. In comparison, at the peak of the Dot-com bubble, on March 24, 2000, the market was 89% overvalued. When the market bottomed out 2.5 years later, it had dropped 50.2% from its previous all-time high and was undervalued by 21%.
These estimates are based on a model inspired by Shiller’s cyclically adjusted price-to-earnings ratio (CAPE). We find the CAPE measure preferable to the market cap-to-GNP ratio, as it accounts for long-term changes in the ratio of corporate profits to GNP. Our model estimates the long-run equilibrium between stock market capitalization and cyclically adjusted corporate earnings.
[graph]
————-
That would mean a 14,837 point drop from where it is now having dropped 1,280 today (down 3%).
So, IGNORE the markets’ typical hissy fit. Donald says he is.
If we don’t create election integrity, all of this will go away in the next election. EVERY issue gets ack to election integrity. There should be 57 Republican senators, not 53. Down ballot race margins were not big enough and were stolen again. CA Orange county races stolen again. House margin should be 15 to 20. Almost all of those new legislators were MAGA. Understand the importance and difference that would make with EVERY piece of legislation, every committee and every investigation into Judicial activism. There are 3 counties in California, 2 in Michigan, 2 in Wisconsin, 1 in Nevada, 1 in Arizona, 1 in PA and unfortunately, Fulton County in GA. Trump, Bondi and Patel should bring the full force of the US Government upon those counties and root out the fraudsters and bring them to trial. This is not difficult and should be common sense. What is taking so long?
What does this have to do with tariffs?
All progress made in any sector of straightening out of this “big ball of wrong” that is our Government will be evaporated in the blink of an eye if the “vote” machines from hell and mail fraud ballots from the likes of Clyburn&Co. are not stopped immediately.
Well Brian Kemp and Ga are in bed with China. They are also one of the biggest fraudsters when it comes to election fraud.
At the end of the day, we will find China supporting much of the election cheating that is occurring in this country.
It is the elephant in the room. We have not combatted the election problems. AZ voted for Trump but then Kari Lake lost to a Dem….?
No more china shit
HALLELUJAH
I am sure glad I had Grandparents that made it through the Depression in stride! I don’t need a bunch of toxic crap to make me happy or functional.
If you think about it most of the stuff you buy on Amazon or Walmart ends up in the landfill so fast it’s mind boggling, then like good consumer zombies we turn around and buy a new “cheaper” version with a shorter half-life!
$25 minimum tariff? sounds like immediate pain for some potential good outcome, maybe, down the line. this may not be politically popular. and the markets seem to see it as recessionary.
we shall see. interesting times.
WINNING!
This same needs to be done for shipments from ALL nations or at least lower the exception amount back to $100 to 150 dollars.
The Chinese shippers will still be in business as they simply reroute with a stop off in say Mexico or Canada.
This is how allot of illegal and especially ABUSED drugs enter the country and it is how pharmaceutical companies overseas ship back into the US. Here in the US there are literally 100’s of mail order drug stores and physicians using mail order drug stores using the De Minimis loophole to deliver narcotics for patient abuse and illegal RESALE.
Not sure this is a good thing. There are those who liked Temu because they could get products needed at reasonable prices. Reasonable meaning easy on the budget. While buying America is great, it hit the pocket of the lesser income people rather hard.
And then you guys wonder why all your neighborhoods are turning to shit and want to find somebody to blame for it when the one to blame for it is the one looking back at you in the mirror.
Hard to buy a pizza when all you can afford is a tomato. While its great to buy American, I’ve tried and it ain’t that easy. For one thing, American costs are higher to make and therefore is passed to the consumer. However, if you got a dollar, you can’t buy something for $10. It just don’t work that way.
Then you go without! “Oh The Humanity” ..
If we don’t adjust our lifestyles and mindset our addiction to cheap crap will be just as deadly as polydrug abuse.
We’ve been throwing good money after bad rebuying the same garbage. Any old American made tool or implement I can find from the early 1900s through the 50s usually works just as designed all those years ago.
We need to get back to appreciating good stuff and quit the shopping dopamine race.
And just so you know, people like me are ‘retirees’ who have worked hard for the meager money they receive.
Maufacturers in china will do the wicked witch of OZ thing and melt or dissolve.😂
If you see a surge in demitamus from other countries it would indicate china trying to go around the Trump tariff rule.
VSG TRUMP:
https://redstate.com/jenniferoo/2025/04/02/liberation-day-trump-was-right-about-everything-and-that-is-what-the-so-called-experts-resent-the-most-n2187431
I will be the Rino section that screams the loudest
When I started as a US Customs inspector in the late 80s the “section 321” (de minimus) was $5! It then went to $200, finally the current $800.
The law is at 19USC1321. No, this has nothing to do with exemptions for arriving international passengers with accompanying items, except in the case they are carrying commercial merchandise.
So, from reading the fact sheet, the ECCFs (express consignment courier facility) such as DHL et al will have to classify ( under the tariff schedule) all items they are presenting for clearance. This is a lot of extra work, and they will need clearly written invoices to do this. I would expect their fees to increase for shipments from China.
One thing not mentioned is that carriers transporting drugs (even unknowingly) are subject to substantial penalties, but this has not been enforced in decades (hint).
There are a lot of undervalued shipments thru ECCFs. Even with nominal duty rates there is a substantial loss of revenue. But Customs quit issuing penalties for fraud (19USC1592) in the early 90s. I would write them, but FP&F (Fines, Penalties, and Forfeitures Office) would refuse to issue them. In 1996 I was ordered by the ADDIC (Assistant District Director for Inspection and Control) to cease writing such penalties. He said HQ didn’t want it. I continued to turn them in anyway, so I can say to a certainty that (as usual) the Treasury is routinely deprived of substantial revenue.
As for the Post Office, if I understand correctly, the carriers (airlines) that carry Chinese mail will be responsible to manifest individual packages (mail shipments typically are not manifested, they just arrive in bags within containers) and to handle the clearance and duty collection, essentially functioning like an ECCF in this regard. This is my take, anyway. This will require substantial investment in equipment and training, should a carrier want to participate.
A major problem in Mail is analogue drugs from China, a topic I will leave for now, except to say that fewer Chinese shipments means fewer drug shipments. And more scrutiny on the remaining shipments, means more interceptions and thus better enforcement.
Thank you for confirming what I have thought about the drugs and undervaluing abuse, based on observations and actual experience as a traveler, expat commercial worker, visiting worker and US Army member living-working-serving overseas for 30+ years.
hoping the tariffs on countries importing PRODUCE to the USA
brings our American grown produce back to our grocery stores!
I’m glad President Trump is taking on the unfair foreign tariffs we’ve been absorbing for years. I am 100% behind what he is doing.
Be ever more aware of scammers and all of the ways they are using to cheat you out of your money and obtain your personal info. When things tighten up then the scams may increase their efforts. God Bless and keep us!
The unfair part was our entire economy was flooded with Chinese junk and counterfeits. These companies made a mockery of consumerism – we all fell for their underhanded tricks dozens of times each. I refuse to buy Chinese bc it’s almost always complete garbage that falls apart. Worse, the counterfeits have been mixed in with the real products on Amazon.
Then they pay for fake reviews and destroyed that system of trust. And they peddle their worthless shit for about a year and then when warranty claims start coming in, they eventually disappear and start another company with a new name of mixed up capital letters.
It’s nice they can’t sell their junk here anymore – but I would prefer to return the favor to their economy. Chinese sellers were literally at war with us, and they laugh and call us naive and stupid Americans.
Not anymore.
When the price is too good to be true …
speaking from my limited experience … once bitten …
Dragon behind panda will have angry face
No…. dragon will have the face of someone getting their a$$ kicked!