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.

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President Trump delivers a speech at the White House outlining a global trade reset established on the principle of trade and tariff reciprocity.  [Primary Executive Order Here]  – [Executive Order Here]

“The post-war international economic system was based upon three incorrect assumptions: first, that if the United States led the world in liberalizing tariff and non-tariff barriers the rest of the world would follow; second, that such liberalization would ultimately result in more economic convergence and increased domestic consumption among U.S. trading partners converging towards the share in the United States; and third, that as a result, the United States would not accrue large and persistent goods trade deficits.”

“Put simply, while World Trade Organization (WTO) Members agreed to bind their tariff rates on a most-favored-nation (MFN) basis and thereby provide their best tariff rates to all WTO Members, they did not agree to bind their tariff rates at similarly low levels or to apply tariff rates on a reciprocal basis.  Consequently, according to the WTO, the United States has among the lowest simple average MFN tariff rates in the world at 3.3 percent, while many of our key trading partners like Brazil (11.2 percent), China (7.5 percent), the European Union (EU) (5 percent), India (17 percent), and Vietnam (9.4 percent) have simple average MFN tariff rates that are significantly higher.”

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Country-specific ad valorem rates of duty as specified in Annex I to the main Executive Order.

The tariffs generally target completed goods, not the imported chemical or component materials needed to by industry to manufacture the products domestically.  Annex II are the exemptions to the Executive Order.

I have been going through the details and will have much more soon.

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Wall Street, the Bankers, the Hedge Funds, the multinational corporations, K-Street Lobbying firms, Democrats, Republicans, leftists, globalists, and every other segment of the financial media who define themselves through the prism of their bank accounts, need someone else to blame for the Trump tariffs; because Trump doesn’t care.

It looks like the professional political class have decided to focus all financial firepower against Commerce Secretary Howard Lutnick.

With the anticipated reciprocal tariffs announcement tomorrow, Liberty Day as President Trump calls it, the high-finance multinationals and Wall Street crowd are going bananas. Here come the hits against Lutnick.

(Politico) -‘I don’t know anyone that isn’t pissed off at him’: Trump world turns on Lutnick. As ‘Liberation Day’ nears, patience for the Commerce secretary is wearing thin across the Trump administration. (read more)

(New York Post) – Frustration grows with Commerce Secretary Howard Lutnick ahead of Trump tariff announcement: ‘Loose cannon with half-baked ideas’ (read more)

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Despite our already outlining each of these details the New York Times is now confirming, do not overlook the geopolitical consequences that will surface as a result of their publication.

The New York Times published two articles {HERE and HERE} revealing: 1) that U.S. military boots are on the ground in Ukraine. (2) The U.S. military is actively involved in the ongoing targeting of strikes into Russia. (3) The CIA is operating in Ukraine and conducting targeted strikes into the Russian Federation mainland.

New York Times – […] [F]or nearly three years before Mr. Trump’s return to power, the United States and Ukraine were joined in an extraordinary partnership of intelligence, strategy, planning and technology whose evolution and inner workings have been known only to a small circle of American and allied officials.

[…] The idea behind the partnership was that America’s close cooperation with Ukraine would compensate for Russia’s vast advantages in manpower and weaponry. To guide the Ukrainians as they deployed their ever-more-sophisticated arsenal, the Americans created an operation called Task Force Dragon.

The secret center of the partnership was at the U.S. Army garrison in Wiesbaden, Germany. Each morning, U.S. and Ukrainian military officers set targeting priorities — Russian units, pieces of equipment or infrastructure. American and coalition intelligence officers searched satellite imagery, radio emissions and intercepted communications to find Russian positions. Task Force Dragon then gave the Ukrainians the coordinates so they could shoot at them.

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President Donald Trump holds an impromptu presser aboard Air Force One en route back to Washington DC.  Most of the conversation centers around the upcoming “Liberty Day” tariffs, and the Ukraine-Russia conflict.

According to National Economic Council Chairman Kevin Hassett, our President now has all the assembled data from the full review and analysis of the combined research of the MAGAnomic agencies within the White House.  The analysis combines both tariff and non-tariff trade barriers to determine exactly what costs are put upon the U.S. export companies for goods that arrive in various countries.

All of those combined costs, by country, will determine the reciprocal amount of the tariff levied by President Trump.  The announcement of tariff rates will likely come this week, with President Trump previously saying April 2nd and April 3rd being the beginning of the implementation dates.

President Trump also puts context on the headline quotes promoted by NBC news and Kirsten Welker about his consideration toward Vladimir Putin. A COMPLETELY DIFFERENT CONTEXT!  President Trump simply noted that while President Putin doesn’t like Zelenskyy, and factually calls him illegitimate, Trump needs Putin to accept Zelenskyy in order to have the other chair at the peace table filled. That’s it. Pragmatic toward peace! WATCH:

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President Trump notes that after his warning of secondary tariffs against any nation who imports oil from Venezuela, Chinese ships pulled up anchor and left Venezuelan ports empty.  Additionally, regarding Zelenskyy, President Trump notes the Ukraine President is going to face “a lot of trouble” if he backs out of the previously agreed minerals deal.

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Appearing on Fox New with Maria Bartiromo, National Economic Council Director Kevin Hassett walks through the intent of the upcoming April 2nd ‘liberation day’ tariffs.

Hassett notes the auto tariffs are likely to generationally change the dynamic of car manufacturing in the USA.  Additionally, the stock market disruption is entirely predictable against the dynamic of Wall Street -vs- Main Street. WATCH:

Today, exclusively on @SundayFutures with @MariaBartiromo, National Economic Council Director Kevin Hassett #KevinHassett spoke about President Trump preparing to announce reciprocal tariffs this Wednesday.@FoxNews pic.twitter.com/1lU8w9w0FB

— SundayMorningFutures (@SundayFutures) March 30, 2025

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Losing USAID likely means the CIA will hit back hard on the subject of Ukraine as retaliation.  USAID was the front group for CIA interventionist operations globally.  The omnipotent silo will not accept this decision by Secretary Marco Rubio.

The State Department has formally informed congress of their intent to dissolve USAID terminating the employment of every associate within the agency.  [per this release]

Watch the geopolitical events/actions closely in the next few weeks. This is a very big hit against the Intelligence Community network, and likely one of the reasons for CIA manager John Ratcliffe scheduling a meeting with DOGE head Elon Musk.

This announcement coincides with a 3-judge appeals court ruling that now permits DOGE and Elon Musk to take apart the USAID silo. [Ruling pdf Here]

(Via Politico) – A federal appeals court on Friday cleared the way for Elon Musk and his Department of Government Efficiency to resume their efforts to shut down the U.S. Agency for International Development.

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President Trump holds a press availability in the oval office answering multiple media questions.

President Trump outlines the upcoming tariff program, his conversation with Prime Minister Mark Carney, the decision to pull the nomination of Elise Stefanik for U.N ambassador, and the ongoing deportation efforts. WATCH:

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President Donald Trump through the Acting Solicitor General has filed an emergency appeal to the Supreme Court seeking intervention and relief from lower court rulings blocking deportation efforts against criminal aliens. [pdf Filing Here]

The DOJ is arguing that lower court judge James Boasberg is unconstitutionally intruded on the president’s national security powers by barring Trump from using the two-century-old Alien Enemies Act to swiftly deport Venezuelans the administration says are members of Tren de Aragua.

[SOURCE]

“Only this Court can stop rule-by-TRO from further upending the separation of powers—the sooner, the better. Here, the district court’s orders have rebuffed the President’s judgments as to how to protect the Nation against foreign terrorist organizations and risk debilitating effects for delicate foreign negotiations.

More broadly, rule-by-TRO has become so commonplace among district courts that the Executive Branch’s basic functions are in peril. In the two months since Inauguration Day, district courts have issued more than 40 injunctions or TROs against the Executive Branch.

Whereas ‘district courts issued 14 universal injunctions against the federal government through the first three years of President Biden’s term,’ they issued ’15 universal injunctions (or temporary restraining orders) against the current Administration in February 2025 alone.'”

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President Trump releases the following statement from his Truth Social account:

[SOURCE]

This conversation comes on the heels of Prime Minister Carney declaring the era of Canada and U.S. working together is finished.

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