Biden Pressed to Fix Trade Loophole Favoring Chinese Retailers

More than 100 Democratic lawmakers urged President Joe Biden to use his executive authorities to narrow a trade loophole that can allow cheap goods from clothing to e-bike batteries to enter the US without duties.

Reps. Rosa DeLauro (D-Conn.) and Earl Blumenauer (D-Ore.) led 126 Democratic members of Congress in a letter to Biden targeting the “de minimis” trade law loophole that lets shipments worth less than $800 enter the US without customs declarations or duties. More than 4 million packages enter the country every day under the de minimis exemption, the letter said.

Lawmakers warned that products illegally made with forced labor in the Xinjiang region of China would avoid detection when entering through the trade loophole. Products with safety concerns such as fentanyl-laced pills or e-bike batteries that could explode are also being imported into the US using the loophole, the lawmakers said.

“There’s no question that this loophole undercuts American workers, manufacturers, retailers, and threatens our health and safety,” Blumenauer said at a press conference. “This ought to be a top priority for the Biden administration.”

Lawmakers have proposed legislative routes to curb de minimis shipments, but the letter notes that action from the White House would be the fastest solution. The White House did not immediately respond to a request for comment.

The move comes as both Democrats and Republicans hope to take aim at Chinese imports for a mix of national security and economic reasons, including a desire to galvanize US manufacturing. Meanwhile, the Department of Homeland Security has been ramping up enforcement of a two-year old law, the Uyghur Forced Labor Prevention Act, that assumes any product even partially sourced from Xinjiang was made with forced labor—unless a company can prove otherwise.

Customs and Border Protection earlier this year announced it would heighten screening for de minimis packages that contain products with ties to forced labor.