#de-minimis

#de-minimis

European Union finance ministers have agreed to impose customs duties on low-value parcels entering the bloc at some point next year, scrapping the long-standing "de minimis" exemption for goods under €150 (or $175). The move is seen as a way to slow the flood of cheap Chinese imports from platforms such as Shein and Temu. These goods now account for the bulk of the EU's 4.6 billion small parcels a year, more than 90% of which came from China.

hostage situation

For nearly a century, the "de minimis" trade exemption let people skip import fees for shipping small stuff. But after the U.S. raised its limit to $800, that small stuff became big business, driven by online shopping. "We're talking about 4 million de minimis packages being processed a day," says Courtney Griffin of the Consumer Federation of America. The de minimis rule also became increasingly contentious.

"The name of the game is duty deferral now if your goods are made in China," Alex Yancher, the CEO of Passport Global, told Business Insider.