WASHINGTON, D.C. — The Coalition for a Prosperous America (CPA) today applauded the U.S. Court of International Trade’s ruling upholding the President’s legal authority to end the de minimis exemption — rejecting a challenge brought by importers seeking to reopen one of the most abused loopholes in American trade policy. The decision confirms what CPA has long argued: de minimis is closed, it is closed lawfully, and it is not coming back.
For years, the de minimis loophole allowed foreign shippers to send packages valued at up to $800 into the United States duty-free, tax-free, and with virtually no customs scrutiny — so long as the foreign vendor merely alleged the value was below the threshold. The result was a descent into eCommerce lawlessness: nearly one billion packages per year, most from China, flooding into American communities without inspection, powering platforms like Temu and Shein, and serving as a pipeline for counterfeits and fentanyl precursors while law-abiding American businesses paid full freight.
CPA fought against de minimis for years — warning of its dangers when few in Washington were paying attention, testifying before Congress, rallying bipartisan support for executive action, and applauding the administration when it closed the loophole for Chinese imports in May 2025 and then ended it for all countries that August. CBP has since made the suspension indefinite by regulation, and Congress has enacted a statutory repeal taking effect in 2027. With this ruling, every branch of government is now aligned: the loophole is closed by executive action, closed by regulation, closed by statute — and now upheld in court.
CPA did not fight this battle alone. In 2024, CPA joined the National Council of Textile Organizations (NCTO) and more than two dozen other organizations in launching the Coalition to Close the De Minimis Loophole — a partnership spanning domestic manufacturers, labor unions, law enforcement associations, drug prevention advocates, and the families of fentanyl victims. Together, the coalition documented for Congress the central role de minimis played in illicit fentanyl trafficking, as Chinese shippers exploited the loophole to move fentanyl, precursor chemicals, and pill presses directly to American doorsteps without inspection. That broad alliance — uniting business, labor, police, and grieving families — transformed de minimis from an obscure customs provision into a national priority.
“The importers sued to bring back the loophole, and they lost — that is a win for every American manufacturer, worker, and family,” said Jon Toomey, President of CPA. “De minimis was a billion-package-a-year backdoor around America’s tariffs, customs laws, and product safety rules. The court has now confirmed the President acted well within his authority in slamming that door shut.”
“This ruling should end the debate for good,” Toomey added. “No more litigation, no more lobbying campaigns to sneak the loophole back open. Every foreign seller should play by the same rules as American businesses — full documentation, full inspection, full duties. That is now the law of the land, affirmed by the courts.”
CPA urges the administration to build on this victory with vigorous enforcement — ensuring that former de minimis shippers do not migrate to undervaluation, transshipment, or other evasion schemes — and urges Congress to resist any effort to revive duty-free treatment for low-value imports in future legislation. The era of the de minimis free-for-all is over. It should stay that way.
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