This is the third and final article in my series "Let's Talk About De Minimis."
De Minimis is mentioned at every trade-focused conference, discussed in almost every trade association meeting, has garnered a lot of attention in political circles, hearings, and committees on the Hill, and has been mentioned or written about in almost every trade publication, as well as in major national publications.
Recent U.S. Customs and Border Protection (CBP) actions in the Type 86 entry environment have raised de minimis to an issue of discussion outside of the normal trade industry. Various articles attempting to make sense of e-commerce and de minimis have been published to determine if it’s a good or bad thing for the U.S. economy, consumers, and manufacturers.
Whether you are for or against it; think it’s a good program for consumers to have affordable products or a means to undermine domestic manufacturing; use it to save your company duty and expense or think it’s the root of all problems in trade; if you are in trade – you likely already have an opinion.
So why another series of articles on it? In the past two weeks, I have been called multiple times with basic questions. What is de minimis? What do you think? What’s going on? I have a unique perspective on this topic as a former employee of two international express industry companies, as a former CBP employee, and as someone who has been in the trade industry for over 35 years serving on the Commercial Operations Advisory Committee (COAC), and in many trade associations that have afforded me a seat at the national level.
As a result of those questions, I am posting three articles regarding de minimis. There is a need to get away from the opinions and the politics of the program and look at the facts first. The first article outlines some of the most common statements made in the press and elsewhere and an examination of the facts around them. The second article focuses on the challenges that CBP and the trade participants face in the current environment because most look at the topic only from only their own perspective. This third article is focused on possible solutions to the challenges and where we go from here.
I look forward to the dialogue!
