The National Council of Textile Organizations (NCTO) has welcomed the United States Customs and Border Protection's (CBP) Notice of Proposed Rulemaking (NPRM) that seeks to revise regulations concerning the exemption for shipments of minimal value (de minimis).

This exemption currently allows for goods valued at no more than $800 to be imported into the US without being subjected to duties or certain taxes.  

The proposed adjustments intend to exclude specific merchandise from this exemption, particularly items affected by designated trade or national security measures.  

The proposal necessitates that shipments leveraging this exemption must provide a detailed classification of the merchandise using the ten-digit Harmonized Tariff Schedule of the United States (HTSUS). 

The suggested regulatory changes aim to fortify protections around intellectual property, consumer health and safety, and bridge enforcement gaps. These measures are designed to defend US industries and labour against inequitable trade practices. 

This Notice of Proposed Rulemaking (NPRM) represents one part of a two-pronged initiative announced by the Biden Administration on 13 September 2024, which focuses on safeguarding US consumers, workers, and businesses. Following up on this initiative on 13 January 2025, CBP introduced an NPRM concerning the Entry of Low-Value Shipments (ELVS).  

Over the past decade, there has been a significant surge in the number of imports availing themselves of the de minimis exemption. From approximately 139m in fiscal year (FY) 2015, these imports have escalated by over 600%, reaching beyond 1bn annually by FY23.  

First Name

Last Name

Company Name

Job title *

Phone number *

UK   USA   Afghanistan   Åland Islands   Albania   Algeria   American Samoa   Andorra   Angola   Anguilla   Antarctica   Antigua and Barbuda   Argentina   Armenia   Aruba   Australia   Austria   Azerbaijan   Bahamas   Bahrain   Bangladesh   Barbados   Belarus   Belgium   Belize   Benin   Bermuda   Bhutan   Bolivia   Bonaire, Sint Eustatius and Saba   Bosnia and Herzegovina Botswana   Bouvet Island   Brazil   British Indian Ocean Territory   Brunei Darussalam   Bulgaria   Burkina Faso   Burundi   Cambodia   Cameroon   Canada   Cape Verde   Cayman Islands   Central African Republic Chad   Chile   China   Christmas Island   Cocos Islands   Colombia   Comoros   Congo   Democratic Republic of the Congo   Cook Islands   Costa Rica   Côte d"Ivoire   Croatia   Cuba   Curaçao   Cyprus   Czech Republic   Denmark   Djibouti   Dominica   Dominican Republic   Ecuador   Egypt   El Salvador   Equatorial Guinea   Eritrea   Estonia   Ethiopia   Falkland Islands   Faroe Islands   Fiji   Finland   France   French Guiana   French Polynesia   French Southern Territories Gabon   Gambia   Georgia   Germany   Ghana   Gibraltar   Greece   Greenland   Grenada   Guadeloupe   Guam   Guatemala   Guernsey   Guinea   Guinea-Bissau   Guyana   Haiti   Heard Island and McDonald Islands Holy See   Honduras   Hong Kong   Hungary   Iceland   India   Indonesia   Iran   Iraq   Ireland   Isle of Man   Israel   Italy   Jamaica   Japan   Jersey   Jordan   Kazakhstan   Kenya   Kiribati   North Korea   South Korea   Kuwait   Kyrgyzstan   Lao   Latvia   Lebanon   Lesotho   Liberia   Libyan Arab Jamahiriya Liechtenstein   Lithuania   Luxembourg   Macao   Macedonia, The Former Yugoslav Republic of   Madagascar   Malawi   Malaysia   Maldives   Mali   Malta   Marshall Islands   Martinique   Mauritania   Mauritius   Mayotte   Mexico   Micronesia   Moldova   Monaco   Mongolia   Montenegro   Montserrat   Morocco   Mozambique   Myanmar   Namibia   Nauru   Nepal   Netherlands   New Caledonia   New Zealand   Nicaragua   Niger   Nigeria   Niue   Norfolk Island   Northern Mariana Islands Norway   Oman   Pakistan   Palau   Palestinian Territory   Panama   Papua New Guinea   Paraguay   Peru   Philippines   Pitcairn   Poland   Portugal   Puerto Rico   Qatar   Réunion   Romania   Russian Federation   Rwanda   Saint Helena, Ascension and Tristan da Cunha   Saint Kitts and Nevis   Saint Lucia   Saint Pierre and Miquelon Saint Vincent and The Grenadines Samoa   San Marino   Sao Tome and Principe   Saudi Arabia   Senegal   Serbia   Seychelles   Sierra Leone   Singapore   Slovakia   Slovenia   Solomon Islands   Somalia   South Africa   South Georgia and The South Sandwich Islands   Spain   Sri Lanka   Sudan   Suriname   Svalbard and Jan Mayen Swaziland   Sweden   Switzerland   Syrian Arab Republic   Taiwan   Tajikistan   Tanzania   Thailand   Timor-Leste   Togo   Tokelau   Tonga   Trinidad and Tobago   Tunisia   Turkey   Turkmenistan   Turks and Caicos Islands Tuvalu   Uganda   Ukraine   United Arab Emirates   US Minor Outlying Islands Uruguay   Uzbekistan   Vanuatu   Venezuela   Vietnam   British Virgin Islands US Virgin Islands   Wallis and Futuna   Western Sahara   Yemen   Zambia   Zimbabwe   Kosovo  

Industry *   Academia & Education   Aerospace, Defense & Security   Agriculture   Asset Management   Automotive   Banking & Payments   Chemicals   Construction   Consumer   Foodservice   Government, trade bodies and NGOs   Health & Fitness   Hospitals & Healthcare HR, Staffing & Recruitment   Insurance   Investment Banking   Legal Services   Management Consulting   Marketing & Advertising Media & Publishing   Medical Devices   Mining   Oil & Gas   Packaging   Pharmaceuticals   Power & Utilities   Private Equity   Real Estate   Retail   Sport   Technology   Telecom   Transportation & Logistics   Travel, Tourism & Hospitality   Venture Capital  

Tick here to opt out of curated industry news, reports, and event updates from Just Style.  

Submit and download

Visit our Privacy Policy for more information about our services, how we may use, process and share your personal data, including information of your rights in respect of your personal data and how you can unsubscribe from future marketing communications. Our services are intended for corporate subscribers and you warrant that the email address submitted is your corporate email address.

In FY24, this figure further climbed to upwards of 1.36bn shipments. Such a dramatic rise poses challenges for CBP’s capacity to enforce compliance with US trade laws, as well as regulations pertaining to health and safety, intellectual property rights, and consumer protection. 

The US textile industry, also vital for military and PPE supplies, is facing significant demand loss due to 4m daily de minimis shipments of cheap, often illegal imports. This results from an outdated trade provision that allows Chinese e-commerce platforms and importers to bypass tariffs and flood the US market. 

“Both the volume and combined worth of low-value, or de minimis, shipments to the United States have risen significantly over the past ten years,” said Homeland Security Secretary Alejandro Mayorkas.  

“The exemption of these goods from duties or taxes has undermined American businesses and workers and flooded our ports of entry with foreign-made products, making CBP’s vital work screening these goods for security risks more difficult. The actions announced today to tighten this exemption will strengthen America’s economic and national security.” 

NCTO welcomes ‘meaningful action’ for domestic textile industry

Commending the rulemaking, NCTO’s president and CEO Kim Glas said: “We welcome CBP’s announced notice of proposed rulemaking exempting de minimis tariff-free benefits on imports ‘specified as trade and national security actions.” 

“The administration’s decision to initiate the rulemaking process in its final days is a significant and meaningful action for our domestic industry and that of other manufacturing sectors. We urge CBP to expedite the rulemaking process to the fullest extent possible and appreciate the agency’s strong engagement with our industry,” Kim Glas added. 

The NCTO also called upon the Trump administration to endorse and swiftly implement a comprehensive solution to tackle the escalating de minimis issue beyond the announced action.  

Glas urged President Donald Trump to take immediate steps to abolish de minimis through an executive order and encouraged Congress to collaborate with the new administration on a permanent resolution to close this loophole decisively. 

The NCTO, a trade association based in Washington, DC, represents domestic textile manufacturers. In 2023, the US textile supply chain employed 501,755 people and saw shipments worth $64.8bn. That same year, US exports of fibre, textiles, and apparel totalled $29.7bn. 

Earlier this month US apparel industry associations told Just Style they look forward to reviewing the new proposals for de minimis, while an industry insider said sellers from China would face the biggest burden from the new rules.

By Just Style