WASHINGTON – A group of prominent U.S. Democratic senators is pressing the White House to eliminate a duty-free customs exemption, warning that it is exploited for illegal drug trafficking. In a letter to Treasury Secretary Janet Yellen and Homeland Security Secretary Alejandro Mayorkas, the senators say that through the de minimis trade provision, businesses ship billions of dollars worth of imports into the U.S., bypassing inspections, tariffs, and trade enforcement.
“We are particularly concerned by reports that drug traffickers are abusing the de minimis exemption to smuggle illicit fentanyl and its precursor chemicals into the United States, turning an exemption into a loophole,” the letter reads.
The de minimis tax exemption permits shipments valued under $800 per person, per day to enter the country duty- and tax-free. However, a recent Reuters report revealed that one smuggler in Tucson received over 15,000 pounds of fentanyl precursors through small-package shipments. In July, the Department of Justice also uncovered a scheme in Texas to exploit this loophole, importing fentanyl precursors from China sufficient to produce millions of deadly doses.
“The opioid epidemic is a serious threat in the United States that has killed hundreds of thousands of Americans. We must use every tool to combat it and protect American families — including the statutory authority Congress provided to the Department of the Treasury and the Department of Homeland Security (DHS) to limit abuse of the de minimis provision,” the letter reads.
