US ends tariff exemption for all low-value packages
A cargo ship full of shipping containers is seen at the port of Oakland, as trade tensions escalate over U.S. tariffs, in Oakland, California, U.S., March 6, 2025. REUTERS/Carlos Barria/File Photo
The United States is suspending a "de minimis" exemption that allowed low-value commercial shipments to be shipped to the United States without facing tariffs, the White House said on Wednesday.
Under an executive order signed by President Donald Trump on Wednesday, packages valued at or under $800 sent to the U.S. outside of the international postal network will now face "all applicable duties" starting August 29, the White House said.
Trump earlier targeted packages from China and Hong Kong, and the White House said the recently signed tax and spending bill repealed the legal basis for the de minimis exemption worldwide starting on July 1, 2027.
"Trump is acting more quickly to suspend the de minimis exemption than the OBBBA requires, to deal with national emergencies and save American lives and businesses now," the White House said in a fact sheet, referring to the bill known as the One Big Beautiful Bill Act.
Goods shipped through the postal system will face one of two tariffs: either an "ad valorem duty" equal to the effective tariff rate of the package's country of origin or, for six months, a specific tariff of $80 to $200 depending on the country of origin's tariff rate. REUTERS
Hashtags
Try Our AI Features
Explore what Daily8 AI can do for you:
Comments
No comments yet...
Related Articles
Straits Times
6 minutes ago
- Straits Times
Switzerland reels from US tariff shock
The humbling reality is that maybe this is not a negotiation after all but a test of strength as US economic policy goes full-on mercantilist. After the European Union, it's now Switzerland's turn to bemoan humiliation and surrender at the hands of the Trump administration. Politicians and companies are reeling from the shock of a new tariff of 39 per cent, well above the EU's 15 per cent, which could cost the country 1 per cent of its gross domestic product. For Swiss drugmakers like Novartis, the stay of execution granted to the sector feels temporary, with a possible 25 per cent pharmaceutical tariff to come if no deal is done. Local media have compared it with the Swiss defeat at Marignano at the hands of the French in 1515.
Straits Times
36 minutes ago
- Straits Times
China to offer free pre-school education from autumn
Sign up now: Get ST's newsletters delivered to your inbox The announcement comes a week after China said it would offer parents the equivalent of US$500 (S$644.44) a year for each child under the age of three. BEIJING - China said on Aug 5 it would introduce free pre-school education from the autumn, as the world's second most populous nation seeks to boost childbirth in the face of a looming demographic crisis. China's population has declined for three consecutive years , with United Nations demography models predicting it could fall from around 1.4 billion today to 800 million by 2100. There were just 9.54 million births in China in 2024, half the number in 2016, when Beijing ended its one-child policy after more than three decades. The population declined by 1.39 million in 2024, and China lost its crown as the world's most populous country to India in 2023. Marriage rates are also at record low levels, with many young couples put off having babies by high child-rearing costs and career concerns. On Aug 5, China's Cabinet, the State Council, announced: 'Starting in the fall semester of 2025, childcare and education fees will be waived for children attending public kindergartens in the year before school'. The policy aims to 'effectively reduce the cost of education, improve the level of public education services, and provide education that satisfies the people', the State Council said. Beijing described it as an 'important measure that concerns thousands upon thousands of households and relates to long-term development'. Funding for the new measure would be shared between the central and local authorities, while children attending approved private kindergartens would also be eligible for fee reductions. The announcement comes a week after the country said it would offer parents the equivalent of US$500 (S$644.44) per year for each child under the age of three. At a news conference in Beijing last week, National Health Commission (NHC) official Wang Haidong acknowledged that the country had 'gradually shifted from a phase of population growth to a phase of population decline'. 'The childcare subsidy system can directly increase people's cash income,' Mr Guo Yanhong, vice-minister of the NHC, said. Chinese leaders have in recent years struggled to breathe life into the economy, beset by a years-long property crisis that has spooked would-be homebuyers and dissuaded many people from having children. China's shrinking population is also ageing fast, sparking worries about the future of the country's pension system. There were nearly 310 million people aged 60 and over in 2024. AFP
Straits Times
36 minutes ago
- Straits Times
India's top court to hear Kashmir statehood plea
Sign up now: Get ST's newsletters delivered to your inbox Indian security personnel stand guard on a street during the sixth anniversary of the revocation of Jammu and Kashmir's partial autonomy. NEW DELHI - India's top court will hear a plea for the restoration of Kashmir's federal statehood later this week, court officials said Aug 5, as the region marked six years under direct rule from New Delhi. The hearing, scheduled for Aug 8 in the Supreme Court, follows an application filed by two residents of the Muslim-majority territory, where a separatist insurgency has raged for years. Prime Minister Narendra Modi's Hindu nationalist government in August 2019 revoked Kashmir's limited autonomy and brought it directly under federal control. The move was accompanied by mass arrests and a communications blackout that ran for months as India bolstered its armed forces in the region to contain protests. The removal of Article 370 of the constitution, which enshrined the Indian-administered region's special status, was challenged by Kashmir's pro-India political parties, the local Bar Association and individual litigants. The Supreme Court in December 2023 upheld removing the region's autonomy but called for Jammu and Kashmir, as the Delhi-administered area is known, to be restored to statehood and put on a par with any other Indian federal state 'at the earliest and as soon as possible'. 'We have moved an application seeking a definitive timeline for the restoration of statehood,' said the petitioners' lawyer, Soayib Qureshi. Top stories Swipe. Select. Stay informed. Singapore 'She had a whole life ahead of her': Boyfriend mourns Yishun fatal crash victim Singapore Doctor hounds ex-girlfriend, threatens to share her intimate photos, abducts her from public street Singapore Beauty industry consumers hit by 464% rise in prepayment losses in first half of 2025 Sport S'pore National Olympic Council launches book series honouring local athletes in celebration of SG60 Singapore New cargo handling centre at Changi Airport reduces processing time; test bed for future T5 ops Singapore Over 5,900 vape products found in car at Woodlands Checkpoint Singapore 13 taken to hospital after accident involving SBS buses, car in Tampines Singapore Elderly man charged after he allegedly molested, performed sex act on 'vulnerable' man 'It has been quite some time since the court asked for it and elections have also been successfully held.' Last November, Kashmir elected its first government since it was brought under New Delhi's direct control, as voters backed opposition parties to lead its regional assembly. But the local government has limited powers and the territory continues to be for all practical purposes governed by a New Delhi-appointed administrator. Kashmir has been divided between India and Pakistan since the neighbours were granted independence from British rule and partitioned in 1947. Indian security forces were deployed in force in the Himalayan territory on Aug 5, eyeing protests demanding the restoration of its special status. AFP
