US Senate votes to end de minimis loophole by 2027, NCTO welcomes move
The bill will now proceed to the House of Representatives, with the goal of delivering a final version to President Trump's desk before the July 4 holiday.
US Senate has passed a budget reconciliation bill that includes a provision to permanently end de minimis duty-free treatment for commercial shipments by July 2027. NCTO has praised the move, calling it vital to protect US manufacturers from unsafe, low-value imports. NCTO urged immediate executive action and House approval to close this loophole, which has hurt domestic industry and consumer safety.
'On behalf of the US textile industry, I would like to commend Senate leaders for including an important provision in the broader budget reconciliation bill that would permanently end de minimis for commercial shipments from all countries, effective July 2027. The Senate language mirrors a provision included in the House reconciliation package passed earlier in May,' Kim Glas, president and CEO of NCTO , said in a press release.
Glas praised the bipartisan leadership behind the effort: 'We sincerely appreciate Sens. Lindsey Graham (R-SC) and Sheldon Whitehouse (D-RI) for leading efforts on a legislative solution that would codify and permanently end duty-free de minimis treatment for millions of low-value packages from China and all countries, closing a loophole in US trade law that has harmed American manufacturers and workers and endangered American consumers.'
She emphasised the devastating impact the loophole has had on the domestic industry: 'This provision would help rebalance the playing field for the domestic textile industry, which has seen the closure of 28 plants over the past 23 months. We are urging congressional leaders to ensure inclusion of this critical provision in the final version of the reconciliation bill this week, which would bring us one step closer to marking a significant milestone for the US textile industry and a broad coalition of organisations dedicated to advocating for ending this destructive loophole.'
Glas also warned that the current de minimis system facilitates the entry of dangerous and unethical goods. 'De Minimis acts as a gateway for facilitating four million packages a day valued at $800 or less that often contain unsafe, toxic and unethical products made with forced labour, as well as lethal fentanyl and other illicit narcotics to the US market duty free and virtually unchecked. We applaud the Senate and House for validating that this loophole has caused widespread harm across businesses and communities and ending it once and for all.'
Finally, she expressed appreciation for prior executive action and called for further immediate steps: 'We are also grateful that the Trump administration has already used executive authorities to end de minimis access for Chinese goods—which represent approximately two-thirds of all de minimis shipments—while also laying the groundwork to close de minimis to commercial shipments from all countries. We request that the administration utilise its executive authorities to immediately close this damaging loophole for commercial shipments from all countries in the interim until this legislation ultimately takes effect.'
The textile industry now awaits final confirmation from the House as stakeholders push for swift enactment of the new trade rule, which could mark a turning point for US manufacturers facing growing pressure from low-cost, unregulated imports.
Fibre2Fashion News Desk (KD)
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