Letter to Postmaster General on De minimis Exemption for Chinese Shipments

Chairman Mike Gallagher (R-WI) of the Select Committee on the Chinese Communist Party and Chairman James Comer of the House Oversight and Accountability Committee (R-KY) today requested United States Postal Service (USPS) Postmaster General Louis DeJoy provide records of Chinese-originating mail and shipments entering the United States through USPS.

This letter is a continuation of the Select Committee on the CCP's investigation of the Chinese companies, Shein and Temu. Shein and Temu rely heavily on the de minimis provision, which allows the companies to ship packages under $800 directly to American consumers, while avoiding compliance with the Uyghur Forced Labor Prevention Act (UFLPA) and evading any import duties.

In part, the lawmakers wrote, "Chinese companies can take advantage of the de minimis rule and ship products via commercial shipping companies, as well as the USPS, directly to U.S. consumers without paying duties and fees or subjecting their products to investigation by authorities. It has been reported that Chinese companies routinely break large shipments into numerous smaller ones in order to take advantage of the de minimis threshold and avoid customs duties and tariffs. Such practices abuse the intent of the threshold and provide unfair advantages to Chinese importers to the detriment of the U.S. economy and national security."

The letter asks the Postal Service to provide data on PRC-origin shipments that might use de minimis entry to skirt regulation, similar to data other federal agencies- like Customs and Border Control- release.

Click HERE to read the full letter