PL explains
Chinese brands offer in the US. A wide clothing inventory, household items and electronic products. Can they keep their prices?
Temu and Shein’s electronic commerce applications are shown on a smartphone. (Free Press Photo: EFE)
The White House announced Monday that it softens tariffs on “minimis”, imports of products from China below US $ 800 that had led The vertiginous growth of Shein, Temu or Aliexpress.
Through executive order, the White House announced a reduction of 120% or US $ 100 per 54% package in the “minimis” tariff. Besides He suspended the upload to US $ 200 per package planned for June.
The “minimis” had been exempt from tariffs until last May 2, date on which the president, Donald Trump, imposed US $ 100 per package, Within the framework of his commercial offensive against China.
This reduction is framed in the agreement reached between China and the United States to lower mutual tariffs.
The measure will allow Chinese retail platforms replenish your stores in the United States.
The provision of “minimis”, officially known as section 321 of the Tariff Law of 1930, It was designed for a very different world, prior to electronic commerce.
In recent years he had been in the spotlight for the explosion of retail companies such as Shein, Temu or Aliexpress, belonging to the giant Alibaba.
USA prosecuted in 2024 more than 1,300 million shipments of “minimis”, according to official data from the Office of Customs and Border Protection (CBP). It was a vertiginous growth since the 139 million processed just a decade before, in 2015.
Washington had also framed the end of the exemption in its fight against China’s role in the synthetic opioid crisis, because these types of packages are subject to more lax inspections, so it is believed that they have been used for the importation of fentanyl or chemicals to manufacture it.
Chinese retailers have carried out campaigns marketing Massive digital in the United States offering a wide cheap clothing inventory, household items and electronic products.
In addition, the applications of these minorities They have been among the most downloaded in the United States.