Entry of Low-Value Shipments

DEPARTMENT OF HOMELAND SECURITY <SUBAGY>U.S. Customs and Border Protection</SUBAGY> DEPARTMENT OF THE TREASURY <CFR>19 CFR Parts 10, 101, 128, 143, 145</CFR> <DEPDOC>[USCBP-2025-0002]</DEPDOC> <RIN>RIN 1685-AA01 (Formerly RIN 1515-AE84)</RIN> <SUBJECT>Entry of Low-Value Shipments</SUBJECT> <HD SOURCE="HED">AGENCY:</HD> U.S. Customs and Border Protection, Department of Homeland Security; Department of the Treasury. <HD SOURCE="HED">ACTION:</HD> Notice of proposed rulemaking. <SUM> <HD SOURCE="HED">SUMMARY:</HD> This document proposes amendments to the U.S. Customs and Border Protection (CBP) regulations pertaining to the entry of certain low-value shipments not exceeding $800 that are eligible for an administrative exemption from duty and tax. Specifically, CBP proposes to create a new process for entering low-value shipments, allowing CBP to target high-risk shipments more effectively, including those containing synthetic opioids such as illicit fentanyl. This document also proposes to revise the current process for entering low-value shipments to require additional data elements that would assist CBP in verifying eligibility for duty- and tax-free entry of low-value shipments and bona-fide gifts. </SUM> <EFFDATE> <HD SOURCE="HED">DATES:</HD> Comments must be received by March 17, 2025. </EFFDATE> <HD SOURCE="HED">ADDRESSES:</HD> Please submit comments, identified by docket number, by the following method: • <E T="03">Federal eRulemaking Portal: https://www.regulations.gov</E> . Follow the instructions for submitting comments via docket number USCBP-2025-0002. <E T="03">Instructions:</E> All submissions received must include the agency name and docket number for this rulemaking. All comments received will be posted without change to <E T="03">https://www.regulations.gov,</E> including any personal information provided. Comments must be submitted in English, or an English translation must be provided. <E T="03">Docket:</E> For access to the docket to read background documents or comments received, go to <E T="03">https://www.regulations.gov</E> . In accordance with 5 U.S.C. 553(b)(4), a summary of this rulemaking may also be found at <E T="03">https://www.regulations.gov</E> . <FURINF> <HD SOURCE="HED">FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT:</HD> Christopher Mabelitini, Director, Intellectual Property Rights & E-Commerce Division, Office of Trade, U.S. Customs and Border Protection, 202-325-6915, <E T="03">ecommerce@cbp.dhs.gov</E> . </FURINF> <SUPLINF> <HD SOURCE="HED">SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION:</HD> <HD SOURCE="HD1">Table of Contents</HD> <EXTRACT> <FP SOURCE="FP-2">I. Public Participation</FP> <FP SOURCE="FP-2">II. Background and Purpose</FP> <FP SOURCE="FP-2">III. Statutory Authority</FP> <FP SOURCE="FP-2">IV. Current Regulatory Procedures for Entry of Qualifying Low-Value Shipments</FP> <FP SOURCE="FP1-2">A. Release From Manifest Process</FP> <FP SOURCE="FP1-2">B. Partner Government Agency Requirements</FP> <FP SOURCE="FP1-2">C. Challenges of the Release From Manifest Process</FP> <FP SOURCE="FP-2">V. Section 321 Data Pilot and Entry Type 86 Test</FP> <FP SOURCE="FP-2">VI. Discussion of Proposed Amendments</FP> <FP SOURCE="FP1-2">A. Part 10</FP> <FP SOURCE="FP1-2">B. Part 101</FP> <FP SOURCE="FP1-2">C. Part 128</FP> <FP SOURCE="FP1-2">D. Part 143</FP> <FP SOURCE="FP1-2">E. Part 145</FP> <FP SOURCE="FP-2">VII. Statutory and Regulatory Reviews</FP> <FP SOURCE="FP1-2">A. Executive Orders 12866, 13563, and 14094</FP> <FP SOURCE="FP1-2">B. Additional Requirements for Regulatory Analysis</FP> <FP SOURCE="FP1-2">C. Regulatory Flexibility Act</FP> <FP SOURCE="FP1-2">D. Initial Regulatory Flexibility Analysis (IRFA)</FP> <FP SOURCE="FP1-2">E. Paperwork Reduction Act</FP> <FP SOURCE="FP1-2">F. National Environmental Policy Act</FP> </EXTRACT> <HD SOURCE="HD1">I. Public Participation</HD> Interested persons are invited to participate in this rulemaking by submitting written data, views, or arguments on all aspects of this notice of proposed rulemaking (NPRM). U.S. Customs and Border Protection (CBP) also invites comments that relate to the economic, environmental, or federalism effects that might result from this proposed rule. Comments that will provide the most assistance to CBP will reference a specific portion of the NPRM, explain the reason for any recommended change, and include data, information, argument, or authority that supports such recommended change. CBP is also specifically seeking comments regarding the “product identifier” and “security screening report number” data elements discussed in section VI.D. In addition, CBP requests comment on the Harmonized Tariff Schedule of the United States (HTSUS) waiver process discussed in section VI.D and its potential for lowering the costs of the rule. <HD SOURCE="HD1">II. Background and Purpose</HD> Section 321(a)(2) of the Tariff Act of 1930 (19 U.S.C. 1321(a)(2)), as amended by the Trade Facilitation and Trade Enforcement Act of 2015 (TFTEA), section 901, Public Law 114-125, 130 Stat. 122, authorizes administrative exemptions from duty and tax for three categories of articles. These categories include: bona-fide gifts valued at $100 or less ($200, if the gift is from certain island possessions) sent from persons in foreign countries to persons in the United States; certain personal or household articles valued at $200 or less accompanying persons arriving in the United States; and other articles when the value of the article is $800 or less. <SU>1</SU> <FTREF/> These exemptions are subject to the condition that the aggregate fair retail value in the country of shipment of articles imported by one person on one day and exempted from duty cannot exceed the authorized amounts. Also, these exemptions are not to be granted if merchandise covered by a single order or contract is forwarded in separate lots to obtain the benefit of duty- and tax-free entry. <FTNT> <SU>1</SU>  19 U.S.C. 1321(a)(2). </FTNT> This proposed rulemaking primarily concerns shipments covered by the administrative exemption in 19 U.S.C. 1321(a)(2)(C), <E T="03">i.e.,</E> shipments of merchandise (other than bona-fide gifts and certain personal and household goods accompanying travelers arriving from abroad) imported by one person on one day and having an aggregate fair retail value in the country of shipment of not more than $800. For simplicity, all references to “the administrative exemption” in this document will be to the administrative exemption found in 19 U.S.C. 1321(a)(2)(C). References made to the other administrative exemptions in 19 U.S.C. 1321(a)(2) will be specified as appropriate. In addition, this document refers to shipments not exceeding $800 as “low-value shipments.”  <SU>2</SU> <FTREF/> Low-value shipments that qualify for the administrative exemption in 19 U.S.C. 1321(a)(2)(C) are referred to as “qualifying low-value shipments.” The administrative exemption is implemented in part 10 of title 19 of the Code of Federal Regulations (19 CFR part 10) at 19 CFR 10.151 and 10.153, and is also referenced in 19 CFR parts 128, 143, and 145. <FTNT> <SU>2</SU>  These shipments are also commonly referred to as “ <E T="03">de minimis</E> ” shipments. </FTNT> The Customs Administrative Act of 1938 amended the Tariff Act of 1930 by adding section 321 and establishing the administrative exemption at $1 in order to limit the “expense and inconvenience” of collecting duty when “disproportionate to the amount of such duty.”  <SU>3</SU> <FTREF/> The value of these shipments was deemed to be so minimal that they were not subject to the same formal customs entry procedures and extensive data requirements as higher-value shipments entering the United States. Congress has since raised the value of the administrative exemption to $5 in 1978, $200 in 1993, and most recently, to $800 in 2016. <SU>4</SU> <FTREF/> <FTNT> <SU>3</SU>  Customs Administrative Act of 1938, Public Law 75-721, 52 Stat. 1077, 1081 (1938). </FTNT> <FTNT> <SU>4</SU>  Customs Procedural Reform and Simplification Act of 1978, Public Law 95-410, 205(b)(3), 92 Stat. 888, 900 (1978) (raising the value to $5); North American Free Trade Agreement Implementation Act, Public Law 103-182, 107 Stat. 2057, 2209 (1993) (raising the value to $200 and also removing the specific authorization to the Secretary of the Treasury to diminish the dollar amount of the administrative exemption); Trade Facilitation and Trade Enforcement Act of 2015, Public Law 114-125, 130 Stat. 122 (2016) (raising the value to $800). </FTNT> The framework for the current version of the regulations pertaining to the administrative exemption was promulgated through a final rule in 1995, which, among other things, amended the customs regulations to implement the legislative increase of the exemption to $200, specify the special informal entry procedures applicable to qualifying low-value shipments, set forth the parties qualified to make entry, and define the word “shipment.”  <SU>5</SU> <FTREF/> <FTNT> <SU>5</SU>  60 FR 18983 (Apr. 14, 1995). </FTNT> In 2016, section 901(d) of TFTEA amended 19 U.S.C. 1321(a)(2)(C) by increasing the daily value limit for the administrative exemption from $200 to $800. <SU>6</SU> <FTREF/> CBP published an interim final rule amending the regulations to implement the new statutory amount and to specify certain goods excluded from the administrative exemption. <SU>7</SU> <FTREF/> Otherwise, CBP has not made any significant changes to the regulatory requirements by which such shipments are entered since 1995. In the nearly three decades since, however, there have been significant changes in the trade environment and supply chains, substantial increases in the volume of shipments, and advancements to CBP's capabilities that necessitate the modernization of ━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━ Preview showing 10k of 190k characters. Full document text is stored and available for version comparison. ━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━