Florida Senator Marco Rubio (R) has introduced the Import Security and Fairness Act. Introducing it alongside Ohio Senator Sherrod Brown (D), the bill would end de minims treatments for goods from Russia and China. The bill would also require that Customs and Border Patrol (CBP) to obtain more information regarding de minims packages entering the United States.
The current U.S. trade law includes a de minims exception that lawmakers argue is being exploited. The de minimis exception is a duty and tax exemption for imports that are valued under $800. According to this law, Russia and China are taking advantage of the exception by shipping a high volume of low-value goods. CBP has little information regarding incoming packages, which is why they are allowing packages into the U.S. that are made with forced labor.
Rubio, who's been a vocal critic of the Communist Chinese Party and the Russian Kremlin, hopes that the bill will address pressing concerns.
In a statement, he warned that "China exploits our capital markets and uses slave labor to undercut American businesses." "It is bad for our country to let China flood our country with duty-free packages using the de minims exception," he added, asserting that the bill "will close this loophole and take another critical step to stop China from cheating on trade."
Senator Brown further explained that the U.S.'s "trade laws can only protect Ohio workers and Ohio businesses if they aren't riddled with loopholes. This loophole is essentially a backdoor way for competitors like China to ship goods into the U.S. without paying the tariffs and other taxes and fees they owe." Brown added that "Ohio workers should not be forced to compete with foreign competitors that cheat," so their "bill would stop Chinese companies from abusing our trade laws to undermine Ohio businesses and their workers."
