WASHINGTON (Reuters) -The U.S. tariff exemption for package shipments valued under $800 ends permanently on Friday, with a six-month transition period under which postal service shippers can opt to pay a flat duty of $80 to $200 per package depending on the country of origin, Trump administration officials said on Thursday.
The U.S. Customs and Border Protection agency will begin collecting normal duty rates on all global parcel imports, regardless of value after 12:01 a.m. EDT (0401 GMT) on Friday. The move broadens the Trump administration’s cancellation of the de minimis exemption for shipments from China and Hong Kong earlier this year.
“President Trump’s ending of the deadly de minimum loophole will save thousands of American lives by restricting the flow of narcotics and other dangerous prohibited items, and add up to $10 billion a year in tariff revenues to our Treasury,” White House trade adviser Peter Navarro told reporters.
(Reporting by David Lawder and Andrea Shalal; Editing by Leslie Adler)
