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A billion "low-value" packages skate past Customs each year. Some contain cheap clothing from China; others contain fentanyl, and a new Senate bill aims to do something about both. But will it actually help?
The legislation was provoked by a massive increase in "low-value shipments" (valued at less than $800) of packages into the country from 299 million in 2016 to one billion in 2023, according to a Senate Finance Committee backgrounder. That increase was facilitated by a US policy known as "de minimis entry," allowing those low-value packages to enter the country tariff-free and under a streamlined process to try to conserve scarce government resources and simplify customs procedures for small businesses and consumers.
The backgrounder claims that "unscrupulous corporations like [online retailers] Shein and Temu have abused the system, building entire business models around their ability to flood the US market with direct-to-consumer shipments that avoid both tariffs and Customs scrutiny." Shein was founded in China but is now headquartered in Singapore, while Temu is in Boston and is owned by a Chinese parent company.
The backgrounder also argues that small packages shipped to individual consumers are reliant on international air courier services, making the practice more carbon-intensive than relying on shipping containers. It also says passage of the bill would "level the playing field for US manufacturers" by ensuring that tariffs are imposed.
The bill aims to tighten the rules for de minimis entry and "help the CBP [Customs and Border Patrol] more effectively stop unlawful imports" by prohibiting certain goods -- those that are import-sensitive or facing additional trade remedies -- from being shipped de minimis and by requiring CBP to do more monitoring and information collecting on de minimus entry packages.
"Foreign corporate giants are inundating our borders with millions of low-value packages, making it tough for customs agents to stop dangerous goods like fentanyl from falling into Americans' hands," Wyden said in the statement. "Americans should feel confident that anything arriving on their doorstep is safe, legal, and ethically produced. Our legislation would crack down on foreign companies abusing the law and make sure they play by the rules."
"Whether through the southwest border or in packages mailed into the United States, China is using any tool available to get illicit drugs across our border," Lummis said. "It is time for CBP to crack down on shipments from China to ensure drugs and products made using slave labor are encountered before making it into our communities."
"Countries like China are exploiting the de minimis loophole to cheat our trade laws and flood our country with packages containing fentanyl and other illicit substances," Brown said. "By cracking down on this loophole and providing law enforcement with more resources, this bipartisan legislation will begin to level the playing field for Ohio workers and Ohio manufacturers and retailers -- while helping to stop the deadly flow of fentanyl into Ohio communities."
It is not clear what law enforcement thinks about leveled playing fields for the American economy, but it likes the notion of more interdiction to fight fentanyl.
"Law enforcement is battling the trafficking of illegal narcotics on multiple fronts, including the international mail system. The de minimis loophole is severely exacerbating the opioid crisis by allowing fentanyl and other illegal opioids to enter our country largely uninspected. Substantial reform or the closing of this trade loophole is necessary to remove significant fentanyl trafficking routes into this country and is essential to any national strategy to end the fentanyl crisis," said Bill Johnson, executive director of the National Association of Police Organizations. "NAPO supports the FIGHTING for America Act and we look forward to working with Chairman Wyden to ensure the de minimis trade exemption will no longer be a gateway for illicit drugs and goods to cross our borders."
The Fraternal Order of Police is also down with the bill.
"In an effort to evade detection and interdiction, drug smugglers are using low-value, direct-to-consumer shipments that enter the country, which allows these criminals to bypass the usual screening methods employed by Customs and Border Protection and get fentanyl and other drugs and illicit goods into the United States," said Patrick Yoes, the group's national president. "The FOP supports legislation as proposed by Senators Wyden and Lummis to tighten the rules and crack down on these foreign-based drug traffickers who are using low-value imports to game the system and flood our communities with fentanyl and other illegal goods and substances."
Will the new bill actually help, though, assuming it passes? Regardless of the its potential positive impact on strengthening the US economy in the face of foreign competition -- or on the fight against climate change, for that matter -- its effort to address the fentanyl crisis by pursuing more, better interdiction is akin to playing a game of whack-a-mole with traffickers. For decades, the United States has maintained a policy of stricter and more intrusive interdiction efforts. It has not yet worked yet, and there is no indication this would be any different. Rather than chasing futile pursuits, policymakers would be better off shedding the failed prohibitionist model for dealing with the drug menace du jour and begin going down the path of a safe and regulated drug supply.
Permission to Reprint: This content is licensed under a modified Creative Commons Attribution license. Content of a purely educational nature in Drug War Chronicle appear courtesy of DRCNet Foundation, unless otherwise noted.
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fentanyl
Message: Fentanyl, low value intradiction
The astounding death toll from the introduction of Fentanyl into the illegal drug market has been devastating. As a result, politicians, always looking for a quick hook to grab voters always come up with useless, expensive, hair brained schemes to try to reduce the death toll. A wonderful conception but in most if not all cases a useless waste of time, money and effort. As a resident of Vancouver, BC. Canada. I have seen a wide variety of ideas aimed at reducing the death toll, while trying to make the addicts lives better. Currently, they are supplying fentanyl in patch form for addicts. I'm not sure if they're supplying injectable fentanyl? If they are not, the addicts will be figuring out how to inject the patches, making them even more deadly. I was prescribed fentanyl after a back injury and a single 100MCG patch contained up to 18 milligrams of fentanyl. In the article, the author referres to the opening of packages that arrived from east Asia trying to interdict fentanyl. This is mission, impossible, They alreadt xray every package and they intercept very little. By going after small orders from addicted persons. All that would be accomplished is to create a very bad day for the addict and almost no change in the over all situation. It amazed me that Ross Ukbrict, of Silk Road came up with a way for drug users world wide. To purchase high quality product, from the source countries, at a very reasonable charge to the buyer. Of course this was in direct competition to the real drug lords, The world's governments and the aligned Cartels. Silk Road had to be stopped. It was, and Ulbrict is rotting in prison for the crime of being too successful. There are still a few people using the Silk Road protocols, with varrying degrees of success. The prices aren't as reasonable, the quality is often missing and the feds are always looking to make this a very bad day for someone. It never ceases to amaze me that politicians can do the math and still manage to come up with something this dumb? It's like going back to the very early days of the drug war. When police would go out and purchase tiny amounts of product from individual dealers. The result would be 350 charges of 210 people for selling tiny amounts of soft drugs. If people would like to find out how so many youth became drug users or drug addicts. Read such novels as the Devils Chessboard or Dark Alliance, The CIA and the NSA, THe American government was spreading drug culture, by design. The switch from soft to hard drugs was also uncle Sam. Who knew, that somewhere down the road there would be a drug, invented that would begin to kill Americans, and everyone else, in horrendous numbers. So lets start looking into every package, letter and courier package in an effort to see to it that some addict that was enterprising enough to plan ahead and attempt to purchase high quality, pure drugs. Bust him and burn the dope. A lose lose. Now the government has to support that addict for whatever. The Fentanyl will continue to pour in in containers and in every conceivable way. As soon as one way is exposed, another will be put into play. It's a well worn, long used game that's played by Governments, cartels and gangsters and opposed by police, customs and DEA. It's all a game. It's deadly serious. It's not going to go away.
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