Sec. 1 Background
In Executive Order 14194 of February 1, 2025 (Imposing Duties To Address the Situation at Our Southern Border), I declared a national emergency regarding the unusual and extraordinary threat to the safety and security of Americans, including the public health crisis caused by fentanyl and other illicit drugs and the failure of Mexico to do more to arrest, seize, detain, or otherwise intercept drug trafficking organizations, other drug and human traffickers, criminals at large, and illicit drugs. In that order, I determined that it was necessary and appropriate to, among other things, suspend duty-free de minimis treatment under 19 U.S.C. 1321(a)(2)(C) for articles described in section 2(a) of that order. In Executive Order 14227 of March 2, 2025 (Amendment to Duties To Address the Situation at Our Southern Border), I paused the suspension of duty-free de minimis treatment on such articles until I received a notification from the Secretary that adequate systems are in place to fully and expeditiously process and collect duties for such articles that would otherwise be eligible for duty-free de minimis treatment.
In Executive Order 14195 of February 1, 2025 (Imposing Duties To Address the Synthetic Opioid Supply Chain in the People's Republic of China), I declared a national emergency regarding the unusual and extraordinary threat from the failure of the Government of the People's Republic of China (PRC) to arrest, seize, detain, or otherwise intercept chemical precursor suppliers, money launderers, other transnational criminal organizations, criminals at large, and illicit drugs. In that order, I determined that it was necessary and appropriate to, among other things, suspend duty-free de minimis treatment under 19 U.S.C. 1321(a)(2)(C) for articles described in section 2(a) of that order. In Executive Order 14200 of February 5, 2025 (Amendment to Duties Addressing the Synthetic Opioid Supply Chain in the People's Republic of China), I paused the suspension of duty-free de minimis treatment for articles described in section 2(a) of Executive Order 14195 until I received a notification from the Secretary that adequate systems are in place to fully and expeditiously process and collect duties for such articles that would otherwise be eligible for duty-free de minimis treatment.
I subsequently received notification from the Secretary that adequate systems have been established to process and collect duties for articles of the PRC and Hong Kong that would otherwise be eligible for duty-free de minimis treatment, and in Executive Order 14256 of April 2, 2025 (Further Amendment to Duties Addressing the Synthetic Opioid Supply Chain in the People's Republic of China as Applied to Low-Value Imports), I suspended duty-free de minimis treatment under 19 U.S.C. 1321(a)(2)(C) for products of the PRC and Hong Kong described in section 2(a) of Executive Order 14195, as amended by Executive Order 14228 (Further Amendment to Duties Addressing the Synthetic Opioid Supply Chain in the People's Republic of China). In addition, I instructed the Secretary to submit a report regarding the impact of Executive Order 14256 on American industries, consumers, and supply chains and to make recommendations for further action as he deems necessary.
In Executive Order 14257 of April 2, 2025 (Regulating Imports With a Reciprocal Tariff To Rectify Trade Practices That Contribute to Large and Persistent Annual United States Goods Trade Deficits), I declared a national emergency with respect to underlying conditions indicated by the large and persistent annual U.S. goods trade deficits. I also provided that duty-free de minimis treatment under 19 U.S.C. 1321(a)(2)(C) would remain available for products described in section 3(a) of that order until I received a notification by the Secretary that adequate systems are in place to fully and expeditiously process and collect duties applicable for articles otherwise eligible for duty-free de minimis treatment.
The Secretary has notified me that adequate systems are now in place to fully and expeditiously process and collect duties for articles otherwise eligible for duty-free de minimis treatment on a global basis, including for products described in section 2(a) and section 2(b) of Executive Order 14193, section 2(a) of Executive Order 14194, and section 3(a) of Executive Order 14257.
In my judgment, I determine that it is still necessary and appropriate to suspend duty-free de minimis treatment under 19 U.S.C. 1321(a)(2)(C) in the manner and for the articles described below to deal with the unusual and extraordinary threats, which have their source in whole or substantial part outside the United States, to the national security, foreign policy, and economy of the United States.
I determine that it is necessary and appropriate to suspend duty-free de minimis treatment under 19 U.S.C. 1321(a)(2)(C) for certain Canadian goods to deal with the emergency declared in Executive Order 14193, as amended. In my judgment, this suspension is necessary and appropriate to ensure that the tariffs imposed by Executive Order 14193, as amended, are effective in addressing the emergency declared in Executive Order 14193 and that the purpose of this action and other actions to address the emergency declared in Executive Order 14193 is not undermined. For example, many shippers go to great lengths to evade law enforcement and hide illicit substances in imports that go through international commerce. These shippers conceal the true contents of shipments sent to the United States through deceptive shipping practices. Some of the techniques employed by these shippers to conceal the true contents of the shipments, the identity of the distributors, and the country of origin of the imports include the use of re-shippers in the United States, false invoices, fraudulent postage, and deceptive packaging. The risks of evasion, deception, and illicit-drug importation are particularly high for low-value articles that have been eligible for duty-free de minimis treatment.
Independently, I determine that it is necessary and appropriate to suspend duty-free de minimis treatment under 19 U.S.C. 1321(a)(2)(C) for certain Mexican goods to deal with the emergency declared in Executive Order 14194, as amended. In my judgment, and for substantially similar reasons as above, this suspension is necessary and appropriate to ensure that the tariffs imposed by Executive Order 14194, as amended, are effective in addressing the emergency declared in Executive Order 14194 and that the purpose of this action and other actions to address the emergency declared in Executive Order 14194 is not undermined.
Independently, and after considering information newly provided by the Secretary, among other things, I determine that it is still necessary and appropriate to continue to suspend duty-free de minimis treatment under 19 U.S.C. 1321(a)(2)(C) for certain goods of the PRC and Hong Kong to deal with the emergency declared in Executive Order 14195, as amended. In my judgment, and for substantially similar reasons as above, this suspension is still necessary and appropriate to ensure that the tariffs imposed by Executive Order 14195, as amended, are effective in addressing the emergency declared in Executive Order 14195 and that the purpose of this action and other actions to address the emergency declared in Executive Order 14195 is not undermined.
Also independently, I determine that it is necessary and appropriate to suspend duty-free de minimis treatment under 19 U.S.C. 1321(a)(2)(C) on a global basis to deal with the emergency declared in Executive Order 14257, as amended. In my judgment, this suspension is necessary and appropriate to ensure that the tariffs imposed by Executive Order 14257, as amended, are not evaded and are effective in addressing the emergency declared in Executive Order 14257 and that the purpose of this action and other actions to address the emergency declared in Executive Order 14257 is not undermined.
Each of my determinations to suspend or continue to suspend duty-free de minimis treatment under 19 U.S.C. 1321(a)(2)(C) are independent from the other. And each determination is made only for the purpose to deal with the respective emergency and not for the purpose of dealing with another emergency.