Two U.S. senators looking to crack down on the number of packages from China that enter the country duty-free are calling on President Joe Biden to take executive action.

Two U.S. senators looking to crack down on the number of packages from China that enter the country duty-free are calling on President Joe Biden to take executive action, saying U.S. manufacturers can’t compete with low-cost competitors they say rely on forced labor and state subsidies in key sectors.

U.S. trade law allows packages bound for American consumers and valued below a certain threshold to enter tariff-free. That threshold, under a category known as “de minimis,” stands at $800 per person, per day. The majority of the imports are retail products purchased online.

Alarmed by the large increase in such shipments from China, lawmakers in both chambers have filed legislation to alter how the U.S. treats imports valued at less than $800. Now, Sens. Sherrod Brown, D-Ohio, and Rick Scott, R-Fla., have sent a letter to Biden calling on him to end the duty-free treatment altogether for those products.

  • @eskimofry
    -4•8 months ago

    Seems like they don’t want competition. China is just the excuse.

    • @phoneymouse
      4•8 months ago

      Exactly! No one in power gave a shit when the middle class was gutted when all manufacturing was sent to China. But, when the capitalists themselves see their jobs move to China it’s suddenly a big deal.

      This quote from the article sums it up:

      Brown and Scott singled out Temu, Shein and AliExpress in their letter as companies that “unfairly” benefit from the duty-free treatment of their goods. The surge in shipments, they said, hurts big box stores and other retailers in the U.S.

      Won’t someone think of the big box stores and other retailers (cough Amazon)?

      It’s fine if they buy shit in China and sell it to you. It’s not fine if China sells it to you directly. It’s fine if your job gets sent to China. It’s not fine if theirs does.

      I’m not saying what’s right or wrong, just pointing out the utter hypocrisy and also who those in power actually lift a finger to help vs who they don’t.