<html><head><meta http-equiv="Content-Type" content="text/html; charset=utf-8"></head><body style="word-wrap: break-word; -webkit-nbsp-mode: space; line-break: after-white-space;" class=""><p align="center" style="text-align: left;" class=""><i class="">Thanks to everyone who helped with this letter. Great job!</i></p><div class=""><br class=""></div><div class=""><a href="https://x.com/citizenstrade/status/1833953738031333669" class="">Retweet Release Here</a></div><p align="center" style="text-align: left;" class=""><b class="">FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE:</b></p><p class=""><u class=""></u></p><p class="">September 11, 2024<u class=""></u><u class=""></u></p><p class=""> <u class=""></u><u class=""></u></p><p class=""><b class="">CONTACT: </b><u class=""></u><u class=""></u></p><p class=""><a href="mailto:king.green@mail.house.gov" target="_blank" class="">King Green</a> (DeLauro) – 202-381-8621<u class=""></u><u class=""></u></p><p class=""><a href="mailto:Spence,%20Hunter%20%3cHunter.Spence@mail.house.gov%3e" target="_blank" class="">Hunter Spence</a> (Blumenauer) – 202-604-7229<span style="font-family:"Arial",sans-serif" class=""> </span><u class=""></u><u class=""></u></p><p class=""><a href="mailto:Davidson,%20Betsy%20%3cBetsy.Davidson@mail.house.gov%3e" target="_blank" class="">Betsy Davidson</a> (Suozzi) – 631-807-0265<u class=""></u><u class=""></u></p><p class=""> <u class=""></u><u class=""></u></p><p style="text-align:center" align="center" class=""><b class=""><span style="font-size:16.0pt" class="">DeLauro,
Blumenauer, Suozzi Release Letter Signed by Majority of House Democrats
Urging President Biden to Use Executive Authority to End Dangerous
<i class="">De Minimis</i> Trade Loophole</span></b><u class=""></u><u class=""></u></p><p style="text-align:center" align="center" class=""> <u class=""></u><u class=""></u></p><p style="text-align:center" align="center" class=""><i class=""><span style="font-size:14.0pt" class="">Video of Press Conference Available
<a href="https://www.facebook.com/share/p/sVBMESXE3FAy2vcM/" target="_blank" data-saferedirecturl="https://www.google.com/url?q=https://www.facebook.com/share/p/sVBMESXE3FAy2vcM/&source=gmail&ust=1726169554610000&usg=AOvVaw0UE7VAxd7AWqEaNn3nDH3p" class="">Here</a> </span></i><u class=""></u><u class=""></u></p><p class=""><i class=""> </i><u class=""></u><u class=""></u></p><p class=""><b class="">Washington, DC – </b>Today,<b class=""> </b>U.S. Representatives Rosa
DeLauro (CT-03), Earl Blumenauer (OR-03) and Tom Suozzi (NY-03) released
a letter signed by 126 House Democrats calling on President Biden to
use executive authority to end
the dangerous <i class="">de minimis</i> loophole and protect Americans from its growing dangers. The letter urges the administration to update the
<i class="">de minimis</i> policy, which undercuts American workers,
manufacturers, and retailers and threatens our health and safety. You
can read the letter
<a href="https://delauro.house.gov/sites/evo-subsites/delauro.house.gov/files/evo-media-document/Letter%20to%20President%20Biden%20re.%20de%20minimis%209.11.24%20FINAL-compressed.pdf" target="_blank" data-saferedirecturl="https://www.google.com/url?q=https://delauro.house.gov/sites/evo-subsites/delauro.house.gov/files/evo-media-document/Letter%2520to%2520President%2520Biden%2520re.%2520de%2520minimis%25209.11.24%2520FINAL-compressed.pdf&source=gmail&ust=1726169554610000&usg=AOvVaw3ULD0wUU8CLa3_mvyU7VX9" class="">
here.</a> <u class=""></u><u class=""></u></p><p class=""><b class=""> </b><u class=""></u><u class=""></u></p><p class="">Under regulations issued in 1994, before the rise of mass direct-to-consumer e-commerce,
<i class="">de minimis</i> now enables four million packages daily of
imports—mainly from China—ordered online to enter the U.S. without
inspection for dangerous materials, and to evade taxes and tariffs,
including most trade-cheating penalties and the ban on forced-labor
goods. Hidden in the daily flood of uninspected packages are many fake
and often dangerous goods that threaten U.S. consumers. Increasingly,
the loophole is being exploited by drug cartels and criminals to
facilitate the importation of deadly substances like
fentanyl. <u class=""></u><u class=""></u></p><p class=""> <u class=""></u><u class=""></u></p><p class="">“The urgency of closing the de minimis loophole cannot be overstated.
Americans continue to die from mislabeled fentanyl-laced pills that are
ordered online, skirt inspection thanks to de minimis and are delivered
to Americans’ doorsteps,”
<b class="">the Members wrote</b>. “…Congress provided the executive branch with
broad discretion to designate what products may qualify for de minimis
treatment in Section 321 of the Tariff Act of 1930. In the absence of a
legislative solution at this time, we urge
you to use the full range of your authorities to disqualify commercial
shipments from de minimis treatment, so that packages entering the
United States no longer evade inspection, information disclosure
requirements, or the requisite tariffs and taxes.”
<u class=""></u><u class=""></u></p><p class=""> <u class=""></u><u class=""></u></p><p class=""><b class="">National Association of Police Organizations Executive Director Bill Johnson said:</b>
“American law enforcement is fighting a losing battle if Chinese drug
smugglers can continue to circumvent our trade laws with the click of a
button
and ship hundreds of thousands of packages of fentanyl directly into
our country. The de minimis loophole is severely exacerbating our
nation’s opioid crisis. Closing it would help staunch the flow of
fentanyl and other narcotics coming across our borders
and help safeguard the lives of our children, families, and friends.
NAPO stands firmly with Representatives DeLauro, Blumenauer, and Suozzi,
and the more than 100 Members of Congress who join in calling on
President Biden to use executive authority to close
the dangerous de minimis loophole now.”<u class=""></u><u class=""></u></p><p class=""><b class=""> </b><u class=""></u><u class=""></u></p><p class=""><b class="">Shatterproof Chief Public Policy Officer Kevin Roy said:
</b>“Shatterproof is a national nonprofit leader at the forefront of
addressing our nation’s biggest public health crisis – addiction. We are
part of the Coalition to Close the De Minimis Loophole because we
understand the urgency to change regulations to prevent
the entrance of fentanyl and other illicit drugs into our country and
save lives. We urge the leadership of Congress to make this a national
priority.”<u class=""></u><u class=""></u></p><p class=""><b class=""> </b><u class=""></u><u class=""></u></p><p class=""><b class="">Rethink Trade director Lori Wallach said: </b>After the House GOP
blocked a real legislative fix, kudos to these Representatives asking
the president to take executive action to close this loophole that is
projected to allow 1.4 billion
e-commerce shipments to be imported into the U.S. in 2024 without
inspection and evading taxes, trade-cheating tariffs, and the forced
labor ban.
<i class="">De minimis </i>was not intended for commercial use. A president has
statutory authority to determine what types of goods can use the program
so as to stop unlawful imports. President Biden not only has authority
to exclude e-commerce goods as requested in
this letter, but would protect millions of Americans by updating the
current 1994 regulations issued before the mass direct-to-consumer
ecommerce that today are facilitating imports of deadly fentanyl and
precursor chemicals, fake and unsafe consumer goods,
and billions in unfair, job-killing other imports. <u class=""></u><u class=""></u></p><p class=""><b class=""> </b><u class=""></u><u class=""></u></p><p class=""><b class="">National Council of Textile Organizations (NCTO) President and CEO Kim Glas said,</b>
“We sincerely thank Congresswoman Rosa DeLauro (D-CT) for her
tremendous leadership on the de minimis issue and are equally
appreciative of Ranking
Member Earl Blumenauer’s (D-OR) efforts to move critical legislation
forward. We also applaud Congressman Tom Suozzi (D-NY) and the more than
120 House Democrats who supported this letter to President Biden. NCTO
strongly supports closing the de minimis loophole
and greatly appreciates being part of this broad coalition to amplify
the significant urgency of this crisis. Our industry has lost 18 plants
over the last year. De minimis has been crippling to our manufacturing
sector and its workforce and is rewarding
forced labor, duty-free trade to our doors. Over 4 million de minimis
packages are now entering the United States every day with virtually no
scrutiny or inspection – half are estimated to be textile and apparel
products. De minimis is a free trade agreement
for the world at the expense of U.S. manufacturers, retailers, and
consumers. Shockingly, it has now become a black market for dangerous
products facilitating fentanyl, precursors and pill presses. De minimis
is destruction. We are proud to join this broad
coalition to urge the President and the Administration to use their
executive authorities to the fullest extent to close this dangerous
loophole immediately. There has never been a more critical time to close
this dangerous loophole, and we would strongly
appreciate the Administration’s support in this action. We also urge
Congress to immediately pass meaningful, substantive, and enforceable
legislation.”<u class=""></u><u class=""></u></p><p class=""> <u class=""></u><u class=""></u></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="text-align:center" align="center"> ###<u class=""></u><u class=""></u></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="text-align:center" align="center"><a href="https://delauro.house.gov/" target="_blank" data-saferedirecturl="https://www.google.com/url?q=https://delauro.house.gov/&source=gmail&ust=1726169554610000&usg=AOvVaw1HeGEdcjN9J7sPogeq2BvL" class=""><i class="">delauro.house.gov</i></a></p><div class="">
Arthur Stamoulis<br class="">Citizens Trade Campaign<br class="">(202) 494-8826<br class=""><br class=""><br class=""><br class="">
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