Key Takeaways:
- Loophole Closed: Trump ended the “de minimis” exemption that let foreign retailers ship goods under $800 into the U.S. tariff-free, causing an 80 percent drop in imports.
- Level Playing Field: The move forces companies like Shein and Temu to compete fairly with American businesses instead of undercutting them with artificially cheap prices.
- America First Economics: By shutting down this backdoor subsidy, Trump strengthens U.S. manufacturing, protects American jobs, and ensures fair trade for entrepreneurs and consumers.
Global postal deliveries to the U.S. have plunged by 80 percent since President Donald Trump scrapped the so-called “de minimis” loophole that let small packages under $800 slip in tariff-free. For years, foreign retailers like Shein and Temu gamed the system, flooding America with cheap imports while U.S. businesses and taxpayers picked up the tab.
The Universal Postal Union (UPU), a United Nations agency, confirmed the sharp decline in international shipments since the rule took effect on August 29. While bureaucrats scramble to “develop a technical solution” to restart flows, the real story is that Trump’s policy worked exactly as intended: it shut off a backdoor subsidy for foreign competitors undermining American companies.
“The UPU has in its mission the responsibility to guarantee the free circulation of postal items,” said Director General Masahiko Metoki, promising new tools to calculate and collect duties at the point of sale. In other words, if you want to sell into America, you’ll finally have to play by the rules.
This reform is already forcing foreign sellers to rethink their business models—and even raise prices. That’s good news for U.S. manufacturers, entrepreneurs, and workers who have long competed against artificially cheap imports.
Once again, Trump is proving that putting America First doesn’t mean isolationism—it means fairness. Free markets can only thrive when everyone competes on a level playing field. By ending the de minimis loophole, Trump is making sure Main Street America—not cut-rate foreign retailers—wins.