Sponsors
Introduced March 27, 2025 by Ronald Lee Wyden · Last progress March 27, 2025
The bill strengthens customs enforcement, revenue protection, and transparency to curb illicit and fraudulent low‑value imports—especially fentanyl and counterfeits—but does so by expanding CBP authority, tightening exemptions, and accelerating disposition processes in ways that will raise costs, privacy concerns, and forfeiture risks for many small importers, online sellers, and consumers.
Law enforcement, border communities, and consumers will face stronger detection, interdiction, and deterrence of fentanyl, illicit drugs, counterfeit, and fraudulently declared goods because CBP and partner agencies get clearer authorities, prioritized targeting, and new enforcement tools and penalties.
Taxpayers and legitimate U.S. businesses will benefit from better protection of federal revenue and a more level playing field as the bill tightens de minimis treatment, clarifies fee rules (including a flat fee for many low‑value entries), and excludes some product categories from exemptions.
Importers, Congress, and the public will gain greater transparency and accountability through new port-by-port and annual reporting, a publicly accessible list of ineligible articles, and required agency briefings and recommendations.
Millions of consumers and small businesses that rely on low‑value cross‑border e‑commerce will likely face higher costs and slower delivery because of new per‑shipment fees, narrower de minimis treatment, more inspections, and duties/taxes applied to previously exempt shipments.
Senders, sellers, and financial intermediaries risk exposure of commercially sensitive marketplace and supply‑chain data because the bill expands CBP access to and sharing of nonpublic images, labels, and seller/shipper information and authorizes broader mission use of submitted data.
Importers and individuals face increased risk of losing goods and limited opportunity to contest seizures because the bill shortens notice and cure windows (deemed abandonment after 15 days) and creates summary disposition processes with reduced procedural safeguards.
Based on analysis of 13 sections of legislative text.
Tightens documentation and limits on duty‑free low‑value imports, adds a $2 fee per qualifying shipment, raises penalties, and speeds forfeiture/abandonment for suspect parcels.
Makes it harder for some low‑value ("de minimis") imports to avoid duties and easier for Customs to detain, forfeit, and share data about suspect shipments. The bill adds a $2 user fee on qualifying low‑value entries, requires new documentation and truthfulness rules for postal and other low‑value shipments, narrows which goods can claim the duty exemption, increases civil penalties, and creates faster procedures for abandonment and summary forfeiture of suspect parcels. Also requires regular reporting to Congress on use of the de‑minimis exemption, designates smuggling of fentanyl via low‑value shipments as a priority trade issue, and expands CBP authority to receive and share marketplace/supply‑chain information while raising the standard (reasonable suspicion) for providing such nonpublic data to rightsholders.