[Nhcoll-l] [EXTERN] Re: De Minimis removal for imports to the United States

[Dirk Neumann]

Dear Doug,

you are surely right there might be room for interpretation, but some foreign national postal carriers simply stop all parcel shipments outbound to the US from 26 Aug at the moment. The problem might be that Universal Postal Union procedures need to be adjusted to be adopted, which may take some time. The outage surely is temporarily and will be removed again.

The other issue is that in the understanding of customs regs, everything that is not a git is deemed to be a commodity, which may be traded, or not.

For postal parcels, the disclaimer probably is less of a help, because the service is paused.

For express shipments, we ought to clearly state and highlight the "non commercial" nature of our preserved museum objects anyway, so there is not change.

A value also can and should never be zero, because at least the packaging is not free of 'cost'. It is advisable that the declared value is 1 USD or EUR, also to avoid that potentially value added taxes could be charged for onto the shipping costs (if the value is above 1 whatsoever).

Hope this clarifies further and answers your questions
Dirk


Am 22.08.2025 um 17:46 schrieb Douglas Yanega:
On 8/22/25 6:02 AM, Dirk Neumann wrote:

Dear colleagues,

the Executive order suspending the De Minimis Treatment For All Countries" gets effective on 29 August, 00:01 Eastern Daylight Time.

https://www.whitehouse.gov/presidential-actions/2025/07/suspending-duty-free-de-minimis-treatment-for-all-countries/

This removed the low-value exemption for all shipments into the US and introduces measures to increase screening for illegal substances or drugs.

This may affect postal shipments handled/forwarded within national postal systems for import to the US / into USPS systems. DHL parcel, i.e. national German parcel service, (which is not the same as DHL Express), declared to suspend all services to the US from 26 August.

As I read this, it seems slightly contradictory, so it would be good to hear from someone who can penetrate the legal jargon.

That is, the EO states:

"Sec. 2.  Suspension of Duty-Free de minimis Treatment.  (a)  The duty-free de minimis exemption provided under 19 U.S.C. 1321(a)(2)(C) shall no longer apply to any shipment of articles not covered by 50 U.S.C. 1702(b), regardless of value, country of origin, mode of transportation, or method of entry. "

But the parameters of 50 U.S.C. 1702(b) include, among them, the following:

"(1) any postal, telegraphic, telephonic, or other personal communication, which does not involve a transfer of anything of value;"

To my reading, a package that is marked as "no commercial value" (as museum specimens typically ARE labeled) would be covered by 50 U.S.C. 1702(b) - if the commercial value is zero, then by definition it "does not involve a transfer of anything of value", and then the EO does not apply.

However, the EO states "regardless of value". Does that imply that it applies even if the value is zero? That would be contradictory, as it would mean that the EO is applying to something covered by 50 U.S.C. 1702(b), despite explicitly stating that it only applies to things not covered.

Myself, I would think that shipments marked as having no commercial value are NOT subject to this EO, as they are covered by 50 U.S.C. 1702(b). Maybe very explicit labeling of the package to state that (e.g., "This package conforms to 50 U.S.C. 1702(b)"), plus reference to this new EO (which should have a number, but I don't see one indicated in the Order itself).

Would anyone else have a clearer opinion on whether the "no commercial value" disclaimer would get around this?

Peace,

--
Doug Yanega      Dept. of Entomology       Entomology Research Museum
Univ. of California, Riverside, CA 92521-0314  voicemail:951-827-8704
FaceBook: Doug Yanega (disclaimer: opinions are mine, not UCR's)
             https://faculty.ucr.edu/~heraty/yanega.html
  "There are some enterprises in which a careful disorderliness
        is the true method" - Herman Melville, Moby Dick, Chap. 82



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****

Dirk Neumann
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--
Stiftung Leibniz-Institut zur Analyse des Biodiversitätswandels
Postanschrift: Adenauerallee 127, 53113 Bonn, Germany

Stiftung des öffentlichen Rechts;
Generaldirektion: Prof. Dr. Bernhard Misof (Generaldirektor), Adrian Grüter (Kaufm. Geschäftsführer)
Sitz der Stiftung: Adenauerallee 160 in Bonn
Vorsitzender des Stiftungsrates: Dr. Michael H. Wappelhorst
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