Illicit fentanyl and other drugs are being smuggled into the United States via international mail
Washington, D.C. — Today, members of the Coalition to Close the De Minimis Loophole, representing families who have lost loved ones to illicit fentanyl poisoning, law enforcement leaders and nonprofits and associations, launched a new campaign calling on President Biden to close the deadly loophole and raising awareness about a U.S. trade law that is facilitating the unfettered flow of illicit fentanyl and other narcotics to the U.S. market.
The Coalition sent a letter to President Biden today, urging him to use his executive authorities to end de minimis exemptions for millions of unregulated imported packages in order to curtail the flood of illicit substances overall took the lives of more than 107,000 Americans last year alone.
In addition, the Coalition launched a video today on social media shining a light on the tragedy associated with fentanyl poisonings across America and the role this legal loophole in U.S. trade law plays.
“We would like to share our firsthand experience of de minimis exploitation, which is flooding the United States with fentanyl, fentanyl precursors, pill presses and other illicit goods,” the Coalition’s letter reads. “We hope that this information will help inform your Administration on how de minimis is impacting American citizens and encourage and want to support you in any way to use the Administration’s existing authorities to close this harmful loophole.”
“Given the fentanyl epidemic’s devastating impact on families and communities, it is imperative that the Administration accurately and fully diagnose the de minimis loophole’s relationship to the flood of fentanyl entering our country,” the letter stated.
An outdated, near-century old trade rule, de minimis allows any imported package valued at $800 or less to enter the United States virtually free-and-clear of customs inspection. The exemption is exploited by bad actors abroad to smuggle counterfeit pills, illicit fentanyl, and other dangerous substances directly to the homes of American consumers.
“It is effectively impossible to inspect the 4 million de minimis packages arriving at our ports each day even if funding was made available for the needed addition of more inspectors at express delivery facilities and international mail venues,” the letter stated. “The urgent crisis we face requires the Administration to use its authorities to close this loophole now as Congress contemplates potential reforms.”
The letter’s signatories are members of the Coalition to End the De Minimis Loophole, a collection of organizations representing thousands of Americans that includes families of victims of fentanyl fatalities, nonprofit organizations, labor unions, domestic law enforcement associations, domestic manufacturers, and business associations.
In the video, one mother underscores the devastating impact of international mail deliveries and the role de minimis plays in facilitating those packages.
“De minimis is death delivered to your door,” said Leah DeVere, a mother who lost her son Cory to a counterfeit pill shipped via international mail. “If the rule wasn’t in place, Cory would very well still be with us today.”
Former White House Drug Czar Jim Carroll provides firsthand insight into how “drug traffickers are taking advantage of the de minimis trade loophole that allows low-value shipments to enter our country with a relaxed regulatory oversight.”
For these reasons, members of the coalition are calling for the administration to take immediate action.
The following organizations signed the letter to President Biden: Facing Fentanyl, Families Against Fentanyl, Fentanyl Victims Network of North Carolina, Kelsie’s Cause, Lost Voices of Fentanyl, National Association of Police Organizations, National Crime Prevention Council, Shatterproof, United Against Fentanyl, Voices for Awareness, and Victims of Illicit Drugs (VOID). Earlier this year, 25 organizations launched the Coalition to Close the De Minimis Loophole to amplify the urgent need to close the de minimis loophole.
