U.S. Congress seeks to rein in flood of cheap Chinese goods

In view of the large-scale influx of cheap Chinese products into the United States through platforms such as Temu, Aliexpress, Douyin and other platforms, the U.S.-China Economic and Security Review Commission of the U.S. Congress on March 1 (Friday) targeted the safety, supervision and management of these consumer goods. Hearing held on supply chain issues.

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Thanks to the COVID-19 epidemic and the increase in the tax-free limit for small-value packages to US$800, American consumption patterns are rapidly shifting to online platforms. Statistics show that the number of packages imported into the United States through Chinese e-commerce platforms will reach 770 million in 2021 and 685 million in 2022.

Glass, vice chairman of the U.S.-China Economic and Security Review Commission, pointed out at a hearing on Friday that the latest report shows that the number of small-value packages entering the United States every day has reached nearly 4 million. After arriving in the United States, these packages face "minimum inspections, "Minimal information challenges the United States' ability to monitor product safety at the border, while preventing law enforcement agencies from tracking down violators of unsafe products." Online sales have become an issue like the "Wild West" in the United States.

With the overseas expansion of Temu, a subsidiary of Pinduoduo, and Aliexpress, a subsidiary of Alibaba, Chinese e-commerce companies have spread the direct-to-consumer model that has been practiced in China for many years to all parts of the world. This model that eliminates intermediary brands allows products to be sold to consumers at low prices without including tariffs, quality management and other costs, so it is welcomed by many consumers.

However, this new consumption model has caused the U.S. government’s consumer product safety control mechanism that has been in place for many years to become almost ineffective.

Teresa Murray, director of the consumer watchdog and non-profit organization PIRG Education Fund, said at the hearing that more and more consumers prefer to purchase goods directly from sellers online. For orders, many sellers claim to be in New Jersey, California and other places, but these products are usually shipped directly from China; since these packages are usually not opened and inspected by customs, "these sellers even sell dangerous, counterfeit, and illegal products." , and don’t be afraid of facing huge consequences.”

Murray further pointed out that the safety of toys is one of the issues that the US government should be most concerned about at present. Citing Reuters data, she pointed out that from January to September 2023, 79% of the toys sold in the United States and Europe were made in China; of the 23 types of toys recalled in the United States in 2023, 19 were made in China. . She also said that on online platforms, consumers may buy counterfeit toys or even toys that have been recalled. When a product poses a threat to consumers, consumers immediately face the dilemma of being unable to hold them accountable.

Dan Harris, a lawyer who attended the hearing, emphasized that compared with other importing countries such as Mexico and Vietnam that are willing to work hard to maintain good trade relations with the United States, the Chinese government does not care about product supervision issues, but "only cares about the Communist regime." Is it stable?”

In 2016, the US Congress passed a bill to increase the tax-free threshold from US$200 to US$800. Since then, the number of imported packages of consumer products into the United States has surged. Representatives of the Import Monitoring Office under the U.S. Consumer Safety Commission admitted at the hearing that there is currently a serious shortage of regulatory manpower. Considering the huge volume of imported packages every day, the administration has not figured out how to deal with it.

Former U.S. Trade Representative Lighthizer once publicly stated in this regard that increasing the tax exemption is a serious mistake. Congress should completely abolish this preferential policy or reduce the limit on the tax exemption to 50 or 100 US dollars.

Other members of Congress in the United States have also begun to pay attention to related issues since last year. In June 2023, Senate Intelligence Committee Vice Chairman Marco Rubio and Senate Banking Committee Chairman Brown jointly proposed the "Import Security and Fairness Act" bill, proposing to cancel the tax exemption for small-value packages.