II 

113TH CONGRESS 

1ST SESSION S. 489 

To amend the Tariff Act of 1930 to increase and adjust for inflation the 

maximum value of articles that may be imported duty-free by one person 

on one day, and for other purposes. 

IN THE SENATE OF THE UNITED STATES 

MARCH 7, 2013 

Mr. THUNE (for himself and Mr. WYDEN) introduced the following bill; which 

was read twice and referred to the Committee on Finance 

A BILL 

To amend the Tariff Act of 1930 to increase and adjust 

for inflation the maximum value of articles that may 

be imported duty-free by one person on one day, and 

for other purposes. 

1 Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representa2 tives of the United States of America in Congress assembled, 

3 SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE. 

4 This Act may be cited as the ‘‘Low Value Shipment 

5 Regulatory Modernization Act of 2013’’. 


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•S 489 IS

1 SEC. 2. SENSE OF CONGRESS ON DE MINIMIS INFORMAL 

2 ENTRIES. 

3 (a) FINDINGS.—Congress makes the following find4 ings: 

5 (1) Modernizing international customs is crit6 ical for United States businesses of all sizes, con7 sumers in the United States, and the economic 

8 growth of the United States. 

9 (2) Higher thresholds for the value of articles 

10 that may be entered informally and free of duty pro11 vide significant economic benefits to businesses and 

12 consumers in the United States and the economy of 

13 the United States through costs savings and reduc14 tions in trade transaction costs. 

15 (b) SENSE OF CONGRESS.—It is the sense of Con16 gress that the United States Trade Representative should 

17 encourage other countries, through bilateral, regional, and 

18 multilateral fora, to establish commercially meaningful de 

19 minimis values for express and postal shipments that are 

20 exempt from customs duties and taxes and from certain 

21 entry documentation requirements, as appropriate. 


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•S 489 IS

1 SEC. 3. INCREASE IN AND ADJUSTMENT FOR INFLATION OF 

2 MAXIMUM VALUE OF ARTICLES THAT MAY BE 

3 IMPORTED DUTY-FREE BY ONE PERSON ON 

4 ONE DAY. 

5 (a) IN GENERAL.—Section 321 of the Tariff Act of 

6 1930 (19 U.S.C. 1321) is amended— 

7 (1) in subsection (a)(2), by striking subpara8 graph (C) and inserting the following: 

9 ‘‘(C) in any other case, the dollar amount 

10 specified in subsection (c).’’; and 

11 (2) by adding at the end the following: 

12 ‘‘(c) ANNUAL ADJUSTMENT OF VALUE OF ARTICLES

13 THAT MAY ENTER DUTY-FREE.— 

14 ‘‘(1) DOLLAR AMOUNT SPECIFIED.—The dollar 

15 amount specified in this subsection is— 

16 ‘‘(A) for calendar year 2014, $800; and 

17 ‘‘(B) subject to paragraph (2), for any cal18 endar year after calendar year 2014, an amount 

19 equal to $800 increased by an amount equal 

20 to— 

21 ‘‘(i) $800, multiplied by 

22 ‘‘(ii) the percentage of the increase (if 

23 any) in the Consumer Price Index for the 

24 preceding calendar year compared to the 

25 Consumer Price Index for calendar year 

26 2013. 


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•S 489 IS

1 ‘‘(2) ROUNDING.—Any increase under para2 graph (1) of the dollar amount specified in this sub3 section shall be rounded to the nearest increment of 

4 $50. 

5 ‘‘(3) CONSUMER PRICE INDEX FOR ANY CAL6 ENDAR YEAR.—For purposes of this subsection, the 

7 Consumer Price Index for any calendar year is the 

8 average of the Consumer Price Index as of the close 

9 of the 12-month period ending on September 30 of 

10 that calendar year. 

11 ‘‘(4) CONSUMER PRICE INDEX DEFINED.—For 

12 purposes of this subsection, the term ‘Consumer 

13 Price Index’ means the last Consumer Price Index 

14 for All Urban Consumers published by the Bureau 

15 of Labor Statistics of the Department of Labor.’’. 

16 (b) EFFECTIVE DATE.—The amendments made by 

17 this section apply to articles entered, or withdrawn from 

18 warehouse for consumption, on or after January 1, 2014. 

Æ 


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