A Latin term that’s been little-known outside the world of customs brokers has suddenly become the stuff of headlines. Along with imposing new 10% tariffs on all Chinese imports as of Feb. 4, US President Donald Trump ordered the suspension of his country’s special rules for “de minimis” merchandise from China and Hong Kong.

President Trump reinstates the de minimis tariff exemption, allowing for tax-free imports on goods under a certain value threshold.

Friday saw the president reopen the floodgates for millions of duty-free shipments from e-commerce firms like Shein and Temu.

President Trump pumped the brakes last week on a pledge to shut down an import tax exemption for cheap consumer goods from China, his latest last-second swerve in a global game of chicken playing

U.S. President Donald Trump paused his administration's repeal of duty-free treatment of low-cost packages from China on Friday, giving the Commerce Department time to make the order workable, after the rapid change created disruptions for customs inspectors,

Trump has paused tariffs on small-value packages arriving from China, apparently to give U.S. agencies time to sort out how to process millions of such shipments.

US President Donald Trump signed an executive order on Friday delaying tariffs on lower-value packages from China that enjoy the exemptions until the US Commerce Department can confirm that procedures and systems are in place to process packages and collect tariff revenue.