[Congressional Bills 114th Congress]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office]
[H.R. 978 Introduced in House (IH)]

114th CONGRESS
  1st Session
                                H. R. 978

 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 HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES

                           February 13, 2015

 Mr. Schock (for himself, Mr. Crowley, Ms. Stefanik, and Mr. Larson of 
 Connecticut) introduced the following bill; which was referred to the 
                      Committee on Ways and Means

_______________________________________________________________________

                                 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.

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

SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE.

    This Act may be cited as the ``Low Value Shipment Regulatory 
Modernization Act of 2015''.

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

    (a) Findings.--Congress makes the following findings:
            (1) Modernizing international customs is critical for 
        United States businesses of all sizes, consumers in the United 
        States, and the economic growth of the United States.
            (2) Higher thresholds for the value of articles that may be 
        entered informally and free of duty provide significant 
        economic benefits to businesses and consumers in the United 
        States and the economy of the United States through costs 
        savings and reductions in trade transaction costs.
    (b) Sense of Congress.--It is the sense of Congress that the United 
States Trade Representative should encourage other countries, through 
bilateral, regional, and multilateral fora, to establish commercially 
meaningful de minimis values for express and postal shipments that are 
exempt from customs duties and taxes and from certain entry 
documentation requirements, as appropriate.

SEC. 3. INCREASE IN AND ADJUSTMENT FOR INFLATION OF MAXIMUM VALUE OF 
              ARTICLES THAT MAY BE IMPORTED DUTY-FREE BY ONE PERSON ON 
              ONE DAY.

    (a) In General.--Section 321 of the Tariff Act of 1930 (19 U.S.C. 
1321) is amended--
            (1) in subsection (a)(2), by striking subparagraph (C) and 
        inserting the following:
                    ``(C) in any other case, the dollar amount 
                specified in subsection (c).''; and
            (2) by adding at the end the following:
    ``(c) Annual Adjustment of Value of Articles That May Enter Duty-
Free.--
            ``(1) Dollar amount specified.--The dollar amount specified 
        in this subsection is--
                    ``(A) for calendar year 2016, $800; and
                    ``(B) subject to paragraph (2), for any calendar 
                year after calendar year 2016, an amount equal to $800 
                increased by an amount equal to--
                            ``(i) $800, multiplied by
                            ``(ii) the percentage of the increase (if 
                        any) in the Consumer Price Index for the 
                        preceding calendar year compared to the 
                        Consumer Price Index for calendar year 2015.
            ``(2) Rounding.--Any increase under paragraph (1) of the 
        dollar amount specified in this subsection shall be rounded to 
        the nearest increment of $50.
            ``(3) Consumer price index for any calendar year.--For 
        purposes of this subsection, the Consumer Price Index for any 
        calendar year is the average of the Consumer Price Index as of 
        the close of the 12-month period ending on September 30 of that 
        calendar year.
            ``(4) Consumer price index defined.--For purposes of this 
        subsection, the term `Consumer Price Index' means the last 
        Consumer Price Index for All Urban Consumers published by the 
        Bureau of Labor Statistics of the Department of Labor.''.
    (b) Effective Date.--The amendments made by this section apply to 
articles entered, or withdrawn from warehouse for consumption, on or 
after January 1, 2016.
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