Trump wins legal battle to maintain tariffs on cheap imports

A federal trade court just handed the Trump administration a clean sweep on one of its most consequential trade policies. On August 13, 2026, a three-judge panel of the US Court of International Trade unanimously ruled that the president’s suspension of the de minimis exemption for low-value imports is lawful, rejecting challenges from importers who argued the tariffs exceeded executive authority. The ruling means packages worth $800 or less, which previously sailed into the country duty-free, will continue facing tariffs. Trump celebrated the decision on Truth Social, calling it a “BIG WIN” and claiming it closed loopholes exploited by tariff cheats. What the de minimis exemption actually was Congress originally created the de minimis threshold back in 1938, setting a floor below which imports were too small to bother taxing. Then e-commerce happened. The explosion of direct-to-consumer shipping from overseas sellers, particularly from China, turned that obscure exemption into one of the most heavily trafficked lanes in international trade. Cheap goods flooded into the US in individual parcels, each one slipping under the $800 ceiling and avoiding duties entirely. The Trump admini...