The UK is the latest country to examine whether changes are needed to its tax exemption for low-value packages.
At the moment, the UK allows goods valued at £135 or less to be imported into the country without any duties being paid.
This loophole has been exploited by e-commerce platforms to bring goods into the country at a lower cost than traditional high-street retailers that bring in goods in bulk and store them in warehouses.
However, that could be about to change after the country’s chancellor Rachel Reeves said the government would look into the exemption.
Officials will engage stakeholders from next month to consider the impact of any changes to the exemption on UK consumers, minimising administrative costs and other factors.
Some of Britain’s best-known retailers such as Next and Sainsburys, have called to amend the treatment, arguing that it disadvantages them by allowing international companies to undercut them.
UK business and trade secretary Jonathan Reynolds said: ”This government won’t stand idly by while cheap imports flood our markets and harm British industries.
“That is why I met with the Trade Remedies Authority recently to agree urgent steps to tackle these issues in real time to deliver quicker protections for firms.”
E-commerce platforms, such as Temu and Shein, use similar tactics across the world and are facing increased scrutiny as markets are flooded with millions of packages each day.
In the US, for instance, the de minimis exemption is due to end in May, while the European Union has also announced a crackdown.
Meanwhile, earlier this week, DHL Express announced it would temporarily suspend the transportation of some parcels to the US following the implementation of new requirements for higher value shipments.
The suspension applies to parcels worth more than $800 and comes after new US customs regulations were introduced that reduced the threshold for a formal import procedure from $2,500 to $800.
David Jinks, head of consumer research at parcel firm Parcelhero, said the resulting paperwork and checks are creating "severe logjams".
"Carriers delivering packages to the US are experiencing significant delays because of the new customs procedures following the imposition of Trump’s tariffs.
"They have been working around the clock to minimise the disruption but it’s an unsustainable position right now."
He said there were no current indications that other carriers would follow DHL's move but it would depend how rapidly US customs responds to the logjam.
"Of concern for the future is the fact that the US de minimis limit might be endangered. This could lead to almost all shipments arriving in the US facing similar checks, not just those valued at over $800," said Jinks.
Meanwhile, last week, HongKong Post said it would suspend air postal shipments to the US from 27 April in response to Washington’s recent imposition of tariffs now totalling 145%.
