CHAIRMAN’S NOTE

A Landmark Victory for U.S. Textiles and a Powerful Reminder of What We Can Achieve Together 

This week our industry has reason to celebrate a major victory in the fight for fair trade—despite facing ongoing headwinds and an enormous amount of trade uncertainty.

Yesterday, President Trump signed an executive order suspending duty-free de minimis treatment for all global commercial shipments, effective August 29, 2025.

This action marks the beginning of the end for one of the most destructive loopholes in U.S. trade law—a loophole that for too long has allowed billions of dollars of cheap, subsidized, and often illegal imports to flood into our country unchecked. Half of those shipments are estimated to be textiles and apparel.

Make no mistake: this milestone would not have been possible without industry leadership and the relentless efforts of NCTO member companies and staff.

For eight years, we’ve sounded the alarm about this damaging provision. At first, no one in Washington even understood what “de minimis” meant and reporters were hesitant to write about a little-known provision in U.S. trade law. But we stayed the course.

As shipments surged to 1.4 billion packages per year, e-commerce juggernauts like Shein and Temu exploited de minimis, while bad actors shipped illegal and unsafe products to U.S. doorsteps unchecked and duty free. The urgency for reform in Washington became undeniable.

NCTO’s advocacy and industry leadership brought this issue to the forefront.

We also built a broad and determined coalition—unions, law enforcement, consumer groups, families who lost loved ones to fentanyl, manufacturers, and others—who refused to accept the status quo.

Despite the enormous resources opposing de minimis reform that were aligned against us, our voice broke through. This is one of the most significant advocacy wins in NCTO’s history.

I want to thank every NCTO member who helped make this happen. You opened your doors to policymakers. You wrote letters, gave interviews, testified at hearings, and stayed engaged. That kind of commitment is rare, and it made all the difference.

The entire NCTO staff led by President and CEO Kim Glas deserves enormous credit for their tireless work, strategy, and resolve. Together, we proved that when this industry speaks with one voice, we can change policy at the highest levels of government.

There’s more work ahead. We must ensure this executive order is implemented fully. But coupled with bipartisan legislation to codify de minimis repeal by July 2027, this executive action gives us momentum. And it gives us proof that fighting for what’s right—for our workers, our communities, and our country—does pay off.

Thank you for your unwavering support and for never giving up.

Best regards,

Chuck Hall
Chairman of NCTO
President and CEO, Barnet