“There is a whole lot of Donald Trump’s reckless trade policy that is wrong and will only jack up costs for working families,” Baldwin told the Washington Examiner. “But on this, President Trump and I agree.”

Closing the de minimis loophole has been among the few executive actions taken by Trump in his second term that has avoided widespread criticism from congressional Democrats, even as they denounce the president’s tariffs against the United States’s allies and adversaries alike. And in some cases, such as with Baldwin, it’s even prompted praise from those who otherwise broadly oppose his agenda.

Chinese e-commerce giants like Shein and Temu have for years escaped paying duties and going through normal customs inspections on individual packages worth less than $800, a policy that de minimis critics like Baldwin say has allowed foreign competitors to “undercut” domestic manufacturing states like Wisconsin and contribute to fentanyl smuggling into the U.S.

But the sheer volume of lower-cost goods being bought by U.S. consumers that avoid tariffs is also the reason the policy change is considered controversial and could increase prices. The number of shipments entering the U.S. claiming the de minimis exemption has exploded in the past decade by north of 600%, from 139 million in fiscal 2015 to nearly 1.4 billion in fiscal 2024, according to U.S. Customs and Border Protection.

“Bad actors are exploiting this explosion in volume to traffic counterfeits, dangerous narcotics, and other illicit goods including precursor chemicals and materials such as pill presses and die molds used to manufacture fentanyl and other synthetic drugs that are killing Americans,” CBP said in a report last year.

Trump’s closure of the loophole takes effect May 2. The de minimis tariff exemption has long created strange bedfellows that cuts across party lines. But so, too, have Trump’s sweeping across-the-board duties that are roiling global economies as Democrats, including Baldwin, and many Republicans oppose them.

Baldwin previously teamed up with Sens. Bill Cassidy (R-LA) and former Indiana Republican Sen. Mike Braun on separate measures to eliminate or restrict expedited entry for lower-cost packages under the de minimis loophole.

More than 100 House Democrats last year urged former President Joe Biden to take similar executive action as Trump. Lobbying groups representing U.S.-based manufacturers, such as the National Council of Textile Organizations, are also among those happy to see the end of the de minimis loophole.

“I have fought to close this loophole for years to keep our families safe and stand up for Wisconsin workers, and I’ll continue to push Donald Trump to tackle the fentanyl epidemic, level the playing field for our businesses, and give Wisconsin workers a fair shot,” Baldwin said.

But the policy change isn’t without its detractors, particularly those who see it as a multibillion-dollar tax hike on American consumers searching for access to cheaper goods.

De minimis shipments entering the U.S. account for a whopping 92% of all cargo, per CBP. Trump’s order only applies to those from China and Hong Kong. Still, the National Bureau of Economic Research, a nonpartisan think tank, estimates U.S. buyers could end up spending $11 billion to $13 billion more annually.

TRUMP WON’T PAUSE RECIPROCAL TARIFFS TO ALLOW FOR NEGOTIATIONS

The conservative Cato Institute has called Trump’s executive action, which the president said was to combat the import of synthetic opioids, an “administrative nightmare” to enforce that is “effectively raising taxes on American consumers and dramatically increasing shipping times.”

The Trump administration says it’s now poised to handle the logistical challenges after Trump delayed ending the de minimis loophole by several months to allow customs officials, delivery companies, and retailers to adjust.