A longstanding U.S. tax exemption for global retailers comes to an end on Friday: the de minimis exemption, which has allowed packages under $800 to enter the U.S. free of taxes, duties and fees.

Over one billion shipments entered the country under the de minimis exemption last year alone, according to U.S. Customs and Border Protection. The bulk of de minimis shipments have come from China, which had its exemption for imports end in May .

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"China accounted for about 60% of all the shipments that went in under this de minimis exemption," said Josh Stillwagon, chair of the Economics Department at Babson College. "If you look at Temu, for example, the shipments on low value items dropped pretty dramatically. Even ca

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