The Trump administration has delayed a new customs rule that could impede mail-order prescriptions from international pharmacies, including those in Canada, where many Americans have turned for lower-cost medication.
The rule will now take effect in January, 90 days later than planned.
Anne Weirich, of Brewster, said her Canadian pharmacy warned her it may no longer ship medication directly to U.S. patients.
She’s worried she and other Cape Codders will have to pay more to get their prescriptions in the United States.
“I'm just concerned because … there's a ton of seniors out here,” she said. “I just wanted to make sure that seniors understand that if they're ordering from Canada, they need to get proactive, and they need to contact their legislators and also figure out what they're going to do if this really happens, which I think there's a pretty good chance that it will.”
The rule eliminates the de minimus exemption, which allowed packages valued at $800 or less to enter the country through a relatively simple, duty-free process. Without the exemption, international shipments will have to use a licensed customs broker and carry a bond to guarantee payment of duties.
Weirich said she has been ordering her medication from Canada for about five years because she uses several drugs classified as Tier 4 and Tier 5, which are more expensive than lower-tier drugs.
“I have been saving myself several thousand dollars a year,” she said.
U.S. Customs and Border Protection posted a notice on its website Wednesday postponing the end of the exemption to Jan. 20. It was originally set to end next Thursday, less than two weeks before the mid-term election.
Weirich said that to her, the Trump administration rule feels political.
“I think it's just indicative of the times that we live in now, that there is a feeling in our administration, particularly in the executive branch, that he's going to have this — excuse my language — this pissing contest with Canada, and who cares what happens to the old people?” she said.
Spokespersons for the White House and for Customs and Border Protection would not answer questions for this story. A CAI reporter first sought answers from Customs more than a week ago.
In a notice in the Federal Register, the Trump administration said suspending the exemption was designed to address, among other things, the illicit importation of fentanyl and money laundering.
The notice said challenges posed by the old system “concern efforts to protect the revenue and to identify violations of U.S. customs and trade laws, health and safety requirements, intellectual property rights, and consumer protection rules, as well as to detect and prevent the entry of illicit drugs such as fentanyl (including synthetic drug precursors and related chemicals and related manufacturing equipment).”
In a news release Wednesday, Customs and Border Protection said the delay to January would allow more time for people who file shipping documents to adjust to the new requirements, and it pledged to provide support to those who need help complying with the rules.
