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Trade Compliance News · April 2026 · 7 min read
The End of the US De Minimis Exemption: What Every Importer and Cross-Border Seller Needs to Know in 2026
For decades, the US de minimis rule was one of the most commercially valuable provisions in American trade law. It allowed goods valued at $800 or less to enter the United States duty-free, with minimal customs paperwork. For cross-border e-commerce sellers, dropshippers, and small importers, it was the foundation of an entire business model. That era is now over.
The $800 de minimis exemption has been suspended, first for China and Hong Kong in May 2025, then for all countries from 29 August 2025. As of April 2026, the suspension remains firmly in place. This article sets out the full timeline of what happened, what the rules now require, and what importers and exporters shipping to the US market need to do about it.
What the de minimis rule was — and why it mattered
The de minimis threshold is codified under Section 321 of the US Tariff Act of 1930. Originally set at $1 per package, it was raised several times over the decades — reaching $200 in 1994 and $800 in 2016. The principle behind it was straightforward: the administrative cost of processing and collecting duty on very low-value shipments exceeded the revenue those duties would generate, so customs authorities left them largely alone.
For most of its history, the rule was a minor administrative convenience. The rise of global e-commerce changed that. By 2024, over 1.36 billion de minimis shipments were entering the US annually — more than 4 million packages every single day — up from 134 million in 2015. Platforms such as Shein and Temu built their entire direct-to-consumer models around the exemption, shipping individual packages from overseas warehouses to US consumers at prices that were structurally impossible for domestic retailers paying standard import duties to match.
That volume, and the competitive distortion it created, became the political and commercial argument for ending it.
The timeline of what changed and when
| Date | What happened |
|---|---|
| 2 May 2025 | De minimis exemption suspended for goods originating from China and Hong Kong. Shipments from these origins became subject to a 120% tariff or a flat fee of $100 per postal item. |
| 30 July 2025 | Executive Order 14324 issued, suspending de minimis for all countries globally, effective 29 August 2025. |
| 29 August 2025 | Global suspension takes effect. All imports under $800 — regardless of origin — lose duty-free status. Non-postal shipments require formal customs entry via ACE. Postal shipments subject to flat-rate duties during a transitional period. |
| 28 February 2026 | Transitional flat-rate duty period ends for postal shipments. Ad valorem duties — calculated on the declared value of each item — become the only permitted methodology for international postal shipments. |
| 20–24 February 2026 | US Supreme Court strikes down certain IEEPA-based tariffs. A new executive order confirms the de minimis suspension remains in effect regardless. A 10% global import surcharge takes effect from 24 February 2026. |
| April 2026 | Suspension continues in full force. Japan Post resumes US-bound parcels after an 8-month suspension, with pre-payment of duties required. At least 88 postal operators had suspended US shipments during the transition period. |
What the rules now require
Since 29 August 2025, all commercial goods entering the United States — regardless of value and regardless of shipping method — are subject to the following requirements:
- Formal or informal customs entry. Every shipment, including those previously processed under de minimis as simple Section 321 entries, must now be formally entered through CBP’s Automated Commercial Environment (ACE) by an authorised filer. This applies to goods valued at $1 as much as goods valued at $799.
- 10-digit HTS classification. All imports must carry a 10-digit Harmonized Tariff Schedule of the United States (HTSUS) code. Assigning the correct code is now mandatory, not optional — and the code determines the applicable duty rate.
- Full duty payment. Applicable import duties, taxes, and any additional tariff measures — including the current 10% global surcharge — must be paid on every shipment regardless of value.
- Country of origin declaration. The country of origin must be declared to CBP for all shipments, including those sent through the international postal network.
For international postal shipments specifically, CBP requires that duties be collected and remitted by the postal carrier or a CBP-certified “qualified party” before the mail arrives in the US. This is the mechanism that caused dozens of national postal services — including Japan Post — to suspend US-bound parcel acceptance while they built the technical systems to collect and remit duties on behalf of senders.
What duties now apply to low-value imports
The duty rate applied to any given shipment depends on the origin country and the product’s HTSUS classification. There is no single rate — each product code carries its own applicable duty, and additional tariff measures may stack on top of the base rate.
For goods from China and Hong Kong, a 54% tariff currently applies to postal parcels following the US-China tariff agreement of May 2026, reduced from the earlier 120% rate. Commercial carriers such as FedEx, UPS, and DHL may be subject to a 30% duty on low-value shipments from China rather than the postal rate. For all other countries, the applicable HTSUS base tariff rate applies, plus the current 10% global import surcharge.
The practical effect is that a shipment which previously entered the US duty-free under de minimis may now attract between 10% and 54% in combined duties depending on origin and product type — a material change to landed costs that many businesses have not yet fully absorbed into their pricing.
The impact on businesses and postal operators
The scale of disruption has been significant. Since the suspension took effect, the volume of sub-$800 parcels entering the US fell by 54% according to the Universal Postal Union — a dramatic contraction driven by sellers exiting the US market, businesses restructuring their fulfilment models, and the temporary suspension of postal routes.
At least 88 national postal operators suspended US-bound parcel acceptance at some point during the transition period, unable to implement the duty collection infrastructure at the pace CBP required. Japan Post — one of the world’s largest postal operators — suspended US merchandise shipments for eight months before resuming in April 2026 with a pre-payment system in place.
The businesses most severely affected have been cross-border e-commerce sellers shipping direct-to-consumer from overseas, dropshippers using overseas fulfilment, and fast-fashion brands whose pricing models depended structurally on duty-free entry. Domestic US retailers and brands sourcing from US-based supply chains have, conversely, seen a reduction in the duty-subsidised competition that the de minimis exemption had enabled for overseas sellers.
What this means for importers and exporters in practice
For any business shipping physical goods to US consumers or buyers, the operational implications are now settled — there is no sign that the suspension will be reversed, and the February 2026 executive order confirmed it continues regardless of the Supreme Court’s rulings on other tariff measures.
The practical steps businesses should be taking now are:
- Assign correct 10-digit HTSUS codes to all products. This is now a mandatory requirement for every US-bound shipment, and the code determines the duty rate applied. Incorrect or missing codes will cause shipment delays and potential penalties. Globalior’s free HS classification advisory service can help with this step.
- Recalculate landed costs for the US market. Any pricing, margin analysis, or customer-facing quotes that assumed duty-free entry for sub-$800 shipments are now incorrect. The full duty cost — HTSUS rate plus any applicable surcharges — needs to be factored into every US sale.
- Review your fulfilment model. Businesses shipping direct-to-consumer from overseas warehouses face a fundamentally different cost structure than they did before August 2025. Some are shifting to US-based warehousing and bulk importation to concentrate duty costs on container-level entries rather than individual parcels. Others are using DDP fulfilment partners who handle duties on behalf of the seller.
- Verify your carrier’s duty collection process. If you are shipping via international post, confirm that your national postal service has a compliant duty collection mechanism in place for US-bound parcels. Not all postal operators have fully resolved their systems, and shipments sent through non-compliant postal channels may face delays or return to sender.
- Show customers the full landed cost at checkout. For B2C sellers, unexpected duty demands at delivery are a leading cause of parcel refusal and customer complaints. Where the seller is not handling duties on a DDP basis, clear disclosure of potential import costs at the point of purchase is both a customer service and a commercial necessity.
The global picture: other markets are moving in the same direction
The US is not alone in restructuring its de minimis framework. The direction of travel globally is towards tighter controls on low-value imports:
- European Union. The EU has removed the duty exemption for low-value imports. A fixed-duty regime is scheduled to begin in July 2026, leading to full standard tariff treatment for all imports regardless of value.
- United Kingdom. The UK currently maintains a £135 de minimis threshold for customs duty relief. The government has confirmed this will be removed by March 2029 at the latest, with a consultation underway on the design of the replacement system.
- Other markets. A number of other countries are reviewing or reducing their own de minimis thresholds in response to the same e-commerce volume pressures that drove the US change.
For businesses operating cross-border e-commerce at scale, the direction of travel is clear: the era of low-value duty-free entry is ending in multiple major markets simultaneously. Compliance infrastructure — correct product classification, accurate customs documentation, and integrated duty calculation at the point of sale — is no longer optional.
Frequently asked questions
Is the US de minimis exemption completely gone?
Yes, for all practical purposes. The $800 duty-free exemption has been suspended for all countries since 29 August 2025 and confirmed as continuing by a further executive order in February 2026. There is no current indication that it will be reinstated. All imports into the US — regardless of value — now require formal customs entry and payment of applicable duties.
What duty rate applies to my shipments to the US now?
The applicable rate depends on the product’s 10-digit HTSUS classification and the country of origin. The base tariff rate from the HTSUS schedule applies, plus any additional measures — currently including a 10% global import surcharge for most origins and a 54% rate for postal parcels from China and Hong Kong. There is no single flat rate — every product and origin combination may carry a different total duty.
Do I need a customs broker to ship to the US now?
For non-postal commercial shipments, a licensed customs broker or authorised ACE filer is required to submit the customs entry. For postal shipments, the duty collection and remittance obligation falls on the postal carrier or a CBP-certified qualified party — sellers themselves do not file directly, but they do need to ensure their carrier has the systems in place to handle it correctly.
What is a 10-digit HTSUS code and how do I find the right one?
The HTSUS (Harmonized Tariff Schedule of the United States) is the US-specific extension of the international HS code system. The first six digits are the same as the universal HS code; the US adds four further digits to identify the specific sub-category and applicable duty rate. The correct code can be found using the US International Trade Commission’s HTS search tool, or by seeking classification advice from a customs professional. Assigning the wrong code — deliberately or otherwise — can result in back-duties, penalties, and shipment delays.
What should I do if my postal operator is still not accepting US-bound shipments?
Some postal operators are still completing the technical integration required to collect and remit US duties. If your national postal service is not yet accepting US-bound parcels containing merchandise, the alternative is to ship via a commercial express carrier such as FedEx, UPS, or DHL, which have their own duty collection and remittance processes in place. Check your national postal service’s website for current status — the situation is changing as more operators complete their system updates.
Globalior offers free HS classification advisory to help importers and exporters identify the correct product codes for US and global customs declarations — no sign-up required.
Submit a free HS classification request →
