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US de minimis suspension: what changed for parcels

US de minimis has been suspended since 29 August 2025. The timeline, the June 2026 CBP rules, how parcels clear now and what ends on 1 July 2027.

By border.bot team, , 4 min read

Topics: de minimis, United States, duties

Rules as of 8 October 2026. Customs rules change; check the sources at the end before you rely on any detail.

Since 29 August 2025, a low value no longer exempts goods sold into the US from duty. The exemption that let a shipment worth $800 or less enter without duty (the de minimis exemption in Section 321 of the Tariff Act) is suspended for goods from every country. CBP made the suspension indefinite in its own regulations in June 2026, and a 2025 law ends the exemption permanently on 1 July 2027.

Timeline#

Date What happened
30 July 2025 Executive Order 14324 suspends duty-free de minimis treatment for all countries.
29 August 2025 The suspension takes effect. CBP rejects Section 321 manifest filings and Type 86 entries.
20 February 2026 The Supreme Court rules in Learning Resources, Inc. v. Trump that IEEPA does not authorize the President to impose additional tariffs. The ruling does not address de minimis. The same day, Executive Order 14389 ends several IEEPA tariff actions and Executive Order 14388 continues the de minimis suspension.
24 June 2026 A CBP rule suspends de minimis indefinitely for every mode except mail (91 FR 37789).
24 July 2026 A second CBP rule, published with the first, takes effect: de minimis is suspended indefinitely for mail too, and a new postal informal entry process starts (91 FR 37801).
8 October 2026 CBP proposes changes to informal entries of $2,500 or less, including a new electronic entry type for mail and bonds for some entries (91 FR 64532). Comments close on 7 December 2026.
1 July 2027 The One Big Beautiful Bill Act ends the de minimis exemption by law.

What is still exempt#

CBP’s 2026 rules leave two other Section 321 exemptions in place: bona fide gifts, and personal or household articles that travellers bring with them. Neither covers goods sold online. For ecommerce, every parcel now needs a customs entry and payment of the duty owed.

How a parcel clears now#

By courier, express or freight (every mode except mail), a shipment worth $800 or less needs a formal or informal entry, filed in CBP’s Automated Commercial Environment (ACE) by a party allowed to make entry, with duties, taxes and fees paid. Informal entry covers most shipments worth $2,500 or less.

By post, since 24 July 2026 shipments worth $2,500 or less use CBP’s new postal informal entry process:

  • Who files: the owner or purchaser of the goods, or a licensed customs broker they designate. The filer needs a CBP import bond.
  • What CBP needs: a spreadsheet giving, for each package, the 10-digit HTS code, country of origin, value, duty rate and duty owed, plus the tracking number and arrival details.
  • When: the spreadsheet and the payment are due by the 7th of the month after the package arrives.
  • No collection at the door: CBP no longer collects duty from the person receiving the parcel.

Goods under quotas or antidumping and countervailing duty orders need a formal entry. Goods with partner government agency requirements, duties under HTS chapters 98 or 99, or a free trade agreement claim can use the postal process only during a temporary transition window. After it, they need a formal entry or CBP’s voluntary Entry Type 13 test.

What a parcel pays now#

For a commercial shipment, the charges are:

  1. Duty at the rate for the product’s 10-digit HTS code and its country of origin, plus any additional duties for that product and origin, such as Section 232 or Section 301 duties.
  2. Customs fees, such as the merchandise processing fee, where they apply to the entry type.
  3. Carrier or broker charges for clearing the parcel. These vary by carrier and are not set by CBP.

The duty depends on where the product was made, not where it was shipped from. A product made in China and shipped from a UK warehouse is still a Chinese-origin product for US duty. We explain the difference in country of origin vs shipped from.

What to do as a seller#

  • Classify every product to a 10-digit HTS code. Both entry routes ask for it. The free HS code classifier gives you the code with the official description at each level.
  • Record the real country of origin for each product, from the supplier or the label.
  • Decide who pays. Collect the duty at checkout and ship DDP, or have the customer pay on delivery (DAP) where the carrier offers it. Postal parcels are no longer charged at the door, so settle who files and pays before you ship by mail. The trade-offs are in DDP vs DAP.
  • Quote it before you ship. The landed cost calculator returns every duty, fee and tax line for an HS code, origin and value.
  • Follow the October 2026 proposal. It would change filing requirements for informal entries and add bond requirements for some of them.

Sources#

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