For years, the de minimis exemption was the quiet engine behind cross-border e-commerce. If a shipment to one person in one day fell under the de minimis threshold, it came into the US duty-free, with minimal paperwork. Sellers built entire business models around it.
That era is over. The de minimis exemption is suspended, every low-value import now needs a proper customs entry, and duties apply from the first dollar. This guide covers what changed, the latest updates heading into peak season, and what you should do differently on your next shipment.
Under the old rule (Section 321), a low-value shipment could enter the US with a simplified, informal process and no duties or taxes. For a seller shipping a $40 order from overseas straight to a customer, that meant:
That made direct-to-consumer imports cheap and simple, and it is exactly why so many brands shipped individual orders from overseas warehouses instead of importing in bulk.
The US government suspended the de minimis exemption, so low-value shipments no longer enter duty-free. In practice, that means:
The government is also defending the suspension in court. On October 21, the Department of Justice filed a brief arguing that the Supreme Court's tariff ruling doesn't affect the de minimis case (Inside U.S. Trade). For sellers, the takeaway is simple: don't plan around de minimis coming back anytime soon.
Mail shipments are being moved onto a new postal informal entry process. On October 22, the compliance date for that change (now January 20, 2027) was formally published in the Federal Register.
What this means for you:
Without de minimis, your real cost per order is no longer just product plus postage. It's your full landed cost: product, freight, duty, taxes and fees.
Carrier pricing is moving at the same time. DHL Express, for example, is charging US accounts a peak surcharge of up to $1.03 per pound on express shipments from China and Hong Kong through February 5, with fuel on top (The Conveyor). On a 20 lb box, that's about $20.60 extra before duties.
Put those together and a margin that looked healthy in the summer can disappear in Q4. The fix is to know the number before you buy the label:
Now that duties apply to nearly every import, you have to decide who pays them.
For most direct-to-consumer brands, DDP protects the customer experience. For B2B shipments, DDU is often fine. We break down the trade-offs in DDP vs DDU shipping.
Every entry needs an importer of record (IOR), the party legally responsible for the shipment clearing customs and for paying the duties. If you're a US business, that's usually you, using your own EIN. If you're shipping into the US from abroad without a US entity, you'll need a non-resident importer setup or a managed IOR.
Getting this wrong is one of the most common reasons shipments sit at customs. Sort it out before the shipment leaves, not after it's held.
Treqo's customs and compliance tools were built for exactly this. Duties and taxes are calculated per item, per HS code, before you book. Commercial invoices are generated with every international label. You choose DDP or DDU per shipment, and managed IOR is built into the flow for shipments that need an importer. When a shipment is held, real people on our clearance team work it.
You can compare UPS, FedEx and DHL side by side on every shipment, with $0 monthly platform pricing and one consolidated invoice.
Want to know what your shipments will really cost without de minimis? Get a free quote and we'll show you your landed cost, duties included, before you ship. Which lanes are you most worried about this peak season?
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