De minimis exemption ends for low-value packages shipped to the U.S.: What you need to know
S E E D E D C O N T E N T
The de minimis exemption for low-value packages sent to the United States ended Friday, wreaking havoc oninternational shipping as mail companies, businesses and consumers try to navigate the new rules.
Packages sent to the United States valued at less than $800 will now face tariffs and fees. They will be charged either the tariff rates the United States has on their countries of origin or flat fees of $80 to $200 — the latter option available to postal carriers only in the first six months. The shipments may face additional tariffs and fees in some cases.
John Pickel, vice president of supply chain policy at the National Foreign Trade Council, said that it could take longer for some packages to arrive and that consumers and businesses in the United States could end up with significantly higher costs.
"On your average de minimis shipment, paying a customs broker and paying the fees will double the cost," Pickel said. "That's before you even get to the money that's actually going to the government."
One small business concerned about the change: Greenwich Letterpress, a stationery store in New York City. Co-owner Beth Salvini said about half of the store's items come from other countries: greeting cards from the U.K., handmade notebooks from Portugal, stationery from Japan. With the exemption ending, Salvini plans to raise prices.
"In retail, you don't buy something for $5 and sell it to your customer for $2," she said. "This shop is not a hobby. It's how I live and pay my bills. And my sister — she's my partner. It's how we pay our employees and our rent. And so the idea that we could take on every additional cost for such small goods is just not possible."
The de minimis exemption streamlined processing of overseas shipments and allowed U.S. businesses and consumers to buy low-cost items from abroad without incurring massive charges.
All sorts of low-value items have fallen under the exemption, including small kitchen appliances and utensils, beauty products and apparel from companies like Shein, Temu and Etsy.
De minimis parcels made up 97% of overall shipping volume over the last three fiscal years, with around 4 million of those deliveries processed by U.S. Customs and Border Protection daily. In the 2024 fiscal year, most came from China: 994 million out of nearly 1.4 billion.
The White House has taken several steps this year to end the exemption, which it said has been used to "evade tariffs and funnel deadly synthetic opioids as well as other unsafe or below-market products that harm American workers and businesses into the United States."
It ended the exemption for items from China and Hong Kong in May. There hasn't been a significant change in monthly drug seizures since then, according to data from U.S. Customs and Border Protection.
Then, the tax and spending law President Donald Trump signed in July eliminated the exemption for all countries starting in 2027. But Trump's executive order on July 30 condensed the timeline, ending the exemption on Friday.
There are some exceptions: American travelers will still be able to bring $200 in personal items back to the United States duty-free. And someone abroad can send a gift of $100 or less to the United States duty-free.
In the days leading up to Friday, dozens of package carriers around the world paused shipping to the United States as they sorted through the changes and updated their shipping procedures.
Salvini, the Greenwich Letterpress co-owner, said the business will no longer be able to buy certain items from abroad — and some of the shop's international suppliers have cut off shipping to the United States anyway. So customers might see different items on the shelves, and Salvini and her team want to keep them as affordable as possible.
"We've always prided ourselves on being a space that you can come into and you could spend $1 and get something," she said. "It's not a luxury store. It doesn't weed people out because it's too much, and we just don't want to get to that point where everything in here just feels like that's just a little above what somebody might want to spend, because that's not the joy that we try to show people."
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The world is telling us that Trump is insane and that they now hate Trump's America. We are no longer #1. The whole world is now laughing at America as they should be. The whole world is now afraid of Trump's fascism as they should be.
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Better move then. Things are looking really really bad here.
I hear Ukraine is looking for a few good men.
This is going to add more economic punishment to low income people who buy cheap foreign made clothing and other items.
Oh well, low income people didn’t seem to matter when biden was flooding the country with illegals that used massive amounts of resources that could have been used to help low income people..
Deflecting to Biden, and with absurd exaggeration and a misunderstanding of the facts.
Illegals do use some services under special circumstances, but this is a drop in the bucket.
There was an increase in illegal immigration during Biden's term but nothing close to a flood (a partisan exaggeration). But, that said, illegals who are working contribute to social security and take over the lower-paying jobs which in turn helps keep higher paying jobs intact and keeps costs lower for consumers.
While illegal immigration should be prevented, the notion that illegals are net draining the USA of resources is the opposite of reality.
Trump is the PotUS now, and he continues to bring harm to the people of this nation. Do you not care that Trump continues to unnecessarily burden lower-income people with his irresponsible acts?
Instead of deflecting to Biden, stand up to the unnecessary acts of Trump that harm the people of this nation.
Billions spent on illegals, that could’ve gone to helping low income Americans is not an “absurd exaggeration”. don’t you think it’s odd that concern for low income Americans is shown under one situation but not another? Isn’t that the definition of hypocritical?
where are your comments when the deflection is toward trump? It happens all the time yet i never see a comment about that. Isn’t that the definition of hypocritical?
you don’t control the conversation.
Yes it is. It is a drop in the bucket and you totally ignore the fact that they pay into Social Security / Medicare which benefits citizens and not them. And totally disregard that they take lower-paying jobs with the benefits I noted.
You only focus on the relatively small amount of resources they consume and then exaggerate that into "massive"; totally false.
Again, I am for mitigating illegal immigration. We should indeed stop illegals at the border and turn them away. So hold that notion while contemplating the argument I made.
Always the same simplistic pattern. No rebuttal, so pull out the old "but, but, where are your comments on xxx?".
Stop with the whining; I am rebutting your exaggeration. Deal with it by providing facts rather than this bullshit about 'control'.
Do you support Trump's actions that cause consumers to pay higher prices? Do you recognize that this impacts lower-income people substantially more than others?
So you are now touting identity theft as a benefit of illegals? Amazing
No, I stated that a byproduct of them working is that they pay into the system (and will never be able to benefit from it).
The fact that they are working illegally with fake or stolen SSNs does not change the economic fact that I noted, and no way does that mean that I support the illegal act.
Of course, you ignore that I have repeatedly made this clear:
Billions of dollars is not an exaggeration, nor is it a small amount. I see no facts in your comment, just your opinion. I am giving my OPINION just as you are giving YOUR OPINION. So knock it off with “providing facts” because your comment provides opinion, not facts. My question to john was legitimate and it stands, unanswered, again.
It is a tiny portion of government spending in this area so it is an exaggeration to call it "massive" (as I made perfectly clear).
You ignored my links. Of course; how convenient. And you offered no supporting links while pretending I did not.
“It is a tiny portion of government spending in this area so it is an exaggeration to call it "massive" (as I made perfectly clear).”
Yeah, you made your opinion perfectly clear.
”You ignored my links. Of course; how convenient.”
you ignored my questions. Of course it’s hypocritical. That’s why both questions went unanswered.
I have no respect for your stupid questions because they ignored the topic and just went to the tired, cliche partisan crap as a deflection.
Trump continues to make life difficult for people (especially those who are most impacted by higher prices). You refuse to criticize Trump and instead deflect to Biden.
Trump does whatever pleases him personally. He does not give one shit about the American people yet people like you continue to blindly support his words and deeds.
Acts which unnecessarily raise consumer prices is a direct contradiction to a key reason people voted for Trump.
I have no respect for your stupid posts because they attempt to control the conversation. Anything not following along is “stupid”, “an exaggeration”, “whining”, “bullshit”, “absurd”, “deflection”. Notice the pattern?
anyway, have a nice evening.
Ultimately, you did not address the topic and instead deflected to Biden. You are the one at fault here.
Acts that unnecessarily raise consumer prices are a direct contradiction to a key reason people voted for Trump. Trump could do nothing (leave things as they are), but instead he acts in a way that raises prices that will have more of an effect on low-income consumers.
And note, this is relatively minor in the grand scheme, so I am talking about the principle of acting in a way counter to a primary campaign promise on an issue important to consumers: prices.
Do you disagree with that too??
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Do most poor people buy things that arrive in de-minimus quantities?
This isn't changing the stuff you buy at WalMart.
I'm guessing the people most impacted will be small merchants who drop ship.
Gee, swell. So when do we begin seeing the 'Made in America' labels we were promised? I'd settle for a label that says 'Product of the United States' to avoid triggering those with chronic 'America' bowel syndrome.
A few years ago, I found the perfect rug for my daughter’s room. It had pink unicorns and flowers. But I scoffed at the price tag on Anthropologie’s website: more than $1,000, plus an additional fee for “white glove delivery.” Then I fired up Etsy. I found a similar product made by a workshop in India that shipped directly from there. It took weeks to arrive, but it was half the price.
Online shopping is a miracle: You can find items of any kind, fit for any purpose, for affordable prices—and shipped from all over the world to your door. But as of today, buying from international sellers has become more expensive for Americans. That’s because President Donald Trump ended the de minimis exemption on imported goods, a loophole that allowed millions of daily packages to enter the country without paying duties. The exemption has been around for a long time—nearly a century—but it took on new import (get it?) in 2016, when the maximum value for untaxed goods rose from $200 to $800. In that moment, the social-media-driven rise of direct-to-consumer e-commerce , drop -shipping , and online-marketplace sales were also accelerating. Ever since, American ports, mailboxes, and homes have been flooded with cheap clothing, electronics, accessories, skin-care products, toys, and a host of other consumer goods.
The de minimis loophole is a big reason e-commerce sites including Shein and Temu could sell you things for so cheap: They shipped straight from China, skirting any tariffs. The White House ended the exemption for goods from China earlier this year, and now de minimis is ending for all countries. That means that many things you might import could become more expensive (on account of the additional taxes) or harder to buy (because sellers won’t bother shipping to the U.S.), or take longer to arrive (because of customs backlogs), or any combination of those. The rug I bought a few years ago would now be subject to a 50 percent import duty, when you factor in tariffs on India. Presuming that cost is passed down to consumers, it’s enough to give a buyer like me pause.
You might not realize how much of the stuff you buy online comes directly from overseas. I didn’t, until I looked closely at my buying habits over the past few years. After all, sites such as Etsy and eBay offer seamless global commerce: A handmade craft object could come from Maine or Myanmar, straight to you. Even Amazon has benefited from de minimis. Various strategies have allowed the retailer’s marketplace suppliers to take advantage of de minimis when they import goods; at other times, when you buy from the big platforms’ sites, those vendors might ship what you ordered directly from abroad, tax free .
[ Read: Amazon decides speed isn’t everything ]
Buying cheap imported goods has become the best part of online shopping: Not only can you find the best deals from international sellers, but also you can source items to satiate specific hobbies and interests—say, drafting pens from Japan or instrument reeds from Belgium. I found that I had bought a host of stuff, on Etsy and beyond, that took advantage of de minimis, including rubber-tree hippo figurines from Denmark (naturally) and a surprise mandolin from Ireland for my daughter. Those goods would now be subject to an additional tariff. I’ve bought incredibly cheap Chinese- and Japanese-manufactured camera lenses that have fueled a resurgence of photography hobbyism for me and my son; I also bought a detailed and shockingly high-quality Paul Revere costume to help a neighbor’s kid beat her classmates in a school costume contest—a small thing, but one we’ll all remember.
Ah, and then the British faucet doodad. This was a big deal. When I tried to repurpose an old, turn-of-the century washbasin with separate hot and cold water spigots, I couldn’t find a faucet that fit the sink. Sure enough, some vendor in the United Kingdom had a $30 plastic tube that did the trick. International sellers sometimes are the only ones that have what you need, and you don’t need to be a particularly adept shopper to find them. A simple Google search will suffice.
Of course, being able to seamlessly import cheap stuff has also encouraged mindless consumerism. Some imported goods are crap that nobody ever needed, produced at unconscionable labor and environmental costs. My family has a bit of a LEGO habit, and my son took to buying the cheaper Chinese knockoff sets to maximize our, well, brick-building value, I suppose. It felt a little suspect to do this—the sets are direct copies of LEGO designs—and many of them remain in bags in a closet, unbuilt. Surely we didn’t need to import those. Nor the piles of cables, chargers, head lamps, and other low-cost electronic goods that broke after a few uses.
Whether it’s junk or not, Americans have become acclimated to buying a prodigious variety of wares from all over the world. When de minimis fused with global online commerce a decade ago, ordinary buyers like you and me started to see behind the curtain of domestic retailers. Anthropologie’s website touted that the unicorn rug was “exclusive” to its store. But that was never entirely true: Sellers offering the same style with similar materials found a way to reach buyers like me directly, thanks to online commerce and its associated marketplaces. That’sSomeone will bear the burden of the new duties, and that someone is likely to be you.