The de minimis exemption in 19 U.S.C. 1321 once let shipments valued at $800 or less per person per day enter free of duty, with minimal data. CBP processed over 1.36 billion such shipments in fiscal year 2024, almost ten times the 139 million of 2015. The exemption was suspended for China and Hong Kong on May 2, 2025, and for all countries on August 29, 2025. After the Supreme Court's February 2026 ruling on the IEEPA tariffs, an executive order continued the suspension, and in June 2026 CBP issued interim final rules suspending it by regulation under 19 U.S.C. 1321(b), independent of any executive order. The statutory exemption itself terminates on July 1, 2027 under Public Law 119-21.
That last part matters. This is not a policy that a new order restores. CBP's own regulations now suspend the exemption, and Congress has repealed it by statute effective July 2027. Plan as if the threshold is never coming back, because the law says it is not.
The effect on small importers is structural. Samples, small reorders, and direct-to-consumer parcels from China now need an entry and can carry the full duty stack: the MFN rate for the line, plus Section 301 where it applies, plus Section 232 where the metal content is in scope. A $300 prototype that used to clear with no paperwork now needs a customs entry, a 10-digit HTS classification, and a broker or a self-filing setup.
For postal shipments the mechanics are still moving. CBP's June 2026 interim final rule created a new postal informal entry process for merchandise valued at $2,500 or less, requiring 10-digit classification, bonded filers, and monthly duty payment. Shipments subject to partner-agency requirements, Chapter 98 or 99 duties, or an FTA or Chapter 98 duty-free claim must be filed as formal entries, and CBP moved that compliance date from October 22, 2026 to January 20, 2027. Tariff stacking is the other half of the same bill: the duty on a small parcel is now the stacked rate, not zero, and the entry is where that rate gets applied.
The practical response is consolidation. Shipments that used to fly in one by one now go in as one entry, with one broker fee and one set of paperwork, and the per-unit cost of the entry falls. That works until the shipment crosses the informal entry value limit, or until the goods need different classifications and the single entry becomes a multi-line filing with its own complexity.
The other response is to stop pretending the cost is temporary. Price the entry, the broker, and the duty into the product, and tell the customer the delivered price. Reading the Federal Register notice is how you catch the next change before it catches you, and the notices in this space have not slowed down. The $800 threshold was the most important number in small importing for a decade. It is now a historical fact, and the importers who adjusted in 2025 are the ones still shipping in 2026.
The $800 exemption ended for China and Hong Kong on May 2, 2025, and for all countries on August 29, 2025. CBP's June 2026 interim final rules made the suspension indefinite, and Congress repealed the exemption by statute effective July 1, 2027.
Yes. Every low-value shipment now needs a formal or informal entry and pays whatever duties apply to the goods. Postal shipments valued at $2,500 or less use a new informal entry process with 10-digit HTS classification.
The full stack for the product's line: the MFN rate, plus Section 301 where it applies, plus Section 232 where steel, aluminum, or copper content is in scope. A $300 prototype now carries the same duty structure as a container.
No. CBP suspended it by regulation independent of any executive order, and Congress repealed it by statute effective July 1, 2027. Plan as if the threshold is never coming back.