US Customs & Border Protection Issues New Guidance On End Of De Minimis Exemption
UPDATE 8-21-25
International postal services are scrambling to catch up with the latest changes to tariffs and the end of the duty-free de minimis exemption for low value packages with some temporarily pausing shipments into the US as a result.
Liz Morton
As the August 29th deadline for the end of duty-free de minimis treatment for low-value shipments from all countries looms, US Customs and Border Protection has issued new guidance for international mail.
In a bulletin titled "CSMS # 65934463 - GUIDANCE: Payment of Duty on International Mail Shipments pursuant to Executive Order 14324 Suspending Duty-Free De Minimis Treatment for All Countries” posted on August 15th, CBP said:
Pursuant to the EO 14324 of July 30, 2025, (“Suspending Duty-Free De Minimis Treatment for All Countries”), effective August 29, 2025, de minimis duty-free treatment under 19 U.S.C. § 1321(a)(2)(C) will no longer be available for shipments entering into the United States not covered by 50 U.S.C. § 1702(b), including those entering through international mail.
The attached guidance provides detailed instructions for transportation carriers and qualified parties on how to comply with the requirements for international mail.
For now, shipments using international postal networks (rather than private carriers like UPS, FedEx, DHL etc) will provide the carrier the option to either collect the applicable tariff rate based on the country of origin or assessing a flat rate amount from $80-$200 tiered based on the tariff rate for the country of origin.
Important notes: country of origin is where the product is manufactured, not where it shipped from and "item" in both methodologies listed below refers to "postal item" which is the same as "package."
Carriers delivering shipments to the United States through the international postal network, or other qualifying parties that are approved by CBP, must collect and remit duties to CBP using one of the two methodologies described below.
- Methodology 1: A duty equal to the effective International Emergency Economic Powers Act (50 U.S.C. § 1701 et seq.) (IEEPA) tariff rate applicable to the country of origin of the product shall be assessed on the value of each dutiable postal item (package) containing goods entered for consumption, or
- Methodology 2: A specific duty shall be assessed on each package containing goods entered for consumption, based on the effective IEEPA tariff rate applicable to the country of origin of the product as follows:
- Countries with an effective IEEPA tariff rate of less than 16 percent: $80 per item;
- Countries with an effective IEEPA tariff rate between 16 and 25 percent (inclusive): $160 per item; and
- Countries with an effective IEEPA rate above 25 percent: $200 per item.
If products from multiple countries of origin are contained within the package, only the highest IEEPA rate will be used to determine the specific duty rate.
For all international postal shipments, the country of origin of the article must be declared to CBP as part of the monthly worksheet provided to CBP as described further below.
Which ever of those two options the carrier chooses, they must apply the same methodology across all covered shipments during any given period, but may change the duty collection methodology once per calendar month if they choose to do so.
That means shippers will need to keep a close eye on how their postal service is handling things, because they could change the methodology from one month to the next.
The specific duty methodology (#2 above) which allows for a flat rate per postal item to be paid will only be available for 6 months - starting on February 28, 2026, all covered shipments to the United States through the international postal network will have to use the ad valorem duty methodology (#1 above) instead.
More information about notification and bond requirements for qualified parties (companies working with or independently of a carrier, foreign postal operator, or the United States Postal Service) and processes for remitting duty to CBP can be found in the full memo:
Changes made earlier this year to end de minimis for goods from China initially snarled inbound shipments, causing USPS to temporarily halt accepting packages and creating chaos for importers, but CBP says they are now confident that systems are in place to allow this change to move forward.
How will the end of the de minimis exemption impact your online business? Let us know in the comments below!
