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Customs Exemptions · Updated 27 September 2026
De Minimis in 2026: The US $800 Exemption Is Suspended
For a decade, US shipments worth $800 or less entered duty-free under Section 321. That exemption is now suspended for every country — and the EU and Türkiye have ended theirs too. Every parcel into these markets owes duty.
How the US exemption ended
- 2016 — the Trade Facilitation and Trade Enforcement Act raised the Section 321 threshold from $200 to $800, fuelling direct-to-consumer cross-border e-commerce.
- 2 May 2025 — the exemption ended for goods from China and Hong Kong.
- 29 August 2025 — an executive order suspended it for goods from every country.
- 20 February 2026 — the Supreme Court struck down the IEEPA tariffs; the de minimis suspension was on a separate legal track and stayed in place.
- 24 June and 24 July 2026 — CBP made the suspension a regulation for courier/freight shipments, then for postal shipments.
- 1 July 2027 — the One Big Beautiful Bill Act repeals the exemption by statute.
What a small US shipment pays now
Any value
Duty
MFN duty + China Section 301 (Chinese goods) + the 10–12.5% forced-labor Section 301 tariff for goods from the 60 covered economies. A $50 cotton T-shirt order from Vietnam pays 29% ($14.50).
$0 – $2,500
Informal entry
Lighter paperwork, no customs bond, and a flat Merchandise Processing Fee of $2.77.
$2,501+
Formal entry
Commercial invoice, CBP Form 7501 and an importer bond. MPF is 0.3464% of value, minimum $34.58 and maximum $670.86.
De minimis by country (September 2026)
Thresholds change often. Verify with the destination's customs authority before relying on one.
| Country | Duty threshold | Legal basis | Note |
|---|---|---|---|
| United States | None (suspended) | Section 321 | $800 exemption suspended for every country since 29 Aug 2025; repealed by statute from 1 Jul 2027 |
| European Union | None for duty | Council Reg. (EU) 2026/382 | €150 duty exemption ended 1 Jul 2026 — flat €3 per item up to €150 until 1 Jul 2028, plus a €2 handling fee per item from 1 Nov 2026; VAT from €0 (IOSS) |
| Türkiye | None | Presidential Decision, Jan 2026 | €30 postal/courier exemption abolished 6 Feb 2026 |
| United Kingdom | £135 (duty) | HMRC low-value rules | VAT charged on all orders, usually at checkout |
| Canada | CAD $20 | Customs Act | CUSMA courier shipments: C$150 duty-free, C$40 tax-free |
| Australia | AUD $1,000 (duty) | Low Value Threshold | GST collected on all goods, usually by the seller |
| Japan | ¥10,000 (tax base) | Customs Tariff Law | Roughly ¥16,666 purchase price for personal imports |
| UAE | AED 1,000 (duty) | GCC customs law | 5% VAT still applies |
De minimis FAQ
What is the de minimis rule?
De minimis (from the Latin 'de minimis non curat lex' — the law does not concern itself with trifles) is a customs provision that lets low-value shipments enter without import duty, and sometimes without VAT or GST. Each country sets its own threshold. Several of the best-known thresholds, including the US $800 one, have been suspended or abolished since 2025.
Is there still a US de minimis threshold in 2026?
No. The Section 321 exemption that let shipments of $800 or less enter duty-free is suspended for goods from every country. It ended for China on 2 May 2025 and for all countries on 29 August 2025 by executive order; CBP made the suspension a rule on 24 June 2026 for courier and freight shipments and on 24 July 2026 for postal shipments. The One Big Beautiful Bill Act repeals it by statute from 1 July 2027. Every shipment now owes duty.
Did the Supreme Court's IEEPA ruling bring de minimis back?
No. The February 2026 ruling struck down the IEEPA tariffs, but the de minimis suspension ran on a separate legal track and CBP then adopted it by regulation. It remains suspended.
What do small US shipments pay now?
The normal duty stack: MFN duty, plus China's Section 301 rate for Chinese goods, plus the 10–12.5% forced-labor Section 301 tariff for goods from the 60 covered economies. Shipments up to $2,500 can usually clear on an informal entry, which carries a flat Merchandise Processing Fee of $2.77 instead of the formal-entry minimum. Mail parcels are the exception from 20 January 2027 (see below).
Do parcels sent by mail clear the same way?
Not from 20 January 2027. Since 24 July 2026, parcels arriving through the international postal network use a separate informal mail entry. Parcels that owe a Chapter 99 tariff (which includes China's Section 301 duties and the forced-labor Section 301 tariff), need clearance from another agency such as the FDA, or claim a free-trade-agreement preference cannot use it: they need a formal entry, with the $34.58 minimum MPF and usually a broker's fee, or CBP's new Entry Type 13 mail entry, a voluntary test that began on 22 September 2026. CBP postponed enforcing this from 22 October 2026 to 20 January 2027 (CBP final rule, 91 FR 66638, 22 October 2026).
What changed in the EU?
The €150 customs-duty exemption ended on 1 July 2026. Until 1 July 2028, consignments worth up to €150 pay a flat €3 customs duty per item (counted per tariff heading), then normal duty rates apply. From 1 November 2026 every item sold to an EU consumer from outside the EU also carries a €2 Union handling fee, at any value, and VAT is charged on it. VAT has applied to every import from €0 since July 2021, usually collected at checkout through the IOSS scheme.
Can I split shipments to stay under a de minimis threshold?
Deliberately splitting shipments to avoid duty is illegal in the US and most other countries, and customs authorities look for it. With the US and EU exemptions gone it no longer saves duty in those markets anyway.
What is the difference between an informal and a formal US entry?
Informal entry covers most shipments valued at $2,500 or less: duties apply, but documentation is lighter, no customs bond is needed, and the MPF is a flat fee. Formal entry is required above $2,500: full commercial invoice, CBP Form 7501, a bond, and MPF of 0.3464% of value (minimum $34.58, maximum $670.86 from 1 October 2026).
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