De Minimis Threshold
The de minimis threshold is the maximum value of imported goods that can enter the United States without formal customs entry procedures or payment of duties and taxes. Under Section 321(a)(2)(C) of the Tariff Act of 1930 (19 U.S.C. § 1321), the statutory threshold is $800 per person, per day. However, as of August 29, 2025, duty-free de minimis treatment has been suspended for commercial shipments from all countries by executive order — and H.R. 1 (the "One Big Beautiful Bill Act") permanently repeals the exemption effective July 1, 2027.
How De Minimis Worked
Before the 2025 suspension, shipments valued at $800 or less could enter the U.S. with:
- No duties or taxes collected
- Simplified documentation instead of formal customs entry
- Faster clearance through customs processing
- No customs bond requirement
The $800 threshold applied per recipient, per day — multiple packages arriving on the same day to the same person were aggregated for valuation purposes. De minimis shipments grew from 134 million in 2015 to approximately 1.36 billion in 2024 — more than 4 million packages entering the U.S. per day.
Timeline of Changes
| Date | Action |
|---|---|
| 2016 | Threshold raised from $200 to $800 (Trade Facilitation Act) |
| Feb 2025 | Executive Order 14256 targets China/HK de minimis |
| May 2, 2025 | De minimis eliminated for China and Hong Kong imports |
| Jul 4, 2025 | H.R. 1 signed — adds civil penalties and permanent repeal (effective 2027) |
| Jul 30, 2025 | Executive Order 14324 suspends de minimis globally |
| Aug 29, 2025 | Global suspension takes effect for all countries |
| Jul 1, 2027 | Permanent statutory repeal of Section 321 de minimis |
Current Status
Since August 29, 2025, all imported goods — regardless of value — are subject to applicable duties and must be filed with 10-digit HTS codes through the Automated Commercial Environment (ACE). Postal shipments are subject to either an ad valorem duty rate or a per-item specific duty, depending on the country of origin.
Civil penalties for de minimis misuse (such as splitting orders into sub-$800 parcels) include fines of up to $5,000 for a first violation and $10,000 for repeat offenses. Since enforcement began, CBP has collected over $1 billion in duties on more than 246 million low-value shipments [CBP, December 2025].
Why It Matters
The de minimis exemption previously allowed approximately 4 million parcels per day to enter the U.S. duty-free. E-commerce platforms like Shein and Temu shipped an estimated 600,000 packages daily under this provision. The suspension has increased costs for cross-border e-commerce by an estimated 15–25% and now requires formal customs compliance for all shipments, regardless of size.