This Business News Story Was Uncovered By Us From: https://www.under30ceo.com/de-minimis-exemption-small-importers-2026/
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If you import inventory in small batches, the rule that made that work is gone, and a guide updated on August 17, 2026 lays out where things now stand. The de minimis exemption, which let shipments worth $800 or less enter the United States duty-free, ended for China and Hong Kong on May 2, 2025 and for every other country on August 29, 2025. Customs and Border Protection made the suspension indefinite by regulation effective June 24, 2026.
I know a lot of owners who built their whole sourcing model around that threshold, and watching the math stop working is genuinely stressful. So let us walk through what it costs, what is still coming, and which adjustments are worth your time this quarter.
The Rule That Quietly Ended
Section 321 of the Tariff Act of 1930 created the exemption, and Congress raised the ceiling from $200 to $800 in 2016. That timing mattered, because it lined up with the boom in cross-border ecommerce. Small sellers learned to keep each shipment under the limit and skip formal customs entry entirely.
The volume got enormous. Roughly four million packages a day came in this way, which works out to well over a billion shipments a year. Treasury estimated the uncollected duties at $10 billion to $15 billion annually, and that number is a large part of why the exemption became politically vulnerable.
What a $500 Order Costs Now
Numbers make this concrete. Consider a $500 shipment of phone accessories from China under the current structure.
Landed cost change on a $500 China shipment, 2026
Line item
Amount
Combined duty at roughly 37.5%
About $187.50
Customs brokerage per entry
$50 to $100
Total added cost
$237.50 to $287.50
The new tariff structure can raise the total landed cost of imported goods by roughly 47.5% to 57.5%. This includes a 12.5% Section 301 forced-labor tariff, introduced in place of Section 122 on July 2… Read More
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