De Minimis Suspended in 2026: What Importers Need to Know
The $800 de minimis exemption — the rule that let low-value shipments enter the U.S. duty-free and paperwork-free — was suspended for all import modes on June 24, 2026. Every shipment that used to cross the border under de minimis now needs a real customs entry, with a Harmonized Tariff Schedule (HTS) classification, duties, and processing fees attached. If you built a business shipping direct-to-consumer parcels under $800, this is the guide to what changed and what to do about it.
What Changed on June 24, 2026
U.S. Customs and Border Protection (CBP) issued two interim final rules on June 24, 2026, indefinitely suspending the administrative de minimis exemption under 19 U.S.C. § 1321. One rule covers merchandise arriving through the international postal network; the other covers every other mode — air cargo, express couriers, ocean, and truck. Together, they mean there is no longer a duty-free, entry-free path for shipments valued at $800 or less, regardless of how they arrive.
This wasn't a single abrupt policy switch so much as the second half of one. Congress passed the One Big Beautiful Bill Act (OBBBA) in July 2025, which repeals the statutory de minimis exemption entirely, effective July 1, 2027. CBP's June 2026 suspension got there early through administrative action, using authority the President already had to suspend the exemption for national security and trade enforcement reasons. Practically, the distinction between "suspended now" and "repealed later" doesn't change what you owe today — but it does mean this isn't a temporary rule that might get reversed. The statutory repeal locks it in for good.
CBP also gave postal shipments a short runway: a new informal entry process for international mail took effect July 24, 2026, and a related compliance date for postal-specific requirements lands October 22, 2026. If you're importing through the postal network specifically, those dates matter for when the new documentation requirements fully kick in. For everything else — air, ocean, truck, courier — the requirement has applied since June 24.
What De Minimis Actually Was, and Why Losing It Matters
De minimis, formally the administrative exemption under Section 321 of the Tariff Act, let CBP waive duties and formal entry paperwork on shipments valued at $800 or less per person per day. It existed to keep CBP from spending more on processing a $40 phone case than the case was worth in duty. For over a decade, it was the backbone of direct-to-consumer cross-border e-commerce: a shipment could clear with minimal data — often just a manifest line — and no broker involvement at all.
That's gone now. Every one of those shipments needs a customs entry: an HTS classification (the code system CBP uses to determine duty rates and import requirements), a declared value, a country of origin, and an importer of record who's legally responsible for the accuracy of what's filed. For a business that was shipping hundreds or thousands of low-value parcels a month without ever touching a customs form, this is a genuinely new operational category, not a paperwork tweak.
What an Entry Actually Requires Now
The entry type formerly used for these shipments — Entry Type 86, built specifically for de minimis-eligible low-value packages — is no longer usable for anything that used to qualify. In its place, low-value shipments now route through one of two standard entry types, based on value:
Entry Type 11 (informal entry) applies to shipments valued at $2,500 or less. It's the lighter-weight of the two options, but it's still a real entry: CBP requires an HTS classification, value, and origin, and may require a bond depending on the goods and the importer's history. Informal entries carry a small flat Merchandise Processing Fee (MPF) — CBP's per-entry processing charge — rather than the percentage-based fee formal entries pay.
Entry Type 01 (formal entry) is required above $2,500, and also kicks in below that threshold if your product is regulated by a partner government agency (PGA — an agency like the FDA or USDA with its own import requirements), subject to antidumping or countervailing duty (AD/CVD) orders, or otherwise falls under Chapter 98 or 99 special provisions. Formal entries require a customs bond and carry an ad valorem MPF: for fiscal year 2026, that's 0.3464% of the entered value, with a minimum of $33.58 and a maximum of $651.50 per entry.
Either way, paper-based, minimal-data filings are done. Every shipment needs a real classification and a real entry, filed electronically through CBP's Automated Commercial Environment (ACE) — the system that processes essentially all U.S. customs entries. If your goods travel by ocean, they may also need an Importer Security Filing (ISF), a separate pre-arrival data submission required for ocean cargo, though most former de minimis parcels move by air or express courier and won't trigger that requirement. Our ISF filing guide covers that process if it applies to your shipments.
The Real Cost Math: Broker Fees at Volume
Here's where this suspension actually bites for a business that was shipping under de minimis: every one of those shipments now needs an entry, and entries cost money to file, whether by broker or by your own team. Full-service brokerage typically runs $100–$250 per entry, depending on complexity — a rate built around the labor of a licensed customs broker classifying goods, verifying documentation, and submitting the filing on your behalf.
Run the math at volume and the difference gets stark fast. A brand shipping 500 parcels a month that used to clear under de minimis, now filing each one as a brokered entry at $100–$250, is looking at $50,000–$125,000 a month in filing fees alone — on top of whatever duty is actually owed. That's not a rounding error in a direct-to-consumer business model; for a lot of importers, it's the whole margin.
Self-filing software changes that equation. With Strix, self-filing runs $30 per entry — ABI (Automated Broker Interface, the CBP-certified technology that connects filers to ACE)-certified software with built-in validation and access to licensed broker support when something gets complicated. That same 500-entry-a-month business would spend $15,000 a month self-filing instead of $50,000–$125,000 brokered — a difference that can be the gap between a viable low-value import model and one that quietly stops making sense. Our guide to ABI software walks through how that technology actually works if you're new to the concept.
A Worked Example: Two Brands, Two Outcomes
Consider two direct-to-consumer brands, both shipping 300 low-value parcels a month that used to clear under de minimis without an entry. Brand A sources a stable catalog of 15 SKUs from two long-term suppliers, ships almost entirely by air, and has an operations lead willing to own classification and documentation. Brand B has 40 SKUs across six suppliers, is still finalizing country-of-origin paperwork for several of them, and has no one in-house who's touched a customs entry before.
For Brand A, self-filing at $30 per entry runs $9,000 a month — a real new cost, but a manageable one once the initial classification work is done, since most entries repeat the same 15 HTS codes month after month. For Brand B, the classification and documentation gaps make self-filing riskier in the short term: a misclassified SKU or a missing origin document doesn't just cost one entry, it risks a hold on every shipment carrying that code until it's fixed. Brand B is a better fit for full brokerage, at least until its documentation catches up — $100–$250 per entry across 300 monthly parcels runs $30,000–$75,000 a month, expensive, but it buys a licensed broker's review on product lines that aren't settled yet.
Neither brand is doing this wrong. The suspension didn't hand every importer the same problem, and it doesn't have a single right answer — it handed every importer a new cost that scales with volume and a decision about how much of the underlying compliance work they're ready to own themselves.
When Self-Filing Makes Sense — and When a Broker Still Does
None of this is an argument against brokers; it's an argument for matching the tool to the shipment. High-volume, low-value, well-understood product lines — the exact profile that used to run under de minimis — are usually where self-filing earns its cost advantage. If you're shipping the same handful of SKUs from the same suppliers every week, the classification work is largely done once, and each subsequent entry is closer to routine than novel.
Self-filing isn't free of responsibility, though. Someone on your team needs to own HTS classification, country-of-origin documentation, and entry review, and you'll need a customs bond in place regardless of who files. Businesses with new products, new suppliers, or first-time country-of-origin questions — especially now that PGA flags and AD/CVD exposure matter on entries that never used to touch a customs form — often find it faster to route those specific shipments through a broker while self-filing the routine ones. Strix's dual-service model exists for exactly that split: you're not locked into one path for every entry, and you can move between self-filing and brokerage as your product mix shifts. Our self-filing software page has more detail on how the platform and support model work together.
Getting Set Up: What to Do This Month
If you've been shipping under de minimis and haven't yet set up a real entry process, a few things need attention before your next shipment moves. First, get a customs bond in place — CBP requires one for formal entries and may require one for informal entries too, and a bond application isn't instant. Second, get your product catalog classified: every SKU needs an HTS code, and doing this in bulk ahead of time beats scrambling entry by entry.
Third, decide who's filing — your own team through ABI-certified self-filing software, a broker, or some mix based on shipment complexity — and get that relationship or software access set up before volume backs up at the port. Fourth, confirm your country-of-origin documentation is actually current for every supplier; entries now require a declared origin, and that's not something you can leave blank. None of this has to happen in a single day, but every week without it is a week of shipments at risk of delay or improvised filing.
It's also worth budgeting for the transition itself, not just the steady-state per-entry cost. Bond applications take time to process, product classification for a full catalog is rarely a one-afternoon project, and your first few entries under the new rules — whether self-filed or brokered — will likely take longer than your hundredth. Building in a few weeks of runway before you're fully dependent on the new process gives your team room to catch mistakes on lower-stakes shipments instead of your highest-volume week.
Frequently Asked Questions
Does the de minimis suspension apply to my shipments if they're under $800?
Yes. The suspension removed the value threshold entirely for administrative de minimis treatment — there's no longer a duty-free, entry-free path based on value alone. Every shipment that would have qualified under the old $800 rule now needs a formal or informal customs entry, regardless of how low its value is.
Is this suspension temporary, or could de minimis come back?
The June 2026 suspension is administrative and indefinite, but Congress separately repealed the statutory de minimis exemption through the One Big Beautiful Bill Act, effective July 1, 2027. Because that repeal is statutory rather than an executive action, reversing it would require new legislation — it's not something a future administration can simply switch back on.
Can I still use Entry Type 86 for low-value shipments?
No. Entry Type 86 was built specifically for de minimis-eligible shipments and can no longer be used for goods that formerly qualified. Low-value shipments now route through Entry Type 11 (informal, $2,500 or under) or Entry Type 01 (formal, over $2,500 or PGA/AD-CVD-flagged), both of which require a full customs entry.
Do I need a customs broker now, or can I file these entries myself?
Either can work, and it often depends on volume and how routine your product line is. Any importer of record can self-file using ABI-certified software, which tends to be more cost-effective at high volume on well-understood products; a licensed broker makes more sense for complex, new, or PGA-flagged shipments. Many importers use both, routing routine entries through self-filing software and unusual ones to a broker.
Get Your Entries Filed Correctly, Starting Now
The de minimis suspension caught a lot of importers mid-shipment, and the cost of getting an entry wrong — a missed PGA flag, a misclassified HTS code, an under-bonded formal entry — is higher than the cost of getting help setting things up right. Whether you need self-filing software for high-volume routine shipments, full brokerage for your first few formal entries, or just a straight answer about which entry type applies to your goods, talk to our team before your next shipment is due to move.
Sources: Federal Register, Indefinite Suspension of the De Minimis Exemption for Merchandise Arriving Through All Modes Other Than the International Postal Network, Federal Register, Indefinite Suspension of the De Minimis Exemption for Mail Shipments, CBP E-Commerce FAQs.