The exemption allowing some low-value imports to enter the U.S. duty-free is set to expire on Friday.
President Trump penned an executive order last month suspending the so-called de minimis tax exemption rule for goods coming into the country that are worth $800 or less.
The executive order has resulted in national postal services from dozens of countries suspending the sending of some or most packages slated for the U.S. market due to additional payments and confusion surrounding order processing.
The ending of the exemption is expected to impact retail giants such as Shein, Amazon and Temu, as well as portions of the fashion industry, alongside those who ship packages and import goods from China to the U.S.
The volume of de minimis shipments flowing into the U.S. has soared between 2015 and 2024, rising from 134 million shipments to more than 1.36 billion, according to the White House. U.S. Customs and Border Protection processed more than 4 million de minimis shipments going into the country every day, the White House said in late July.
The White House argued the exemption has been “abused, with shippers sending illicit fentanyl and other synthetic opioids, precursors, and paraphernalia into the United States in reliance on the lower security measures applied to de minimis shipments, killing Americans.”
Even after the deadline, Americans will still be able to bring back up to $200 in personal items and they can still receive gifts worth $100 or less duty-free.
The import tax exemption was established in 1938 under Section 321 of the Tariff Act, allowing low-value items to be shipped into the U.S. free of import taxes.
The exemption has been amended multiple times since then. The rule was bumped up to encompass goods worth $800 or less.
There is support on both sides of the aisle to alter or even eliminate the exemption, with lawmakers and administration officials contending that the rule allows foreign manufacturers to undercut American businesses and workers, while making it more difficult to enforce U.S. trade laws and more challenging to prevent fentanyl and synthetic drug materials from flowing into the U.S.
In early May, Trump suspended the exemption for packages coming from Hong Kong and China, which make up the majority of de minimis packages being shipped to the U.S.
As the deadline approaches, international shipping providers are already taking action. DHL, the biggest shipping courier in Europe, said it stopped shipping some business shipments to the U.S.
“Key questions remain unresolved, particularly regarding how and by whom customs duties will be collected in the future, what additional data will be required, and how the data transmission to the U.S. Customs and Border Protection will be carried out,” DHL said last week.
Some countries in Europe, including Sweden, Italy and Denmark, have paused shipping some packages to the U.S. India announced that starting on Monday, it would suspend all shipments to the U.S., except for letters and smaller gifts valued at less than $100.
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