Just last week we reported news of a legal loophole in the US postal system being used to avoid paying duty on low value shipments. That loophole is now being closed as the US have cancelled the ‘de minimis’ rule for imports from all countries.      

De minimis is a US customs exemption that currently allows shipments valued at less than $800 to be imported free of duty. In May, the Trump administration ruled that low value products from China and Hong Kong were not to receive the exemption and must pay duty of either 30% or $25 per item.

However, President Trump has now signed an executive order that effectively ends the exemption for products from all worldwide countries from August 27th. After this date, millions of packages will face the same tariff rate as higher value goods from the same country of origin.

Trump’s ‘One Big Beautiful Bill’, which passed Congress last month, did plan to end de minimis in July 2027, but The White House cited that the exemption was being used to “evade tariffs and funnel deadly synthetic opioids” as the reasoning to issue a new executive order.

While the new regulations will come as a blow for US consumers, who have relied on the exemption to buy cheap items from ecommerce giants like Shein and Temu, it does level the playing field for those already paying duty in their e-commerce supply chains.

Westbound provide a host of services in North America, which are helping many UK and European companies establish themselves within the US marketplace. We provide a fully bespoke fulfilment service which integrates into all major e-commerce applications, such as Amazon Seller Central, Shopify, WooCommerce and more.

For further information, please do not hesitate to contact one of the Westbound team.

If you have any questions regarding the above, then Westbound are here to help. So, please do not hesitate to contact us.