Background

President Trump issued an executive order Feb. 20 continuing the suspension of duty-free de minimis treatment for low-value shipments from all countries, as the legal basis for the previous suspension came into question following the recent Supreme Court decision striking down the IEEPA tariffs.

The de minimis exemption allowed the informal, duty-free entry of articles that have a retail value of $800 or less and are imported by one person in one day. However, the Trump administration eliminated de minimis treatment as of May 2, 2025, for low-value packages from China and Hong Kong, which the White House said account for the majority of de minimis shipments to the U.S. President Trump subsequently issued an executive order that suspended commercial de minimis entries from all countries as of Aug. 29, 2025.

The new EO is effective with respect to goods entered, or withdrawn from warehouse, for consumption on or after 12:01 a.m. EST on Feb. 24.

U.S. Customs and Border Protection indicated in a CSMS that the processes currently in place to file entry and collect duties on shipments that previously qualified for de minimis treatment, including those entering through international mail, will remain in place. Other than shipments sent through the international postal network that are subject to Section 3 of EO 14324, as amended by the EO of Feb. 20, all shipments that would have qualified for de minimis treatment prior to EO 14324 must be filed as an appropriate entry type in the Automated Commercial Environment.

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