Toronto, August 8, 2025
US President Donald Trump has signed the “Suspending Duty-Free De Minimis Treatment for All Countries” Executive Order of July 30, 2025, which eliminates the “de minimis” entry, also known as Section 321 clearance, a duty-free exemption for shipments entering the U.S. valued at $800 USD or less, effective August 29, 2025 on or after 12:01 a.m. Eastern Daylight Time.
The suspension of the de minimis at the end of this month, originally not expected until July 1, 2027, will now require these low value imports to be reported to US Customs & Border Protection (CBP) and subject to duty and tariffs based upon the commodity and country of origin (goods from China/Hong Kong were removed from the de minimis program in May of this year).
An estimated 4 million packages enter the US daily under the de minimis provision (over 1.36 billion per year) as per US Customs and Border Protection (CBP). Beginning August 29, 2025, these shipments will require complete documentation and must be customs cleared by a licenced customs broker (or by the importer directly). Currently, carriers manifest these shipments differently, which are not subject to standard customs clearance protocols.
As per the, Executive Order, “Duty-free de minimis treatment under 19 U.S.C. 1321(a)(2)(C) shall remain available for postal shipments until notification by the Secretary to the President that adequate systems are in place to fully and expeditiously process and collect duties applicable for postal shipments otherwise eligible for duty-free de minimis treatment. After such notification, duty-free de minimis treatment under 19 U.S.C. 1321(a)(2)(C) shall not be available for postal shipments.”
Importers should ensure customs clearance arrangements are in place before sending packages which would have previously fallen under de minimis, to ensure there are no delays or additional expenses upon import to the U.S..
For more information, please call Brian Rowe, Director – Customs Compliance & Regulatory Affairs at (905) 882-4880, ext. 1213.
