The $800 de minimis exemption, which let a parcel worth $800 or less into the US without duty or a full customs entry, is suspended for goods arriving by every mode, mail included. CBP's e-commerce FAQ (checked November 2026) says those shipments now need formal or informal entry, with all duties, taxes and fees paid. If you hold your stock in a US warehouse, it's entered once, in bulk, and each order then ships to your customer as a domestic parcel with no customs step.
This guide is for a brand based outside the US that has been shipping each order to its US customers from home. It explains what changed and what a parcel now needs, from CBP's own pages and the two rules CBP published in June 2026, with the date we checked each one. It isn't legal or customs advice. Your customs broker is the person who tells you what your product and your entries need.
What the de minimis exemption was
De minimis is the US rule that let low-value goods in without duty and with very little paperwork. CBP's interim final rule for non-postal shipments, Federal Register document 2026-12670 (published June 24, 2026, checked November 2026), describes it as covering articles valued at $800 or less, a ceiling Congress raised from $200 in 2015.
For a brand abroad, it made shipping from home simple. Your customer in Ohio ordered a $60 jacket, you posted it or handed it to a courier, and it crossed the border on a short manifest line with no duty to pay. A whole business model grew up around that: one parcel per order, sent from wherever the stock was made or stored.
When the suspension started, and which shipments it covers
The same rule says the exemption has been suspended since at least August 29, 2025, under an executive order, and that CBP now adopts the suspension under its own statutory authority. That rule took effect on June 24, 2026, for everything that doesn't arrive through the international postal network: couriers, express carriers, air freight and the rest. The rule also records that Congress has enacted the termination of the de minimis exemption effective July 1, 2027.
Mail has its own rule. Federal Register document 2026-12669 (checked November 2026) suspends de minimis for mail shipments and sets up a new informal entry process for the mail, and it took effect on July 24, 2026. CBP's e-commerce FAQ answers yes to whether the suspension applies to products of all countries and all kinds of merchandise.
So there's no route left where a parcel of goods you sold gets in under the old exemption. Two narrow statutory exemptions remain, according to the FAQ: bona fide gifts and personal or household articles. Neither one covers an order a customer paid for in your store.
What a parcel sent from home now needs
Every parcel has to be entered with CBP on its own, and the duties, taxes and fees on it have to be paid. CBP's FAQ says informal entry is generally allowed for shipments valued at $2,500 or less, subject to eligibility, and formal entry is required above $2,500 and for certain goods, such as those under quotas or antidumping and countervailing duties. Most single orders sit far under $2,500, so in practice each one becomes an informal entry.
By courier or express carrier, the non-postal rule says CBP has suspended the test entry type that low-value parcels used to clear on, and that the usual informal entry is now the main route, with formal entry still an option. Who files that entry, and who pays the duty before the parcel is released, depends on how you ship, so ask your courier and your broker. A customer who gets a bill at the door may refuse the parcel.
By mail, the rules are more specific. The postal rule says entry may only be made by the owner or purchaser of the goods, or a licensed customs broker they've designated. The filer needs a basic importation and entry bond on file before the entry is accepted, sends CBP a spreadsheet of the shipments (classification, country of origin, value, duty owed and tracking number among the fields), and pays the duty through Pay.gov by the 7th day of the month after the goods arrive. CBP's FAQ adds that a shipment without the required data or bond isn't released until those are in place, and that some goods can't use the mail process at all and need formal entry.
More may follow. CBP's page on strengthening customs enforcement (checked November 2026) lists a proposed rule on low-value shipments that would require bonds for all informal entries, with comments due by December 7, 2026. It's a proposal, so it may change before anything takes effect, and it's worth asking your broker about now.
Parcels from home or stock held in the US: the routes side by side
Assume you sell 1,000 orders a month to US customers. Shipped from home, that's 1,000 entries a month, each with its own duty, data and release. Shipped from a US warehouse, it's the entries for however many bulk shipments you send, and 1,000 domestic parcels. The table sets out what each route asks of you.
| Route | What crosses the border | What you need in place |
|---|---|---|
| Courier or express parcel from home | Each order, as its own informal entry (formal above $2,500) | Classification and value on every parcel, duty paid before release, a decision on who pays it |
| Mail parcel from home | Each order, through the new postal informal entry process | An owner, purchaser or designated broker to file, a bond on file, the monthly spreadsheet, duty paid through Pay.gov by the 7th |
| Bulk shipment to a US warehouse | One shipment of many orders' worth of stock, entered once | You as importer of record, a licensed customs broker, a bond, a commercial invoice and a packing list |
| Orders from the US warehouse | Nothing: the goods are already in the US | A store connected to the warehouse, and US shipping rules |
The duty itself doesn't go away when you move to bulk. Your goods are still imported, and duty is still owed on them at the rates in effect when entry is made. What changes is how often you deal with it: once per container or pallet shipment, with a broker who knows your products, instead of once per customer.
What changes when your stock is held in the US
Holding stock in the US turns the customs problem from a parcel problem into a shipment problem. You make one entry for a shipment of stock, your broker files it, and when CBP releases the goods they go to the warehouse. From then on, a customer's order is picked from a US shelf and handed to a US carrier as a domestic parcel. There's no entry on it, no duty at the door and no hold at the border.
Your customer sees the difference as well, because a domestic parcel carries a US tracking number from the first scan, it doesn't wait in a customs queue, and returns go back to a US address. If you've been losing orders to surprise charges or slow deliveries since the suspension, those are the two things that change first.
It's a bigger setup, since you'll need a customs broker, a bond, an importer number and a warehouse, and you'll be paying to store stock you haven't sold yet. The step-by-step guide for brands abroadHow a brand based outside the US starts shipping from inside it.You stay the importer of record, a licensed customs broker files your entry, your stock goes to a US warehouse, and your orders then ship as domestic parcels. covers each of those in order, and the inbound guideHow to send inventory to a 3PL so receiving takes fewer hours.Send the SKU list first, one SKU per carton, labeled cartons, a packing list on the pallet and notice before it lands. At YNK receiving is billed hourly. covers packing the first shipment so it's received quickly. If you're importing after the first week of January 2027, CBP's enforcement page also describes an interim rule that takes effect on January 5, 2027, and requires a foreign importer of record to be CTPAT validated or to use a CTPAT-validated customs broker. Ask any broker you're considering where they stand on that.
What to ask your customs broker before you change anything
A good broker will answer most of these on the first call. Write the answers down, because they set your landed cost per unit and your timeline.
- How is each of my products classified, and what duty applies to it today at the rates in effect?
- If I keep shipping parcels from home for a while, who files each entry, and who pays the duty before release?
- Can any of my products use the new mail informal entry process, or do they need formal entry?
- What bond do I need for bulk shipments, single transaction or continuous, and how long does it take to put in place?
- Can you file my importer number, and what do you need from my company to do it?
- Are you CTPAT validated today, and how will the foreign importer of record rule of January 5, 2027, change what you need from me?
- What do you need from me before each shipment arrives: the commercial invoice, the packing list, and anything specific to my products?
- How does the proposed bond requirement for informal entries affect me if it's adopted?
Ask the warehouse its own questions at the same time: where the receiving dock is and when it's open, what it needs on every carton, and how fast stock shows in your inventory after it arrives. The quote data packWhat to send a 3PL for a quote, and why each file changes the price.To get a 3PL quote you can trust, send three months of orders with zips, a SKU list with weights and packed dimensions, returns, channels and your peak dates. lists what to send a 3PL so the quote comes back priced on your products.
How US fulfillment works at YNK for a brand abroad
YNK is a 3PL in Elmwood Park, New JerseyNew Jersey 3PLThe Elmwood Park warehouse, rates, transit times and directions, about 15 miles from Manhattan., and your brand can be based anywhere in the world. You don't need a US company to work with us. You import your goods as the importer of record, and we can connect you to a customs broker. We can book your domestic and cross-border freight for you, and the stock comes to 465 Mola Blvd, Dock 10, Elmwood Park, NJ 07407.
When it arrives, every unit is scanned as it goes on the shelf, and cycle counts keep the number on your dashboard equal to the number on the shelf. Orders sync in from your store as they're paid, and every channel you sell on draws on one inventory pool. Orders in by noon Eastern (12pm ET) ship the same business day. Anything later goes out the next business day, or within two to three business days during peak. Ground reaches New York, New Jersey, Pennsylvania, New England and the DC area in one to two business days, and takes about five coast to coast. Every major carrier picks up here daily, tracking syncs back to your store, and returns come back to the same building.
We invoice in US dollars, and brands outside the US pay by bank transfer. You can write to us in your own language, and we'll reply in it. Calls are in English. The page for brands based outside the USBrands outside the USUS fulfillment for a brand based anywhere. You don’t need a US company to work with us, you import as the importer of record, and we invoice in US dollars. has the rest, including the form.
Questions brands abroad ask about the de minimis suspension
Is the $800 de minimis exemption gone for good?
It's suspended indefinitely for every mode, and CBP's non-postal rule of June 24, 2026, records that Congress enacted its termination effective July 1, 2027. Check CBP's e-commerce FAQ for the current position, because the mail rules have changed more than once since 2025.
Do my customers pay duty on orders from a US warehouse?
No. Once your stock has been entered and released, it's already in the US, so an order shipped from the warehouse is a domestic parcel with no customs entry or duty on it. The duty on that stock was owed at entry, by you as the importer of record.
Can YNK clear customs for me?
YNK doesn't clear customs or act as importer of record. You're the importer of record for your goods, the party responsible for the import, and we can connect you to a customs broker who files the entry for you.
Can I keep shipping some orders from home?
You can, as long as each parcel is entered and its duties are paid. You could, for example, keep slow sellers at home and move the fast ones to US stock. Your broker can tell you what that costs per parcel for your products.