De Minimis Exemption: What’s Suspended, What Applies, and Penalties

The de minimis exemption that let goods worth $800 or less enter the United States duty-free is suspended. Effective February 24, 2026, executive action eliminated duty-free de minimis treatment for nearly all imported goods, regardless of value or country of origin.¹ The statute at 19 U.S.C. § 1321 is still on the books, so if the suspension is lifted the old rules would return. Right now, though, virtually every package entering the country owes duties.

What Still Enters Duty-Free

The suspension carves out one narrow set of exceptions: items protected under 50 U.S.C. § 1702(b), which the International Emergency Economic Powers Act shields from trade restrictions.² Four categories qualify:

Personal communications that don’t involve transferring anything of value, like letters and phone calls.
Humanitarian donations such as food, clothing, and medicine sent to relieve human suffering.
Informational materials, including publications, films, photographs, artwork, music recordings, and news feeds, in any format.
Travel-related items, meaning accompanied baggage for personal use and goods acquired during ordinary travel.

If you’re ordering consumer goods online from an overseas retailer, your purchase almost certainly falls outside these exceptions.

What You Now Pay on a Low-Value Shipment

The suspension splits low-value imports into two tracks depending on how they arrive.

Private Carrier and Freight Shipments

Any package arriving through a private carrier or freight service (not the international postal network) must now be filed using an appropriate entry type in the Automated Commercial Environment by someone qualified to make that entry.¹ The shipment owes all applicable duties, taxes, fees, and charges, just as if it were a high-value commercial import. The tariff rate for the specific product applies in full, including any additional tariffs tied to trade actions like IEEPA surcharges.

For shipments containing goods regulated by agencies like the FDA or EPA, Entry Type 86 provides an electronic pathway through the Automated Commercial Environment. That entry type requires more data than a standard manifest filing, including a 10-digit Harmonized Tariff Schedule number and an Importer of Record number when the shipment triggers government agency review.³ Regulated goods cannot move into commerce until both CBP and every relevant agency issue a release.

International Postal Shipments

Packages arriving through the international postal network follow different rules. Carriers delivering these shipments must collect and remit duties to CBP. The February 2026 order ties the postal duty rate to the rate established in the Proclamation of February 20, 2026, which imposed a temporary import surcharge on all goods entering the country.¹ An additional 10 percent surcharge applies to all goods regardless of country of origin.⁴ Postal shipments subject to antidumping or countervailing duties, or to a quota, must still be entered under an appropriate entry type in ACE.

Carriers must declare the country of origin and value of each postal item to CBP. That requirement applies even though postal shipments do not yet require formal entry filing. CBP is developing a new entry process for postal items and will publish it in the Federal Register when it takes effect.

The $800 Rule Behind the Suspension

The exemption itself has not been repealed. Understanding the underlying statute matters because the suspension rests on executive orders that can be modified or revoked, and because certain enforcement provisions in the statute remain active right now.

Under 19 U.S.C. § 1321, goods with an aggregate fair retail value in the country of shipment of $800 or less can enter duty-free when the exemption is operative.⁵ The value is based on what the items would sell for at retail in the country where the shipment originated, not what you paid after discounts. Shipping and insurance costs are excluded when listed separately.

The exemption is limited to goods imported by one person on one day. If two packages arrive for you on the same date and their combined fair retail value crosses $800, neither qualifies. The statute also specifically bars splitting merchandise from a single order or contract into separate shipments to claim the exemption multiple times.⁵ That provision catches businesses trying to game the system by shipping 10 packages over 10 days instead of one $8,000 crate. A first structuring violation can result in a civil fine of up to $5,000, and each subsequent violation carries fines of up to $10,000. Those penalty provisions are currently in effect but are scheduled to be removed from the statute on July 1, 2027.

Goods That Were Never Eligible

Even before the 2026 suspension, several categories of goods could never use the de minimis exemption regardless of value.

Alcoholic beverages, cigars, cigarettes, and other goods subject to federal excise taxes require formal entry so the correct taxes are calculated and collected.⁵ Products subject to antidumping or countervailing duties are also permanently excluded, because the documentation those special tariffs require is incompatible with the simplified de minimis process.

Goods bearing counterfeit trademarks are subject to seizure and forfeiture on arrival, regardless of value or entry type. After seizure, CBP typically destroys the merchandise unless the trademark owner consents to an alternative disposition.⁶ Anyone who directs, finances, or assists with importing counterfeit goods faces civil fines on top of the seizure. For a first offense, the fine can reach the manufacturer’s suggested retail price of the genuine version; for a second or subsequent offense, that ceiling doubles.⁷

Items regulated by partner government agencies, such as medical devices, certain chemicals, and food products, often need inspections or certifications the informal entry process cannot accommodate. Those shipments must go through a more thorough review before release.

Documentation and Recordkeeping

Whether the exemption is active or suspended, CBP requires the same basic data for every shipment: a clear description of the merchandise, the country where it was manufactured, the fair retail value in the country of shipment, and the name and address of the person or business receiving the goods. Carriers and exporters usually compile this into a shipping manifest or commercial invoice.

Entry Type 86 filings demand more. In addition to the basics, importers must provide a bill of lading or air waybill number, an entry number, the planned port of entry, and a 10-digit Harmonized Tariff Schedule number for each product.³ The classification number determines which duty rate applies, and getting it wrong can trigger penalties.

Recordkeeping obligations continue after the shipment clears. For goods admitted under the de minimis exemption when it was operative, importers and brokers must keep records for two years from the date of entry. For formal entries, the retention period is five years.⁸ With the suspension converting most low-value shipments into dutiable entries, the five-year requirement now applies to a far broader range of packages than it did before.

Penalties for Getting It Wrong

CBP enforces customs violations on a sliding scale that accounts for intent. A negligent violation, such as accidentally undervaluing a shipment, carries a civil penalty of up to two times the duties the government was deprived of, or the domestic value of the merchandise, whichever is less.⁹ Gross negligence raises the ceiling to four times the unpaid duties. Fraud, meaning deliberately mislabeling goods or falsifying values, can result in a fine equal to the full domestic value of the merchandise.

Self-reporting cuts the exposure sharply. If you disclose a violation before CBP starts a formal investigation, a negligent or grossly negligent mistake generally costs only the unpaid duties plus interest. For fraud disclosed before an investigation, the maximum drops to 100 percent of the unpaid duties rather than the full domestic value.⁹

CBP’s enforcement efforts for low-value entries have uncovered widespread problems including incorrect manifesting, misclassification, undervaluation, and delivery of goods before CBP releases them.³ With the suspension now funneling millions of formerly exempt shipments into the formal entry system, the stakes for getting the paperwork right are higher than they have ever been.

1
The White House. Continuing the Suspension of Duty-Free De Minimis Treatment for All Countries
2
GovInfo. 50 USC 1702 – Presidential Authorities
3
Federal Register. Test Concerning Entry of Section 321 Low-Value Shipments Through the Automated Commercial Environment
4
U.S. Customs and Border Protection. CSMS 67845486 – Continuing the Suspension of Duty-Free De Minimis Treatment
5
Office of the Law Revision Counsel. 19 USC 1321 – Administrative Exemptions
6
Office of the Law Revision Counsel. 19 USC 1526 – Merchandise Bearing American Trademark
7
eCFR. 19 CFR 133.27 – Civil Fines for Importation of Merchandise Bearing a Counterfeit Mark
8
U.S. Customs and Border Protection. Informed Compliance Publication – Recordkeeping
9
Office of the Law Revision Counsel. 19 USC 1592 – Penalties for Fraud, Gross Negligence, and Negligence