Duties

De minimis in the US: what applies to small shipments

Independent site, not a government agency or a customs broker. General information, not legal advice or customs advice.

Enter a small shipment: without the old exemption, here are the duties and fees it owes today.

What does a small shipment owe now?

T-shirts, singlets, tank tops and similar garments, knitted or crocheted > Of cotton

Where the goods were made, not where they ship from.

Price paid for the goods, without international freight and insurance.

Duties and customs fees

$181

6109.10.00: duties $146, 36.5% of value

Ordinary duty (16.5%)
Column 1 General		$66
Section 301, 60 economies (12.5%)
Heading 9903.05.31		$50
Section 301 on China, List 4A (7.5%)
U.S. note 20. USTR exclusions are not applied here		$30
Merchandise processing fee
0.3464% of value, min $34.58, max $670.86		$35
Harbor maintenance fee
0.125% of value, ocean cargo at covered ports		$1

USTR exclusions under headings 9903.88.69 and .70 run through November 9, 2026, and are not applied here. If yours covers your goods, this list duty does not apply until that date.

Rates of 2026 HTS Revision 22, read on 2026-11-02. Antidumping and countervailing duties, state taxes and USTR exclusions are not included. Estimate, not a customs ruling. Everything you enter stays in this browser: nothing is sent or stored.

Link to this calculation · Method

The US de minimis rule let shipments worth up to $800 per person per day enter without duty, under 19 U.S.C. 1321. It no longer works that way. An executive order of February 25, 2026 confirms that the exemption does not apply to any shipment, “regardless of value, country of origin, mode of transportation, or method of entry”, continuing a suspension begun in 2025. Public Law 119-21 goes further, with a repeal of the commercial exception from July 1, 2027. So today a $40 parcel owes duty like any other import, under the same layers. Mail follows a special process: CBP set up an informal entry for mail of up to $2,500 from July 24, 2026, and extended a compliance date in October. A proposed rule on low-value shipments is open. All read on November 2, 2026. The calculator prices a small shipment as it stands today.

Merchandise processing fee

Fee for this entry

$2.77

Entryinformal, automated
Before limits$1.39
Harbor fee, ocean$0.50

Amounts for fiscal year 2027, from 1 October 2026. Goods over $250 that owe an additional duty in chapter 99 cannot use an informal entry, so the formal fee applies.

Open the import duty calculator →

Rates read by Radif Partners · Editorial policy · Method and sources

Dates in order

Read on November 2, 2026.
DateWhat happenedSource
2025First suspension across all countries, under Executive Order 14324Cited in the 2026 order
February 25, 2026Order continuing suspension, regardless of value, origin, mode or entryFederal Register
June 24, 2026CBP interim rule: indefinite suspension for mailFederal Register
July 24, 2026New informal entry for mail up to $2,500Federal Register
October 8, 2026Proposed rule, low-value shipmentsFederal Register
October 22, 2026Compliance date extended for formal entry of certain mailFederal Register
July 1, 2027Commercial exception repealed by statutePublic Law 119-21

What a small parcel owes

$400 of cotton T-shirts from China owes $146 (36.5%) in duties, and it needs a formal entry under 19 CFR 143.21 because an additional duty applies and its value is over $250. That rule makes the merchandise processing fee reach its $34.58 minimum, as the tool shows, unless CBP has waived the requirement for your case. We could not confirm such a waiver for every mode, so ask your carrier. A $150 parcel stays under that exception and pays the informal fee of $2.77.

If you sell online

Duty applies to each parcel as it does to any other import. The landed cost calculator gives you a unit cost to compare with your margin. See the fee page too.

Questions importers ask

Does the $800 limit still apply to anything?

The order says the exemption of section 1321(a)(2)(C) does not apply to any shipment, whatever its value, origin, mode or method of entry. That paragraph is the one used for most ordinary consumer parcels. Other limits in section 1321, for gifts and for personal items of travelers, are written separately, and we did not review how they now apply. Check CBP’s traveler guidance for those cases.

Who pays duty on a package I ordered from abroad?

Under 19 U.S.C. 1484, the party acting as importer of record must make entry using reasonable care, in person or through an authorized agent. That party can be the owner or purchaser of the goods. We read no rule on who bears the cost inside a private sale, so ask the seller before you pay, and read the seller’s terms and the carrier’s on clearance charges.

What is the penalty for undervaluing a small shipment?

Public Law 119-21 set civil penalties of up to $5,000 for a first violation and $10,000 for later ones, for failing to pay the proper duty on such shipments, with those penalties applying only for a period ending when the repeal takes effect. Other customs penalties continue. Declared value should be the real price paid, including when a seller offers to write a lower figure.

Check next

Import duty calculator

HTS code, origin and value: each duty that applies, customs fees and the landed cost.

Merchandise processing fee

The fiscal 2027 MPF, its limits, and the harbor maintenance fee.

China tariff rate

No single rate: up to four layers, depending on the line.

Customs broker cost

No official scale of fees: what to ask and where to add it.

Official sources behind this page

Written by

Independent publisher of a reference to US import duties: the tariff schedule, additional duties by origin, customs fees and freight measures, with free calculators

Tariff and notices read on · Editorial policy · Contact

US tariff schedule 2026, read in the USITC files and the Federal Register, last checked on