The days of receiving small international packages without paying import taxes are officially over for shoppers. The U.S. government, under former President Donald Trump, has made a permanent decision. As of August 29, the long-standing tax exemption for parcels valued under $800 is gone for good.
This means U.S. Customs and Border Protection (CBP) will now collect regular import duties on nearly all packages coming from anywhere in the world. This rule used to apply only to goods from China and Hong Kong. Now, it includes everything else. The move marks a big change for online shopping habits.
Peter Navarro, a former White House trade advisor, spoke strongly about the decision. He said ending the exemption would save thousands of American lives. It would stop dangerous items and illegal drugs, like fentanyl, from entering the country easily. He also projected that the government would collect an extra $10 billion in customs taxes each year. Senior officials confirmed this change is here to stay. They believe bringing the exemption back for any country is simply not an option.
This special tax break, called “de minimis,” has been around since 1938. In 2015, the value limit was raised from $200 to $800. The idea was to help small businesses grow by making it easier to sell goods online across borders. It certainly helped boost e-commerce.
However, things changed when the U.S. started putting more taxes on Chinese goods. Companies like Shein and Temu found a way around these tariffs. They shipped countless small, low-value packages directly to customers. This created a new way of doing business.
Government officials said many of these packages were not properly checked. They became a superhighway for illegal drugs like fentanyl and the chemicals used to make them. Stopping these shipments is a major goal of the new policy.
CBP figures show a massive jump in these small, tax-free packages. In 2015, about 139 million items claimed the exemption. By 2024, that number is expected to hit 1.36 billion. Since the exemption ended for China and Hong Kong on May 2nd, CBP has already collected an extra $492 million in taxes.
For the next six months, private shipping companies like FedEx, UPS, and DHL will collect the taxes and handle the extra paperwork. Foreign postal services have a couple of choices. They can collect tax based on the item’s actual value, or charge a flat fee. The flat fee depends on the existing tax rates between the U.S. and that country.
For example, countries with low U.S. tariffs, like the United Kingdom and the European Union, will see an $80 flat fee per package. Countries with medium tariffs, such as Indonesia and Vietnam, will face a $160 flat fee. High-tariff countries like China, Brazil, India, and Canada will have a $200 flat fee. However, all foreign postal services must switch to taxing by actual item value by February 28, 2026.
Some postal services in other countries have reportedly paused shipments to the U.S. due to these changes. U.S. officials, however, say they are working with trading partners and the U.S. Postal Service to smooth things out. They confirmed that packages from the UK, Canada, and Ukraine are still shipping normally.
Source: Reuters