CUSTOMS · USA

Shipping to the USA after the US$800 de minimis ended

For a decade a parcel worth under US$800 entered the United States with no duty and almost no paperwork. That ended on 29 Aug 2025. Every commercial parcel is now dutiable from the first dollar, and the shipments most affected are exactly the small e-commerce orders that used to rely on the exemption.

By Ravi Shrivastav, founder, ExpressBox · Updated 27 Oct 2026

What changed, precisely

Executive Order 14324 suspended the de minimis exemption under 19 U.S.C. 1321 for commercial shipments from every country, effective 29 Aug 2025. Before it, a US$300 kurta set ordered from Jaipur arrived with no duty and no entry. After it, the same parcel is assessed duty at the rate for its HS code and country of origin, plus any additional tariffs in force for that origin, and someone has to pay before it is released.

The exemption for bona fide gifts between private individuals, US$100 per recipient per day, was not touched. A purchased item never qualifies as a gift, however it is labelled.

Informal entry: how a small parcel clears

Express consignments up to US$2,500 clear on an informal entry filed by the carrier. There is no customs broker to appoint and no bond to post; the carrier's hub files the entry from the airway bill and invoice, U.S. Customs and Border Protection releases the parcel, and the carrier collects the duty from the receiver (or the shipper, under DDP) along with a brokerage fee. Above US$2,500, or for goods that need another agency's clearance (FDA for food and cosmetics, FCC for radio devices), a formal entry with a broker is required.

What a US buyer of Indian goods now pays

Item	Typical HS chapter	Base duty rate	Note
Cotton garments	61 / 62	8% to 17%	Rate depends on the exact article and fibre
Leather handbags	4202	Around 9% to 10%	Textile-faced bags are higher
Silver jewellery	7113	5% to 6.5%	Gemstone-set pieces vary
Printed books	4901	0%	Still filed, still dutiable in principle
Ayurvedic supplements	2106 / 3004	Varies	FDA prior notice needed for food

Those are the general (column 1) rates; additional tariffs by country of origin may apply on top and have changed several times since 2025. We check the current stack for each quote rather than publish a figure that will be wrong next month. The carrier's brokerage fee for an informal entry is typically US$10 to US$20 per shipment.

DAP or DDP: who pays, and why it matters more now

Under DAP (Delivered at Place) the buyer pays duty on arrival. For a US shopper this now means an unexpected e-mail from the carrier asking for payment before delivery, and parcels that are refused and returned when the buyer declines. Under DDP (Delivered Duty Paid) the seller pays and builds it into the checkout price. Since the de minimis ended, Indian D2C brands selling to the USA have moved almost entirely to DDP: the conversion loss from surprise duty bills is larger than the margin lost by quoting an all-in price. ExpressBox quotes both ways on request so you can compare.

Paperwork that avoids a hold

An invoice with the HS code to at least six digits and the country of origin for every line. CBP cannot assess duty without both, and a parcel with "gift" or "clothes" as the only description is held for a request for information.
The buyer's phone number and e-mail on the airway bill, so the carrier can reach them for duty payment or address questions.
For food, cosmetics and supplements, FDA prior notice filed before arrival. The carrier files it from the invoice when the item is identified correctly; it cannot if the invoice says "herbal product".
Textile declarations where asked: fibre content and the manufacturer's identity for garments.

And for a shopper in India buying from the USA

Nothing in the US change affects what India charges on the way in: India never had a de minimis, so a US purchase forwarded to India pays the same 42.08% under heading 9804 that it always did. The guide on customs duty into India walks through that calculation.

Questions we are asked

Is there still any value below which a parcel to the USA is duty-free?

Only for genuine gifts between private individuals, up to US$100 per recipient per day. Every commercial parcel, at any value, has been dutiable since 29 Aug 2025.

Can the duty be prepaid from India?

Yes. Under DDP the shipper pays it; ExpressBox collects the estimate with the freight and the carrier settles with CBP. The receiver is not contacted for payment.

What happens if the US buyer refuses to pay the duty?

The carrier holds the parcel for a few days, then returns it at the shipper's cost, or abandons it if return is not paid for. Quoting DDP removes the risk.

Customs figures are those in force on the date above and are the same as on our lane pages; rates change, so confirm against your quote before paying duty.