The End of De Minimis: What Section 321's Suspension Means for You (2026)

For two decades, any shipment worth $800 or less could enter the United States duty-free, with almost no paperwork. That single rule — known as the Section 321 "de minimis" exemption — was the quiet engine behind an entire generation of cross-border e-commerce, from dropshipping stores to direct-from-China marketplaces shipping millions of parcels a day.

That engine has stopped. As of 2026, the exemption is suspended for every country of origin, with no announced restoration date. If any part of your business depends on shipping individual low-value parcels into the US, this is the single biggest cost change you need to understand this year.

What Section 321 Used to Do

Section 321 of the Tariff Act of 1930 let CBP waive duty and formal entry requirements for low-value shipments, on the logic that collecting a few dollars of duty wasn't worth the processing cost. The threshold was raised from $200 to $800 in 2016. That change, combined with the rise of direct-to-consumer e-commerce, turned a minor administrative convenience into the foundation of an entire business model: platforms could ship a $15 item straight from an overseas factory to a US doorstep with zero duty and minimal customs data.

The volume tells the story. Annual de minimis entries grew from roughly 140 million in 2015 to more than 1.3 billion by 2024 — several million packages a day, the vast majority from China.

Timeline: How the Exemption Was Dismantled

Source: CBP Federal Register rulemaking · always verify current status before making sourcing decisions

A Supreme Court ruling in early 2026 struck down a separate set of tariffs that had been imposed under emergency economic powers — but that decision did not touch Section 321. The de minimis suspension rests on different legal authority, so it stayed fully in effect regardless of that ruling.

What You Pay Now Instead

With de minimis suspended, a low-value parcel that used to clear customs for free now faces one of two cost structures, depending on how it's shipped and classified:

• Standard ad valorem duty. Your product's normal MFN duty rate applies, plus a Section 122 surcharge (around 10% on many goods), plus any Section 301 or Section 232 tariffs your HS code and origin country are subject to.
• Flat postal fee (in some cases). For a period, low-value postal shipments could use a flat per-package fee instead of calculating exact duty — but CBP moved postal shipments onto the standard ad valorem method starting in early 2026, closing off that simpler option.

The bigger cost for many small sellers isn't the duty rate itself — it's the fixed cost of formal customs processing. A customs broker typically charges a flat fee per entry, commonly in the $25–$75 range, regardless of the shipment's value. For a $50 order, that fee alone can roughly double the landed cost before the product even reaches a carrier.

Section 321 vs. Section 301 — Don't Confuse Them

These two names get mixed up constantly, but they solve completely different problems. If you haven't already, it's worth reading our Section 301 tariff guide alongside this one, since most shipments from China today are affected by both:

In practice: with de minimis gone, every shipment now goes through formal or informal entry — and if that shipment happens to be China-origin and on a Section 301 list, both cost layers stack together.

Who Is Affected Most

• Direct-to-consumer dropshippers who ship individual orders straight from an overseas supplier to the end customer — this was the core use case for de minimis, and it's now the most expensive way to fulfill.
• Small Amazon FBA and D2C sellers restocking in small, frequent shipments rather than large consolidated ones.
• Marketplaces and platforms built around low-cost, direct-from-factory parcels — several have shifted toward US-based bulk warehousing in response.

Sellers sourcing from countries other than China are still affected by the loss of de minimis, but they avoid the additional Section 301 layer — a real, quantifiable cost advantage worth factoring into sourcing decisions.

What To Do Now

1. Classify every SKU properly. Every shipment needs an accurate 10-digit HTS code — approximate or generic codes now carry real financial and compliance risk.
2. Set up a broker or Importer of Record relationship. If you don't already work with a licensed customs broker who can file through CBP's Automated Commercial Environment (ACE), get one in place before your next shipment.
3. Consider a continuous customs bond if you import frequently — it can be more cost-effective than paying single-entry bond fees on every shipment.
4. Re-evaluate your fulfillment model. Consolidating inventory into bulk shipments to a US-based warehouse, and paying duty once at entry, is often far cheaper than paying a per-parcel brokerage fee on hundreds of individual orders.
5. Rebuild your pricing. Whether you sell DDP (you absorb duty) or DAP (the customer pays on delivery), your landed cost has changed — recalculate margins before your next restock.