The exemption died in stages, and the stages matter because each one closed a different door. Executive Order 14324 suspended duty-free de minimis treatment for all countries effective August 29, 2025, building on the earlier suspension for China and Hong Kong. Executive Order 14388, signed February 20, 2026, continued the suspension for all countries, including shipments sent through the international postal network.
Then the agencies wrote it into the rules. CBP published two interim final rules on June 24, 2026, making the suspension indefinite in its own regulations, for shipments outside the postal network and for mail. A three-judge Court of International Trade panel upheld the rescission on August 13, 2026, in Axle of Dearborn v. Department of Commerce. And Congress separately repealed the commercial exemption by statute, effective July 1, 2027. Four instruments, fourteen months, one direction.
Every low-value commercial shipment now needs an entry in ACE, and the entry type turns on value. Shipments at $2,500 or less go in as informal entries. Above $2,500, it is a formal entry, which means a bond and a full entry summary on CBP Form 7501. The practical consequence is that a $12 phone case and a $42 hoodie are both dutiable now, from the first dollar, and both need a 10-digit HTS code on every line.
The postal channel has its own track. Mail runs through the new postal informal entry process, entry type 13, with a duty methodology revised in February 2026. The informal entry thresholds still apply, and the flat informal entry fees still apply, $2.69 automated, $8.06 manual not prepared by CBP, and $12.09 manual prepared by CBP. What changed is the premise: nothing under $800 clears free anymore, by any mode, from any country.
The first mistake is filing as if the exemption still exists, usually by leaving Section 321 on the entry summary or by entering goods with no duty declared. CBP's June 2026 rules made the suspension indefinite, and an entry filed on the old assumption is an entry filed wrong. The second mistake is classification: entering a low-value shipment with a 6-digit heading or a guessed code, when every line now needs its full 10-digit HTS number. The third mistake is assuming the exemption returns. It does not, and the July 1, 2027 statutory repeal means the legal basis itself ends. The importers who adjusted in September 2025 are filing clean entries today. The ones still waiting for a reversal are filing rejections.
Keep reading: Customs Bonds: Single Entry vs Continuous, and When Each Pays, Section 301 Exclusions: How to Check If Your Product Qualifies.
No. There is no announced restoration date, and the suspension is indefinite rather than time limited. Separately, Congress repealed the commercial de minimis exemption by statute effective July 1, 2027, so the legal basis itself is scheduled to end. Planning that assumes a return is planning on a hope.
An informal entry covers shipments valued at $2,500 or less and is the lighter filing. A formal entry applies above that value and requires a customs bond and a full entry summary on CBP Form 7501. Both now need 10-digit HTS codes on every line, which is the change that catches the most first-time filers.
Yes, narrowly. Genuine bona fide gifts and personal accompanied items valued at $100 or less survive the suspension. A commercial shipment disguised as a gift does not, and CBP has been clear that the gift exemption is not a route around the suspension for business imports.
Mail now runs through a new postal informal entry process, entry type 13, with a duty methodology revised in February 2026. The old assumption that a small parcel in the mail simply clears is gone. Postal shipments need the same 10-digit classification and the same duty payment as any other low-value commercial shipment.