US ends duty-free de minimis entry for all countries

Goods from all countries lost eligibility for duty-free de minimis entry into the U.S. at 12:01 a.m. on Aug. 29, 2025, under an executive order issued July 30.

U.S. Customs and Border Protection set out the change in a Cargo Systems Messaging Service notice issued Aug. 28.

The change

The executive order, "Suspending Duty-Free De Minimis Treatment for All Countries," ended the administrative exemption from duty and certain taxes under 19 U.S.C. 1321(a)(2)(C).

CBP said goods not identified in 50 U.S.C. 1702(b) could no longer receive de minimis clearance to enter duty- and tax-free, "regardless of their value, country of origin, mode of transportation, or method of entry." Requests for de minimis entry for ineligible shipments would be rejected.

Systems changes

CBP said it would make these changes in the Automated Commercial Environment:

• ACE will reject all Section 321 manifest filings submitted via electronic data interchange.
• CBP will remove the option to file Section 321 manifests in the Truck Manifest Trade Portal.
• ACE will reject all entry type 86 cargo release EDI transactions.

New entry rules

From Aug. 29, filers had to submit an appropriate formal or informal entry in ACE, along with payment of all applicable duties, taxes and fees. Paper informal entries were not permitted for goods covered by the order.

Shipments through the international postal network were handled separately. CBP said no entry would be prepared for postal shipments that had qualified for the exemption until it published a new process in the Federal Register. In the meantime, the carriers delivering them to the U.S., or qualified parties acting for them, had to collect and remit duties to CBP.

What it meant for carriers

For cross-border truck freight, the Truck Manifest Trade Portal no longer offered Section 321 manifests. Low-value shipments that had moved under de minimis needed a formal or informal entry in ACE with duties paid.