The short de minimis 2026 answer: no. Section 321 is still written into U.S. law, but duty-free de minimis treatment has been suspended for shipments from every country since August 29, 2025, and CBP made that suspension indefinite on June 24, 2026. No commercial shipment currently qualifies for $800 duty-free entry, and Congress has already repealed the de minimis statute effective July 1, 2027.
De minimis in 2026 at a glance
Legally, Section 321 (19 U.S.C. 1321) still exists, which is why the question keeps coming up. In practice, it does nothing for importers today. An executive order suspended duty-free de minimis treatment for all countries on August 29, 2025. After the Supreme Court’s February 20, 2026 ruling that IEEPA does not authorize tariffs, the administration issued a new order continuing the suspension, and on June 24, 2026 CBP published interim final rules suspending the exemption indefinitely under its own authority in Section 321(b). That last step matters: the suspension no longer depends on the IEEPA tariff authority the Court struck down.
Entry Type 86 was the ACE entry type CBP created in 2019 so low-value Section 321 shipments could be released duty-free electronically, including shipments that needed data for other agencies such as the FDA or CPSC. Many e-commerce sellers and cross-border fulfillment programs were built around it. Type 86 is now suspended, so any program that still assumes Type 86 releases needs a new entry plan.
With de minimis off the table, low-value shipments follow the normal entry rules:
The old model of shipping individual parcels from overseas straight to U.S. customers, duty-free and with minimal data, is gone. Every parcel now carries duty and an entry filing, which pushes up landed cost and adds clearance risk to each order. For most brands selling into the U.S., the better math is to import in bulk on a formal entry, clear customs once, and fulfill domestically from a U.S. warehouse. Duty is paid once per container instead of once per parcel, customers get faster delivery, and returns stay in the country.
Argents runs that model end to end: freight forwarding from origin, licensed customs brokerage, and e-commerce fulfillment from Argents-operated hubs in Chicago, Charleston and Seattle-Tacoma. Run your numbers with the landed cost calculator, or see how Argents shifted China-sourcing brands to U.S. fulfillment when the first de minimis change hit.
No, not in any practical sense. The statute still exists, but CBP has suspended de minimis treatment indefinitely for all countries and all modes, and the statute is repealed effective July 1, 2027.
No. Since August 29, 2025, shipments valued at $800 or less owe duties like any other import and must clear on an informal or formal entry.
CBP names informal entry Type 11 as the main method for commercial shipments of $2,500 or less. Higher-value or regulated shipments use a formal entry, and mail shipments use the Postal Informal Entry process.
No. CBP’s position is that the February 2026 IEEPA ruling did not address the de minimis suspension, and the June 2026 interim final rules rest on CBP’s own authority under Section 321(b) rather than IEEPA.
The One Big Beautiful Bill Act repeals the de minimis exemption effective July 1, 2027. Until then, the indefinite suspension keeps duty-free treatment unavailable.
Sources: CBP interim final rule, non-postal (June 24, 2026); CBP interim final rule, mail (June 24, 2026); Executive Order 14388. Updated September 2026. This article is general information, not legal advice.