In February 2025, the U.S. eliminated de minimis eligibility for shipments from China and Hong Kong, requiring formal customs entry, an importer of record, and full HTS documentation on packages that used to clear duty-free under the $800 threshold. That change hit ecommerce brands sourcing from China hardest, and de minimis policy has stayed a moving target since. The safest assumption for any importer in 2026 is that today’s eligibility rules may not hold next quarter.
Section 321 lets qualifying low-value shipments clear informally, without a formal entry or duty payment, as long as they stay under the per-person, per-day value threshold and originate from an eligible country. CBP has tightened enforcement around split shipments and undervaluation, and eligibility can vary by product category and country of origin — so what qualified last year isn’t guaranteed to qualify today.
De minimis has become a recurring target for legislative and executive action, driven by concerns about counterfeit goods, forced labor in supply chains, and enforcement gaps at the border. Those pressures already led to the elimination of de minimis for Chinese and Hong Kong-origin goods in early 2025, and similar scrutiny continues for other origins and product categories, often with little advance notice.
Once a shipment no longer qualifies, it needs a formal customs entry — which means duties, a customs bond, and a licensed broker of record. That adds real cost and time to every order. Brands that don’t already have that infrastructure in place end up scrambling, which is exactly what happened to many China-sourcing ecommerce brands when the February 2025 change took effect with almost no runway.
Work with a customs broker or 3PL that tracks de minimis rule changes as they happen, not after the fact. Keep a formal-entry fallback ready — an active importer of record status, a continuous bond, and a broker relationship — so a rule change doesn’t force you to build compliance infrastructure under time pressure. Model your landed cost both with and without de minimis eligibility so your pricing doesn’t collapse if the exemption narrows further, and avoid building your entire import model around a single SKU or lane that depends on staying under the threshold.
De minimis is a useful tool while it lasts, but it isn’t something to build a permanent import strategy around given how often the rules move. Argents’ customs team can get formal-entry infrastructure in place before you need it — read how the last major change reshaped fulfillment for China-sourcing brands, or see what a 3PL partnership covers beyond pick and pack.