De Minimis Exemption First Suspended for Chinese Goods Under IEEPA

Effective March 1, 2025, the de minimis exemption was first suspended specifically for goods from China under IEEPA authority, requiring full duty payment on all Chinese-origin packages regardless of value. This was the first step in the broader de minimis suspension that was later extended to all countries effective February 24, 2026. The China-specific suspension targeted direct-to-consumer platforms such as Temu and Shein that relied heavily on the de minimis exemption to ship Chinese goods duty-free to US consumers.

US consumers buying directly from Chinese e-commerce platforms and US Amazon marketplace sellers sourcing products from China. Chinese platforms Temu and Shein, which had relied on de minimis exemptions to price competitively in the US market, faced significantly higher logistics costs. CBP began processing duty collection on millions of previously exempt Chinese packages.

De Minimis Exemption First Suspended for Chinese Goods Under IEEPA (effective 2025-03-01). Effective March 1, 2025, the de minimis exemption was first suspended specifically for goods from China under IEEPA authority, requiring full duty payment on all Chinese-origin packages regardless of value. The de minimis exemption under 19 U.S.C. § 1321 has historically allowed duty-free entry of imported merchandise valued at $800 or less per shipment. This threshold was raised from $200 to $800 by the Trade Facilitation and Trade Enforcement Act of 2015, and the higher threshold enabled the rapid growth of direct-to-consumer cross-border e-commerce, particularly from Chinese platforms such as Temu and Shein. The volume of de minimis shipments grew to over one billion packages per year by 2024, creating significant customs processing burdens and concerns about goods that circumvented duty collection. The suspension of the de minimis exemption effective February 24, 2026 means that CBP must now process duty collection on an enormous volume of low-value packages that previously entered the US with minimal customs interaction. This creates both compliance costs for e-commerce businesses and practical challenges for CBP in collecting duties on high volumes of sub-$800 shipments. The impact on consumer prices is expected to be significant: a $50 clothing item previously entering duty-free may now face the full MFN rate plus Section 122 surcharge, increasing the landed cost substantially. Amazon FBA sellers who import products directly from overseas manufacturers are particularly affected, as the de minimis pathway that enabled competitive direct-from-China sourcing is no longer available.

E-commerce businesses and Amazon sellers who relied on the de minimis exemption must now factor full duty costs into their pricing models. The minimum processing fee (MPF) of $33.58 per entry applies to commercial shipments; even low-value packages are now subject to this floor cost. Importers should work with freight forwarders and customs brokers to consolidate shipments where possible, since the per-entry fixed costs make small individual shipments disproportionately expensive.

• De Minimis Suspended Guide
• Amazon FBA Tariff Guide
• China Overview