The US government has announced that from 29th August 2025 it will be suspending the de minimis exemption for low-value imports under $800.

This follows an executive order, signed by President Trump, invoking the International Emergency Economic Powers Act (IEEPA).

As a result of the change, all commercial consignments to the USA, regardless of value, will now be subject to duty. This will have implications for many shippers of goods as well as for senders of printed matter who currently use commercial and tracked postal services.

US Customs and Border Protection (CBP) published their guidance for international mail on Friday and the industry has been working this week to put in place measures to allow goods to continue to move.

 

Printed matter by post (magazines, journals, brochures, etc.)

The removal of the de minimis is expected to have no impact on the delivery of single-copy magazines and other printed matter sent to US addresses using Spatial’s regular untracked postal services for letters, flats and packets. These are handled as non-commercial shipments and do not require a customs declaration or involve formal customs clearance. This service will not be affected by the changes being discussed in this article.

 

Express courier consignments

Express courier services to the USA will continue to operate as before; however, please be aware that shipments valued under $800 will now be subject to import duty where previously they would have been exempt. Additionally, new tariffs under IEEPA are expected to apply: for goods of UK origin the applicable rate will be 10%. We highly recommend sending on DDP terms if you would like to cover any such charges yourself as the shipper.

 

Tracked parcel shipments

Spatial Global offers a tracked parcel service for parcels weighing up to 20kg. This is classed as a commercial service, even for shipments where the contents are printed matter being distributed free of charge, and as such it is affected by the removal of the de minimis. The service will remain available after 29th August but only on DDP terms, and shipments will need to be processed by our agent’s broker in the US. The shipper will need to register as a Non-Resident Importer (NRI) and provide Power of Attorney (POA) authorising the broker to act on their behalf.

Following the removal of the de minimis, duties and customs charges will apply to tracked parcel consignments to the USA. Costs are not yet finalised but you can expect to pay duty based on the country of origin and applicable IEEPA tariff rate, a disbursement fee and a merchandise processing fee.

We are also exploring alternative services that would not involve registering for NRI or providing POA. Further details about any new service launch will be published in due course.

 

Tracked postal shipments

As no mechanism yet exists for collecting the applicable duty on commercial postal shipments, post offices are suspending these services while a solution is developed. Regrettably, therefore, we have no choice but to stop despatching tracked postal consignments to the USA after Friday 22nd August until services resume. This is an industry-wide decision affecting all postal routes for commercial consignments. In the meantime we can offer to switch any such shipments to one of the alternative services that remains available.

 

Summary

We realise that this communication may cause some concern. The regulatory changes announced by the US administration have come at very short notice and the industry is working at pace to develop and implement solutions to allow volumes to continue to move. We are in constant contact with our agents and will communicate any developments as we receive them.

Lastly, a reminder that everything discussed here only applies to consignments to the USA. No other destinations are affected.

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