All de Minimis exemption exports of goods (valued under $800) to the US will end on 29 August, as UKFT has expected and warned for some time.

A new interim six-month scheme applies only to goods shipped via US Postal Services (USPS) and will remain in effect until February 2026. However, in most cases, the flat per-item tariff under this scheme will be higher than the standard ad valorem tariff and associated clearance charges. As a result, companies will generally find it more efficient to ship Delivered Duty Paid (DDP) via a fast parcel service to the US.

No goods valued under US $800 will enter the US duty-free, regardless of whether they originate from the UK, EU, or any other country.

Goods will attract US import duties based on the country’s standard ad valorem tariff rate, based on the standard Most Favoured Nation (MFN) rate for the product plus any additional country-specific/reciprocal tariffs.

US Customs arrangements and tariffs are subject to change without notice, so members are advised to check the applicable US duty rates for the goods they intend to ship as close to the shipping date as possible. US Customs may also require additional documentation to verify the origin of goods.

In some cases, the US may also add “secondary sanctions”. Where these exist, these are “stackable”, meaning that US Customs will add these to the other duties at the point of entry.

The US customer is not required to pay US sales tax on goods shipped from abroad, and your shipment can still be zero-rated for UK VAT at export.

UKFT anticipates that there may be some delays as parcel companies adapt to new systems as well as the additional documentation required.

UKFT has warned the UK government that this change will have important ramifications for British businesses selling both B2C and B2B to the US as the US de minimis scheme was widely used by British fashion and textile companies.

See UKFT’s separate EU-US trade agreement updates https://ukft.org/update-us-eu-tariff-agreement/

UKFT members can request UKFT’s detailed briefing and support at: compliance@ukft.org