U.S. Customs and Border Protection (CBP) Proposes Rulemaking to Tighten De Minimis Duty Exemption

CBP announced a Notice of Proposed Rulemaking (NPRM), USCBP-2025-003, aimed at revising the de minimis duty exemption for low-value shipments entering the U.S. The proposed changes would limit the exemption, which currently allows goods valued at $800 or less to enter the country without paying duties or certain taxes, a policy viewed by some as unfair to American businesses.
Specifically, CBP proposes to:
- Disqualify merchandise subject to specified trade or national security actions from the de minimis administrative exemption.
- Require certain shipments claiming the exemption to provide the 10-digit Harmonized Tariff Schedule of the United States (HTSUS) classification of the merchandise.
The agency underscores the importance of industry feedback on these proposed regulations. The revisions aim to combat the rising risk of illicit or counterfeit goods entering the country through low-value imports, commonly referred to as de minimis shipments.