What you need to know

The minimis exemption for low-value packages sent to the United States ended on Friday, wreaking havoc on international delivery while mail companies, companies and consumers are trying to navigate new rules.

Packages sent to the United States worth $ 800 will now face prices and costs. They will be invoiced either the rate rates that the United States has on its country of origin or flat costs from $ 80 to $ 200 – this last option available for post -carriers only in the first six months. Shipments can face prices and additional costs in some cases.

John Pickel, vice-president of the policy of the supply chain at the National Foreign Trade Council, said that he could take longer for some packages to arrive and that consumers and businesses in the United States could end up with much higher costs.

“On your average minimis sending, paying a customs broker and paying the costs doubled the cost,” said Pickel. “It is even before you arrive at the money that really goes to the government.”

A small business concerned about change: Greenwich Letterpress, a stationery store in New York. The co-owner Beth Salvini said that around half of the stores from the store come from other countries: Greeting cards from the United Kingdom, laptops in hand of Portugal, Japanese stationery. With the end of the exemption, Salvini plans to increase prices.

“In retail, you don’t buy something for $ 5 and sell it to your customer for $ 2,” she said. “This shop is not a hobby. This is how I live and pay my bills. And my sister – she is my partner. This is how we pay our employees and our rent. And so the idea that we could take all the additional costs for such small products is simply not possible. ”

The exemption from Minmimis has rationalized the treatment of shipments abroad and has enabled American companies and consumers to buy low -cost items abroad without incurring massive charges.

All kinds of low -value items fell under the exemption, including small kitchen and utensils, beauty products and companies like Shein, Temu and Etsy.

Minimis plots represented 97% of the overall shipping volume in the last three years, with approximately 4 million these deliveries processed by customs and the protection of American borders. During the year 2024, most came from China: 994 million in almost 1.4 billion.

The White House has taken several measures this year to put an end to the exemption, which, according to her, was used to “escape the prices and in the layout of fatal synthetic opioids as well as other products dangerous or lower than a market which harm American workers and companies in the United States”.

He ended the exemption from elements of China and Hong Kong in May. Since then, there has been no significant change in the monthly drug crises, according to customs and the protection of American borders.

Then, the president of the tax and expenses, Donald Trump, signed in July eliminated the exemption from all the countries from 2027. But Trump’s decree condensed the calendar, ending the exemption on Friday.

There are a few exceptions: American travelers will still be able to bring $ 200 into personal articles to the United States in the United States. And someone abroad can send a gift of $ 100 or less to the United States in the franchise of rights.

In the days before Friday, dozens of carriers from around the world took an expedition break in the United States because they sorted the changes and updated their shipping procedures.

Salvini, the co -owner of Greenwich Letterpress, said that the company could no longer buy certain items abroad – and that some international suppliers in the store have cut shipping to the United States anyway. Thus, customers can see different items on the shelves, and Salvini and his team want to keep them as affordable as possible.

“We are always proud to be a space you can enter and you could spend $ 1 and get something,” she said. “It is not a luxury store. It does not want people because it is too much, and we do not want to happen to this point where everything here has the impression that it is just a little above what someone might want to spend, because it is not the joy that we are trying to show people.”