The $800 Free Pass Is Gone. Postal Sellers Have Until 20 January 2027.

CBP stopped the $800 de minimis exemption on 24 June 2026. Sea, air and land cargo is covered. There is no end date. 91 FR 37789.

Every shipment at or below $800 now needs a formal or informal entry. The statute still contains the exemption. CBP suspended it indefinitely.

Mail got its own rule. The postal route closed too, and CBP built a new electronic informal entry for mail arriving from abroad.

Part of that timeline moved. On 22 October 2026, CBP pushed two postal provisions to 20 January 2027. 91 FR 66638.

Those two cover mail tied to partner government agency rules, Chapter 98 or 99 duties, and free trade agreement claims. The rest already applies.

CBP loosened a related test the same day. Postal entries may now carry PGA data or leave it out. 91 FR 66707.

A proposal from 8 October would go further. It would rewrite informal entry for goods at or below $2,500 and add a carrier data element for mail. Some informal entries would need a bond. 91 FR 64532. Nothing there is final.

For a seller the change is plain. The box needs an importer of record, a bond and a tariff line before it sails. A forwarder who only moves cargo cannot fill that gap.

Put broker and entry costs into the landed cost. A small parcel stops looking cheap once that line is added.

Mistakes cost more now. There is no manifest line to hide behind, and no rounding down a value to stay under a threshold.

Need a route that survives formal entry? Send your SKU list and monthly volumes on WhatsApp +8613927430130. We reply within 24 hours.

Sources

1. 91 FR 37789: Indefinite Suspension of the De Minimis Exemption (CBP, 2026-06-24)
2. 91 FR 66638: De Minimis Suspension for Mail Shipments; Delayed Compliance Extension (CBP, 2026-10-22)
3. 91 FR 66707: Modification of the Test of the New Electronic Informal Entry Process for Mail (CBP, 2026-10-22)
4. 91 FR 64532: Low-Value Shipments, proposed rule (CBP, 2026-10-08)

Sources

• 91 FR 37789: Indefinite Suspension of the De Minimis Exemption
• 91 FR 66638: De Minimis Suspension for Mail Shipments; Delayed Compliance Extension
• 91 FR 66707: Modification of the Test of the New Electronic Informal Entry Process for Mail
• 91 FR 64532: Low-Value Shipments (NPRM)