De minimis has ended — what changed for bag importers
The US no longer has a low-value exemption for any country. The EU has replaced its €150 duty relief with a flat fee. Here is the current position, and what it actually costs per bag.
Published 18 October 2026 · Alice Bao, Harbour Bags
For about a decade, a parcel worth USD 800 or less entered the United States without duty and without a formal entry. It was called de minimis, after Section 321 of the Tariff Act of 1930. Use grew from 134 million shipments in 2015 to more than 1.36 billion in 2024, and Customs was processing over four million such parcels a day.
That is over. The change came in stages rather than at once, which is why so much of the advice still circulating online is out of date.
How it ended, in order
| Date | What happened |
|---|---|
| 2 May 2025 | Goods of China and Hong Kong lose de minimis treatment. |
| 29 Aug 2025 | Executive Order 14324 suspends the exemption for every country. |
| 20 Feb 2026 | Executive Order 14388 continues the suspension after the Supreme Court ruling on IEEPA tariffs. |
| 24 Jun 2026 | CBP publishes interim final rules suspending the exemption indefinitely, for mail and all other modes. |
| 1 Jul 2027 | Congress repeals the statutory provision outright, so the exemption cannot return without new legislation. |
The practical consequence is simple and worth stating plainly: every parcel entering the US now needs an entry and pays duty, whatever its value and whatever its origin. Informal entry is generally available up to USD 2,500; above that a formal entry is required.
Two exceptions survive, and neither is useful for commercial goods: genuine gifts under the gift provision, and personal or household articles accompanying a traveller.
The EU did something different
The EU did not simply copy the US. It removed the duty exemption but replaced it with a flat fee, which produces very different economics.
Since 1 July 2026, Council Regulation (EU) 2026/382 removes the duty relief that applied to consignments up to €150 and applies a temporary customs duty of €3 per item. The fee is charged by tariff heading, not by quantity:
- Five T-shirts in one parcel — all one heading — pay €3.
- Three T-shirts and a watch — two headings — pay €6.
The measure runs until 1 July 2028, when the EU Customs Data Hub for e-commerce is scheduled to take over and normal duty rates apply. A separate Union handling fee has been proposed, with the amount and start date to be set in autumn 2026; it is a fee, not a duty. VAT has been due from the first euro since 2021 and is unaffected by any of this.
Note the scope: the €3 fee applies to distance sales to consumers — e-commerce — not to normal B2B import transactions. A container of bags imported by a business under a commercial entry is handled as it always was.
Where the thresholds stand now
| Market | Duty threshold | Tax threshold | Position, October 2026 |
|---|---|---|---|
| United States | None | No federal VAT | $800 exemption suspended for all countries since 29 Aug 2025; repealed by statute from 1 Jul 2027 |
| European Union | €150, but €3 per item | VAT from €0 | Flat €3 duty on distance sales from 1 Jul 2026 to 1 Jul 2028 |
| United Kingdom | £135 | VAT from £0 | Threshold retained; seller or marketplace charges VAT at checkout |
| Canada | CAD 20 (CAD 150 under CUSMA) | CAD 20 (CAD 40 under CUSMA) | Threshold retained for courier shipments |
| Australia | A$1,000 | GST at checkout | Threshold retained; overseas sellers register for GST |
Checked October 2026. Thresholds and measures change by notice — confirm the position for your product, origin and channel before pricing.
What it costs per bag — three worked cases
Abstract rules are easy to nod at and hard to price. These are the numbers that matter for a bag order.
Case 1: A 20-piece sample run to the US
A canvas tote at USD 6.00 FOB. Twenty pieces, USD 120 declared, previously duty-free and entry-free. Now: an informal entry, duty at the applicable rate for textile bags of Chinese origin, plus a courier clearance or disbursement fee that is typically USD 25–60 regardless of value. On a small parcel the courier fee usually exceeds the duty. This is the single most underestimated change for buyers sending samples.
The practical response: consolidate. One parcel of twenty samples costs one entry fee; four parcels of five cost four.
Case 2: A 500-piece trial order into the US
Five hundred totes at USD 6.00 is USD 3,000 of goods. This never qualified for de minimis, so the entry process is unchanged — but the duty stack is not trivial. Textile bags of Chinese origin carry the base rate plus Section 301 and the additional measures layered on since 2025, and the total can exceed 55% of the goods value. On USD 3,000 that is a real number, and it is the reason some buyers now ask about a different country of origin before they ask about price.
Case 3: DTC orders from a Chinese warehouse
This is the case the reform was aimed at. A brand shipping individual orders from China to US customers used to clear each parcel duty-free. Now every parcel pays duty and needs an entry. A single bag order worth USD 45 attracts an entry fee plus duty, and the fixed cost per parcel can double the landed cost. If you ship DTC from China to the US, the arithmetic now usually favours a bulk shipment to a US fulfilment partner, even at the cost of holding stock.
What this means if you are buying bags, not shipping parcels
Most of the noise around de minimis concerns e-commerce. For a B2B buyer placing production orders, the position is less dramatic than the headlines suggest — but four things are worth adjusting.
- Budget samples as a cost line. A sample parcel now carries duty plus a courier fee. Assume USD 50–100 per international sample shipment to the US and plan the number of rounds accordingly. One well-specified sample beats three vague ones, and it is now cheaper too.
- Model duty before you pick the material. Because the classification follows the outer surface, the gap between a coated textile and a PVC-sheet bag can be several percent of goods value. In the EU that is 3.7% against 9.7%. On a 3,000-piece order that difference funds a lot of sampling.
- Ask about origin, honestly. Vietnam and other origins carry different additional rates into the US. This is a legitimate question to put to a supplier — but only if the origin claim is real. Transhipment without substantial transformation is fraud, and it is prosecuted.
- Keep FOB and do your own entry. When duty is a larger share of cost, an all-in DDP number hides exactly the line you now need to see. FOB with your own broker keeps the duty visible and auditable.
The UK is currently the outlier
For all the attention on the US and EU, the UK still operates a £135 duty threshold for consignments, with VAT charged from the first pound at checkout. For a small brand testing a market, that makes the UK the cheapest of the three to enter with parcel-sized volumes. It is unlikely to last indefinitely — the direction of travel across all three markets is the same — but as of October 2026 it is still there, and it is a legitimate reason to sequence a launch.
Run the numbers for your own product in the landed cost calculator, which models duty, freight and margin together.
Frequently asked
Does the US still have a de minimis exemption?
No. Section 321 treatment was removed for China and Hong Kong on 2 May 2025, suspended for every country from 29 August 2025, and written into CBP regulations as an indefinite suspension on 24 June 2026. Congress repeals the statutory provision from 1 July 2027. Every parcel now needs an informal or formal entry and pays duty.
What does the EU charge on parcels under €150?
Since 1 July 2026, Council Regulation (EU) 2026/382 applies a temporary flat customs duty of €3 per item, charged by tariff heading rather than quantity, on distance sales to consumers. It runs to 1 July 2028. VAT has been due from the first euro since 2021 and is unaffected.
Does this affect bulk B2B orders, not just e-commerce?
Bulk orders above the thresholds were never covered by de minimis, so the customs process is unchanged. The EU flat fee applies only to distance sales to consumers. What has changed is that small parcels and samples are no longer a cheap route.
Is it still worth shipping samples to the US?
Yes, but budget for it. A sample parcel needs an entry and pays duty, and couriers typically add a clearance or disbursement fee. Consolidate samples rather than sending several single parcels, and agree in advance who pays duty and fees.
Which market is cheapest to enter right now?
On parcel-sized volumes, the UK, because the £135 duty threshold is still in place. On container volumes the comparison shifts entirely to the duty rate and the applicable trade measures, which for Chinese-origin textile bags are lowest in the UK and highest in the US.
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Related reading
- How to import bags from China — HS codes, duty by material, documents and incoterms.
- Compliance and labelling — GPSR, EU REP and the technical file.
- Landed cost calculator — duty, freight and margin side by side.
Sources: US CBP guidance on Section 321 and the 24 June 2026 interim final rules; Executive Orders 14324 and 14388; Council Regulation (EU) 2026/382 and Commission Implementing Regulation (EU) 2026/1200; European Commission DG TAXUD guidance of 8 June 2026. Rates and thresholds verified October 2026. This is general information for buyers, not customs or legal advice.