There will be a major shift in the way imports are handled starting August 29, 2025, specifically when it comes to the de minimis threshold. If you’re unsure of what the threshold is, this rule applies to specific imports that are cheaper than a country’s established threshold. Previously, for the U.S., imported goods that are valued at or under $800 were tax or duty-free. It essentially means that these specific imports don’t need to be regarded the same way larger, more expensive imports do, as de miminis in Latin literally means “too small to be meaningful.”
Despite its name, the de minimis threshold plays a vital role in global shipping and customs, as it directly impacts e-commerce businesses and consumers who may purchase products on an international scale. With cross-border e-commerce, the de minimis threshold aids in calculating the total cost of shipping goods internationally.
What The De Minimis Does For Commerce
For businesses, the de minimus rule allows for better cost savings/pricings, as businesses can avoid certain taxes and duties, which in turn, increases competitive pricing. Additionally, the threshold expands the market and makes the supply chain run more efficiently, resulting in minimized costs and quicker delivery times. For customers, the threshold also presents some benefits, including lower prices, increased product variety, and an all around better shopping experience.
However, with the upcoming alteration, e-commerce businesses are sure to take a hit.
Starting August 29, 2025, the de minimis threshold will no longer be in effect due to the One Big Beautiful Bill act. With the recent order, low-value international imports may be subject to applicable tariffs and duties with the range depending on each country. Already, countries like Japan and Switzerland have paused shipments to the U.S., and other postal services like Australia, India, the U.K. and other parts of Europe will soon follow suit over concerns of shipping backlog and higher costs.
To understand the rule change, the primary goal of eradicating the de minimus threshold circles back to the potential of smuggling illegal and harmful goods into the country. While the majority of low-value imports are legitimate, the rule change is an attempt to reduce potential exploitation. With the de minimis being terminated for good, the question businesses are asking still stands: how will this change impact their business process?
How Does This Change Affect Businesses?
The biggest effects of eliminating the de minimis threshold are delays and additional costs, as imports will face various taxes or duties. Now that these imports have greater value without the de minimis threshold, managing them will slow the clearing of cross-border, low-value packages; it would essentially drive the supply chain downwards, resulting in slower delivery times and possible cost increases.
Of course, the end of the de minimis rule impacts e-commerce businesses at different levels. Small brands and direct-from-China dropshippers may face major changes, especially since most de minimis imports were either from China or Hong Kong. As for businesses like fast fashion, consumer goods, and small/medium sized Shopify merchants, a dramatic price increase is possible, especially considering many major brands like Temu and Shein have accounted for around 17% of the U.S. discount market.
Even work-around strategies to squeeze imports underneath the previous $800 value will come to a close; businesses can no longer adopt the “Tijuana two-step”—a method that involves sending packages from China to Mexico to split them into cheaper packages in order to ship them into the U.S. There’s no getting around taxes or duties this time, meaning that e-commerce businesses will have to adapt to these changes and abide by certain rules.
What You Can Do To Prepare
With the end of the de minimis threshold, this marks a significant shift for the shipping world, especially since it’s applied to all commercial shipments. Businesses must be quick to act, especially with upcoming peak seasons, and it begins with assessing your fulfillment, compliance, and customer experience. Evaluate your dependency: how much of your revenue on low-value shipments are from overseas? If you incorporate overseas shipping, it’s time to evaluate how this might impact your cost per unit. Diversifying your sourcing and stepping away from certain sources, like China, may help your supply chain in the long run.
Additionally, informing your customers on these changes can potentially minimize customer backlash, as delivery times are expected to slow. Communicate with your team about expanding delivery windows and cost increases through your checkouts before shoppers experience them. It might also be worth it to enable self-service order modifications so that there won’t be added costs post-purchase. It’s essential that businesses are clear with their customers in order to maintain these relationships.
With sharper scrutiny around low-value imports, this also means that incorrect fillings and labeling can significantly slow the shipping process: shipment holds, product seizures, and strong penalties are possible consequences of haphazard work. With such a large margin for error, it’s important that businesses find shipping and warehouse tools that they can rely on during such chaotic times, which is where ShipHawk comes in to ensure that your business stays afloat.
ShipHawk To The Rescue
ShipHawk's Warehouse Management System (WMS) and Transportation Management System (TMS) can ensure that your supply chain stands up to scrutiny. You want processing tools that won’t subject you to any kind of delays, which is why pairing with our WMS and TMS can put you in the right direction in time for the de minimis rule change.
In regards to our WMS, its top tier functionality is best suited to optimize scaling for omnichannel businesses. It’s an easy-to-use solution that’s specifically designed to address fast-paced needs in an ever-scaling industry, and with significant periods like peak season and a de minimis-free shipping world, the WMS is well-suited to prepare you for challenging times. Some other WMS abilities include:
- Employing license plate best practices for uncompromising inventory traceability
- Improving inventory accuracy with advanced cycle counting
- Assuring order accuracy with dynamic scan-pack verification
- Guaranteeing compliance with EDI labeling and cartonization
- Complying with customer-branded documentation and packing requirements
- Reducing costs while increasing throughput
Additionally, our TMS offers automated streamlining. Operating from one platform, ShipHawk’s TMS helps you find the best shipping carriers and rates while saving companies time and money. For instance, ShipHawk’s Smart Packing helps make the shipping process more efficient; it selects the right box or pallet for every package, calculates final packed weights and dimensions, and accurately determines packing and shipping rates.
Alongside ShipHawk’s WMS and TMS, you can also incorporate ShipHawk Audit, a tool that adjusts freight and parcel invoices for accuracy to uncover cost recovery. Paired with the ShipHawk Dimensioner—a device that streamlines how you capture weights and dimensions of your products—you can optimize your shipping and warehouse operations in no time.
If you’re interested in learning more about the de minimis rule or how ShipHawk can help you prepare, feel free to connect with us today!