US de minimis is gone: what every China order costs you now

The $800 duty free threshold that let most dropshipping orders enter the United States without a customs charge is gone. It ended for goods from China and Hong Kong on May 2, 2025, then for every country on August 29, 2025. Every parcel now carries a real customs cost, whether that cost is a percentage of the item's value or a flat fee per package.

This is for Shopify merchants sourcing or fulfilling from China who priced their products around a duty free order. If you have not rebuilt your landed cost since August, the numbers below will change how you price. They will also change how you talk to customers about shipping.

What changed, and when

Before May 2025, a shipment worth $800 or less crossed the US border with no duty. That covered nearly every single dropshipping order, as long as it went through the de minimis process.

The first cut hit China and Hong Kong specifically, on May 2, 2025. A presidential order removed de minimis for goods originating there while other countries kept the exemption.

That gap closed on August 29, 2025. US Customs and Border Protection confirmed that imports from every country, valued at $800 or less, no longer qualify for de minimis. They are now subject to duties, taxes and fees like any larger shipment.

CBP also set the rules for how postal shipments get charged during this transition. A carrier can bill an ad valorem duty, a percentage of the item's value equal to that country's tariff rate. Or it can charge a flat specific duty of $80 to $200 per item, depending on the tariff rate that applies to that country. The flat fee option runs for six months. From February 28, 2026, every postal shipment moves to the percentage method.

This applies beyond the postal network too. A parcel moved by a commercial express carrier loses the same $800 exemption. It goes through ordinary customs processing, and duty gets billed on the item's value the way a much larger shipment always has been.

Duty on a real order, worked through

Take a hypothetical phone accessories store selling a case with a $12 landed product cost, at a $34 retail price, moving 40 orders a day.

Before August 29, that $12 case entered the US with no customs charge at all. The margin on each sale was the retail price minus the product cost, shipping, and payment fees.

Now, if that case ships through the postal network, the carrier can apply the flat specific duty CBP set for low value postal parcels. Even at the low end of that $80 to $200 range, the duty alone costs more than six times the product itself. A carrier could instead apply the percentage-based duty tied to the country of origin. That duty scales with the item's value rather than charging a flat amount per package.

Compare that to a hypothetical home goods store selling a $60 landed cost item. The same flat fee that swamps a $12 case is a much smaller share of a $60 order. A percentage-based duty scales with the higher value either way. Cheap, thin-margin products absorb this change far worse than higher priced ones, even at the same order volume.

Either way, the order that used to cost $12 to land now carries a customs charge. That charge has to be priced in before you sell, not discovered after the fact. Getting this number right before you set a retail price is the same discipline covered in how to calculate dropshipping profit. Landed cost now includes duty on every order, not only product plus shipping.

Who pays: you, the carrier, or the customer

Duty gets collected one of two ways. Either the merchant or their fulfillment partner pays it before the parcel ships and folds it into the price the customer already paid. Or the carrier collects it from the customer at the door before handing over the package.

The second option is where stores run into trouble. A customer who placed an order expecting free shipping does not expect a separate bill from the carrier weeks later. That kind of surprise charge is exactly what turns a slow or unexpected delivery into a dispute, the pattern covered in slow shipping and chargebacks.

We build the landed price for each destination country before you sell. The product, shipping, and handling come as one number, so there is no separate customs bill waiting for your customer.

Pricing and checkout changes to make now

Start by getting a real landed cost per product per country instead of reusing a number from before August 2025. A quote that was accurate in July is not accurate anymore for anything shipped from China.

Rebuild your retail prices around that new number. A product that only worked at a thin margin under the old duty free rule may need a higher price or a bundle. Some may need a different sourcing plan to stay profitable.

Review which SKUs still make sense. Low value items take the hardest hit from a flat per-item fee, because that fee stays the same no matter how cheap the product is. A $60 product absorbs a duty charge far more easily than a $10 one.

Ask whoever handles your fulfillment whether an order will move through the postal network or a commercial carrier. That decision affects which duty method applies and how predictable the charge is, order to order. A store running high volume through one lane can plan around a single, known method instead of guessing.

Be direct with customers about what the price includes. A checkout page that says the price covers shipping and any customs charges, with nothing collected on delivery, removes the exact uncertainty that drives disputes.

Common mistakes

Some stores still price as if the $800 exemption applies below that value. It does not. The suspension applies to every import at or below $800, with no lower threshold that still qualifies.

Others treat the new duty as a one time cost to absorb rather than a permanent line in the landed price. Every order from China now carries this cost, not just the first one after the rule changed.

A few stores quote a price that does not include duty, then let the carrier collect it from the customer at delivery. That approach saves nothing. It moves the bad surprise from your invoice to your customer's doorstep, right before they decide whether to leave a review.

Frequently asked questions

Is dropshipping from China dead now that de minimis is gone?

No. The cost structure changed, not the model. Stores that rebuild their landed cost to include duty and price accordingly can still run a profitable business from China.

Who actually pays the duty, me or my customer?

It depends on how the shipment is set up. A merchant or fulfillment partner can pay the duty and price it into the sale. Or the carrier can collect it from the customer at delivery. The first approach avoids surprise charges at the door.

Does the flat $80 to $200 fee replace regular customs duty for good?

No. That flat option is a temporary alternative for postal shipments, available through February 28, 2026. After that date, every postal shipment is charged the percentage-based duty tied to its country of origin.

Do low value personal or sample orders still avoid duty?

No. The suspension covers every import valued at $800 or less, from every country, with no exception for a lower dollar amount.

Does it matter whether my order ships by mail or by a commercial carrier?

Yes. Postal shipments can use either the flat specific duty or the percentage-based method through February 28, 2026. Shipments moved by a commercial carrier go through ordinary customs processing on the item's value instead.

What to do next

The exemption that dropshipping was built around for years is not coming back. The stores that adjust fastest are the ones who know their real landed cost per country before they set a price. That beats finding out after a customer complains about a surprise charge.

That means checking every active product against today's rules, not the ones that applied before August 29. It means deciding case by case whether a SKU still clears a real margin once duty is in the number.

Run your current products through our landed cost calculator. See what each one actually costs to land today, duty included, before you decide what to change.