Update from Stallion Express on De Minimis Removal

Summary: sapphyres-designer-jewellery informed participants about the upcoming changes to the Section 321 de minimis program, affecting Canadian businesses shipping to the U.S. starting August 29. They detailed three shipping options: Stallion DDP, Canada Post DDU, and U.S. fulfillment through Stallion's warehouse. dache_us expressed relief that brokerage charges are lower than expected but inquired if Stallion still charges for DDP approval per item. sapphyres-designer-jewellery responded, sharing their experience with managing SKUs and correcting a mistake related to SKU labeling.

I haven't read it yet, I will do that in a minute... Posting for everyone else to read.

A few weeks ago, the U.S. government confirmed that the Section 321 de minimis program will be fully removed for all countries by August 29. This is the most significant cross-border policy change in years, and it directly affects how Canadian businesses ship to U.S. customers.

Right now, many Canadian sellers rely on Section 321 to ship eligible products to the US, tax and duty free. After August 29, that benefit will no longer apply, except where exemptions like CUSMA (Canada-US-Mexico Agreement) apply.

We’ve been working closely with our customs broker and trade partners to prepare for this shift. Here’s a summary of your updated US shipping options through Stallion:

Option 1: Stallion DDP (Delivered Duty Paid)

With Stallion DDP, you’ll continue using the same US services you already know: USPS, U.S. Economy, etc - but with customs clearance handled in advance by a licensed broker.

What to expect:

Brokerage fee: $0.99-$1.99 per package (based on your shipping volume)
Tariffs & duties (if applicable), based on:
- The product’s country of origin
- The assigned HS code

For products that qualify under CUSMA (i.e. made in Canada, the U.S., or Mexico), duties and tariffs may not apply - only the brokerage fee.

However, we are still waiting on final confirmation from our customs broker and U.S. authorities regarding whether duties/tariffs will fully be waived under CUSMA and what documentation (e.g. Certificate of Origin) may be required to support eligibility.

We’ll send a follow-up next week with those details.

🚚 How Stallion DDP Works

Purchase USPS labels in Stallion just like you do today
Any applicable brokerage and duty fees are shown at checkout
Pay, print, and ship - just like before
Transit times remain unchanged
- Clients outside Ontario may experience 1–2 extra business days for clearance

✅ Sellers shipping China-made products have already been using Stallion DDP since May (after Section 321 ended early for China) and everything is running smoothly.

🛠️ Set Up DDP Before August 29

Here’s how to prepare:

Go to your Products page on the Stallion dashboard
Ensure your products include accurate country of origin and manufacturer info
Submit SKUs to our customs broker for approval (Most approvals happen instantly)
Once approved, you're good to go

📽 Watch the DDP setup tutorial

Option 2: Canada Post DDU

Shipments entering the US through Canada Post’s DDU (Delivered Duty Unpaid) service will also be impacted by the Section 321 change.

While duties, tariffs and brokerage fees are expected to apply, the infrastructure to collect those charges is not yet in place.

That said, over the past few months we’ve seen a high number of Canada Post DDU shipments rejected by US Customs (CBP) due to confusion over who (Canada Post or USPS) is responsible for collecting duties and taxes.

Our recommendation: While Canada Post DDU is still available on our platform, we recommend setting up and transitioning to Stallion DDP as your primary US shipping method when section 321 ends on Aug 29.

We’ll continue to send weekly updates as the changes take effect and provide more clarity around CUSMA documentation and service-level adjustments.

Option 3: Move Inventory to the US with Stallion Fulfillment
For brands with consistent US order volume, shipping directly from within the US is now the most predictable and cost-effective solution.

That’s why we’ve built out our own US fulfillment network that we own and operate directly ourself (no third party warehouses), starting with our Buffalo warehouse to give Canadian brands a turnkey option to operate like a domestic US seller.

If you’re interested to explore this option, just reply to this email. Our team will walk you through whether US fulfillment is the right fit and help you get set up quickly with no long-term contracts.

We’ll keep you updated as the August 29 changes get closer. In the meantime, if you’re unsure which option is best for your business, our team is here to help you navigate it all, just reach out.

Thanks, as always, for your trust and partnership.
– The Stallion Express Team

sapphyres-designer-jewellery

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Posted 11 months ago·Last reply 11 months ago

2 comments

dache_us

·11 months ago

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Thank you so much for this. Very happy to hear, that the brokerage charges are significantly lower than their current DDP model for China only. My biggest fear, was that it would cost 4.99-6.99+. But this gives me some hope lol.

When we upload products for DDP approval, is stallion still charging 0.49$ per item? This can add up if our stores are filled with unique skus.

sapphyres-designer-jewellery

OP11 months ago

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@dache_us wrote:
Thank you so much for this. Very happy to hear, that the brokerage charges are significantly lower than their current DDP model for China only. My biggest fear, was that it would cost 4.99-6.99+. But this gives me some hope lol.

When we upload products for DDP approval, is stallion still charging 0.49$ per item? This can add up if our stores are filled with unique skus.

When I was putting items in, it was 41 cents plus HST - so I was paying 46 cents.

What I did was put the supplier in (Royal Canadian Mint for instance), and then put product description override, price override, weight override, size override... so that I could ship any coin from the RCM under that Sku regardless of what it sold for on eBay, which coin it was, or how many coins are in the package.

I did a stupid thing though with the SKUs. Not having any idea what a SKU is used for, I gave my SKUs meaningful names to identify which supplier goes with the SKU to make it easy for me to fill in the customs form. Then I found out the SKU is on the label. Stallion said I can black that out carefully as long as I don't black out any information they need regarding the shipment. They said if I pay again, I can recreate the SKUs. I have 30 which covers most of my product, but certain SKUs will only be used once in a while so I'm not worrying too much about recreating SKUs unless it's something I'll ship a lot of. Also it's a toss up if they approve it right away, or if it goes in pending (in which case I opened a ticket to have them look at it, they said information was missing, I just clicked save and then it went through).