Good news about De Minimis - Update from Stallion Express

[sin-n-dex]

We wanted to update you right away following a major announcement this afternoon from the U.S. administration regarding changes to the Section 321 de minimis policy. You can read the official announcement here:

White House Fact Sheet – April 2, 2025

 

Key Takeaways:

• Section 321 de minimis is here to stay for goods that are not made in China. This means you can continue shipping non-China origin goods from Canada to the U.S. duty-free, as long as the shipment value is $800 USD or less.

• However, starting May 2, 2025, de minimis will no longer apply to goods made in China.

What’s still unclear is whether this change applies only to goods shipped directly from China, or if it will also apply to goods made in China but shipped from another country, such as Canada.

We’ve already reached out to our partnered customs brokers and the CBP for clarification. We’ll send another update as soon as we get confirmation on how the new rule will be enforced.

In the meantime, we want you to know that we're prepared. Our DDU (Delivered Duty Unpaid) option is already available and our team is in the final testing stages of our DDP (Delivered Duty Paid) solution, in case made-in-China goods shipped from Canada are impacted. We'll share more details and step-by-step instructions once that solution is ready. 

We’re keeping a close eye on developments and will continue to keep you informed so you can plan with confidence.

If you have any questions in the meantime, feel free to reach out, we’re here to help.

Best regards,
The Stallion Team

[valueaddedresource]

@sin-n-dex  I posted this on your thread on the US boards too, but Canada sellers should be aware that Stallion Express may have jumped the gun on this one.

Yes, that page they linked to only mentions China but that is just a short summary about China specifically.

The full Executive Order shows the adminstration's intent is to end de minimis for all countries as soon as systems for collecting duties are ready.

https://www.whitehouse.gov/presidential-actions/2025/04/regulating-imports-with-a-reciprocal-tariff-...

Subsection (a) which states it applies to all items imported into the US, unless there is a specific exception stated elsewhere in the order.

While there appear to be some carve outs for steel, aluminum, copper, pharmaceuticals, semiconductors, lumber articles, certain critical minerals, energy and energy products etc, it's clear that the majority of goods from most countries are included in this order.

Then subsection (h) refers to all articles from that subsection (a) when saying that once systems are in place, the de minimis treatment will no longer be available.

Taken together, as things currently stand, this Executive Order means that de minimis will be going away for most shipments from all countries in the near future if no other changes or new orders are issued - and sellers would be wise to start preparing for that eventuality.

[mrdutch1001]

Currently am as prepared as can be for anything going forward as it pertains to country of origin requirements, tariffs,and so forth. To start with, nothing I list has any connection to China. Secondly, my items are made in either Canada or USA(occasionally something has origins in Europe). Thirdly nothing I list/sell has a value over $50 so any applicable duties,tariffs etc will be insignificant but it is the buyer that will make that final decision as to whether to purchase or not purchase. I will not punish any potential USA buyers for the stupidity of their Gov't and will continue to offer my items to the USA. I ship via Canada Post so whatever policies are applicable will be dealt with if needed ,as needed , when  needed...

[ricarmic]

Yes I'm figuring out my best contingency options for worst case scenario.

My situation is more complex because "not selling to US folks" isn't an easy thing for me to do because half of my stuff is listed on .COM (so 2,000+ items) and one can't block the domestic country.

I have figured out a contingency disaster plan that would zap all my .COM items (it would actually move them elsewhere) and I'd continue here with the .CA stuff and only list here on .CA going forward, which gives me options to exclude US, or incorporate the new costs into my pricing for US customers.

Having the plan(s) in my head is all that I plan to do until something physical happens that causes problems, ie INRs, package refusals etc. I can quickly put the store on time away until I implement the appropriate contingency plan. I've noted folks mentioning here that they've ignored the "Germany rules" with no problems yet, and that's been in place for some time.... and as we know the rules change every day - I see the US$ value dropped today and stock markets reacted quite strongly negative so who knows what might be announced tomorrow!

[steve-02]

I don’t see how it will be feasible to completely get rid of de minimis. Are they going to process every $10 and $20 item that lands at the border? They will end up spending $1.00 to make $0.50. Hopefully they will keep di minimis but have it a lower threshold than the current $800.

[recped]

Yes that would be the logical way to proceed, back to the not so long ago $200 limit.

Logic? What's that?

One thing to consider is the majority of low value packes coming into the US are not shipped by mail, they are arriving in bulk loads with pre-clearance through customs (same as Canadian sellers who use cross-border shipping services like Stallion, ChitChats etc.) These shipments only require spot checking for accuracy and illegal contents like fentanyl.

For Europe I use PostNL, my shipments are cleared through foreign customs before they even get on a plane leaving for Europe.

[flipistics]

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@steve-02 wrote:
I don’t see how it will be feasible to completely get rid of de minimis. Are they going to process every $10 and $20 item that lands at the border? They will end up spending $1.00 to make $0.50. Hopefully they will keep di minimis but have it a lower threshold than the current $800.

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I suspect they'll use the approach they've hinted at for China (starting in a month) where they charge a $25 or $50 processing fee.

[cottagewoman]

The 25$ (50$ June 2nd) fee is the 'mechanism' that was put in place to collect tariffs on de minimis shipments. It forces all shipments through the courriers that aren't USPS which had no time to setup collection in this insane race to cripple the world, as the courriers have systems in place to collect them. Nothing like taking a 20lb sledge hammer to fix your Rolex.

[lotzofuniquegoodies]

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@cottagewoman wrote:
The 25$ (50$ June 2nd) fee is the 'mechanism' that was put in place to collect tariffs on de minimis shipments. It forces all shipments through the courriers that aren't USPS which had no time to setup collection in this insane race to cripple the world, as the courriers have systems in place to collect them. Nothing like taking a 20lb sledge hammer to fix your Rolex.

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@cottagewoman 

From previous research, at least with USPS the long standing charge with mail orders to USA  when duties were applicable the fee has been 5.35. If it got bumped up to 25.00/50.00 that is a major money grab. See attached. This could get very messy.... meaning expensive on a mixed lot of goods.

Shipments from USA to Canada would be made worse if multiple processings get done and billed separately. USPS to CP would be 1 itemized bill in theory. Hopefully in practice too. 

USPS charges a $5.35 fee for each dutiable item that requires customs duty or Internal Revenue tax collection, which is not refundable. 

Here's a more detailed explanation:

• Customs Clearance Fee:

  The USPS collects a fee of $5.35 for each item that has customs duty or Internal Revenue tax collected. 
• Non-Refundable:

  This fee is not refundable. 
• Exemptions:

  Certain items are exempt from the Postal Service fee, including dutiable articles from overseas U.S. Post Office facilities, parcels assessed with duty that are delivered without collection of duty, and mail items examined and passed free of duty by U.S. Customs. 
• Other fees:

  Be aware that in addition to the USPS fee, you may also have to pay duties and taxes depending on the value and type of goods being imported. For example, when shipping to Canada, items valued over CAN$20 are subject to both tax and handling fees. 
• Canada Post Handling Fee:

  Canada Post charges a handling fee of $9.95 CAD per dutiable or taxable mail item. 

[recped]

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@cottagewoman wrote:
The 25$ (50$ June 2nd) fee is the 'mechanism' that was put in place to collect tariffs on de minimis shipments. It forces all shipments through the courriers that aren't USPS which had no time to setup collection in this insane race to cripple the world, as the courriers have systems in place to collect them. Nothing like taking a 20lb sledge hammer to fix your Rolex.

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Where are you getting this information? None of is makes any sense, private couriers have always charged brokerage fees on dutiuable shipments.

put in place to collect tariffs on de minimis shipments.

This one is particularily weird because if a shipment qualifies for the De minimis exemption that are no duties collected. Companies like UPS/Fedex always charge a brokerage fee on dutiable shipments, the only exception is shipments using an Express service, for those the basic brokerage fee is included in the shipping charge (which is quite high) cost, even then they have additional fees that the do tack on to those Express shipments.

[cottagewoman]

The idea is that what were de minimis shipments from China are no longer so, but in the context of the executive orders that dealt with changes to handling of Chinese low value shipments, the text was specific that once systems were put in place to collect tariffs on low value, individual shipments that previously cleared section 321 (de minimis) then it would be eliminated as a viable entry method. My point is that no mechanism was put in place for USPS to handle collection of all these tariffs on low value shipments - they just made costs exorbitant so nobody would use the postal system, but push them to the Courrier services that actually have systems in place.