Customs and Border Protection has issued an interim final rule requiring every international postal shipment to include full customs entry data starting July 24. That includes a 10-digit tariff classification, or HTSUS code, which determines which duties apply.
Anyone who is not the owner or buyer of the goods must hire a licensed customs broker to file. CBP estimates about half the parties filing today are not brokers. That means roughly half of current filers, including small importers and third-party agents, will need to hire a licensed broker or stop filing postal parcels.
The new data and broker requirements are separate from the duty suspension that already took effect. The $800 de minimis exemption for postal parcels was suspended months ago; globally from August 2025, and for China and Hong Kong from May 2025. It was replaced by a flat 10% surcharge imposed under Section 122 of the Trade Act of 1974, the authority CBP uses to impose temporary tariffs.
That flat surcharge ends on July 24, the same day the new rule takes effect. From that date, postal goods will face the full duty stack, including Section 301 China tariffs, instead of the single 10% rate.
Because tariff rates vary by product category, CBP now requires the full 10-digit HTSUS code rather than the older 6-digit description to calculate duties correctly.
What the rule requires: Each parcel must list tariff classification, country of origin, value, duty, quantity, weight, carrier, tracking number, and arrival port. Filings will be submitted through a monthly consolidated spreadsheet, with a per-shipment electronic filing option in ACE commencing September 22.
Goods subject to Section 301, Section 232, or FDA and CPSC rules must use formal entry, with a compliance window extended to October 22 for those categories.
The cost math: A licensed broker charges roughly $25 to $75 per entry, according to Dedola. At that rate, shipping low-value parcels individually, the model direct-from-China sellers such as Temu and Shein have relied on, becomes economically unworkable. The same fee spread across a consolidated ocean or air shipment is negligible. The rule favors brands that can consolidate goods at origin over those filing parcel by parcel.
Why CBP did it: Diane Sabatino of CBP's Office of Field Operations said, “More data and enhanced entry procedures mean that we can target and intercept high-risk shipments with greater precision.”
CBP processed 1.36 billion de minimis shipments in fiscal 2024, nearly 10 times the 2015 count. The agency estimates the rule will generate more than $100 million in additional annual duty revenue.
The EU is moving in parallel. Its new 3-euro per-item fee on low-value parcels takes effect July 1.
