With the de minimis exemption suspended, CBP has introduced new postal entry requirements specifically for low-value shipments arriving through the international postal network — a segment that previously required minimal documentation under the old exemption.
What Used to Be Required
Under the de minimis exemption, shipments claiming the benefit generally required only minimal data for entry purposes — often just a bill of lading or a manifest listing each bill of lading, with no formal duty calculation or classification review.
What's Required Now
- Formal or informal customs entry for shipments that previously qualified for simplified de minimis treatment
- Accurate HTS classification on every shipment, since duty is now assessed rather than exempted
- Expanded data reporting obligations that go beyond what postal-network shipments previously provided
Why This Catches Businesses Off Guard
Companies that built order fulfillment processes around the old minimal-data postal requirements often don't have classification or entry documentation workflows built for the volume of individual low-value shipments they process. Retrofitting that process after the requirement changes is far more disruptive than building it in from the start.
A shipment that used to need a shipping label and a manifest line now needs a full customs entry. That's not a small paperwork change — it's a fundamentally different process at scale.