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Elimination of US de minimis rule hits SMEs hardest

By Greg Knowler

Small and medium-sized businesses will shoulder most of the higher costs accrued through the elimination of the de minimis exemption that allowed low-value imports to avoid US duties, hurting air cargo volumes in the upcoming end-of-peak season, according to industry executives.

After scrapping the duty-free exemption for low-value imports from China valued at under $ 800 on May 2, the White House on Aug. 29 extended the de minimis removal globally. Shipments that previously entered the US duty free under Section 321( the de minimis statute) must now follow standard entry procedures, including full customs filings. All imports, except letters and documents with no value and purely private shipments of gifts with a value under $ 100, now face duties.

“ Small and medium-sized exporters will have a massive problem,” Ronald Kleijwegt, CEO at Vinturas, a global supply chain collaboration network, told the Journal of Commerce.“ A big portion of e-commerce is related to SMEs, not just the big Temus and Sheins of the world.”

Compliance with the new rules will require substantial modification of shipment control processes, leading to the suspension of postal shipments to the US by many state and private organizations, who cited the tight timeline provided by US Customs and Border Protection( CBP).

The closing of that particular channel to the US will have a significant impact on the margins of small and medium-sized enterprises( SMEs), Kleijwegt warned.

“ If you’ re a small company in the UK or in the Netherlands with an e-commerce shop sending products to importers in the US that are valued at under $ 800, they would go through customs with no problem,” he said.

“ The shipment will be stopped at customs, and there will be import duty to be paid. The question is, will importers be willing to pay the duty and pass it on, and will customers be prepared to pay for the more expensive products,” Kleijwegt noted.

In a recent customer notice, Maersk alluded to the potential loss of competitiveness facing customers. The carrier advised shippers to pause low-value US shipments until customs rules were clarified, while at the same time updating product pricing to reflect any added duties and to explore US-based warehousing or fulfilment solutions“ to stay competitive.”

Niall van de Wouw, chief air freight officer at rate benchmarking platform Xeneta, highlighted the effect of the US rule change on SMEs in an August market update.

“ A big portion of e-commerce is related to SMEs, not just the big Temus and Sheins of the world.”

“ A lot of people think of de minimis as being about B2C( business-to-consumer), but the de minimis changes now in effect are also a big thing for B2B( business-to-business) into the US, and we are already seeing some SME businesses reacting to, and challenging, this impact,” he said.

Van de Wouw warned that the removal of the de minimis rule may have“ a profound effect” on the end-of-year air freight peak season.

“ The starting point for closing the de minimis threshold was mainly politically motivated against the big Chinese e-commerce platforms,” he said.“ But the widening of this legislation is leveling the playing field again for all e-commerce shipments entering the US, and I would now expect to see lower e-commerce volumes moving by air from Europe to the US.”

email: greg. knowler @ spglobal. com

Low-value US imports are no longer exempt from duties and full customs filings. Ceri Breeze / Shutterstock. com www. joc. com October 6, 2025 | Journal of Commerce 29