US De Minimis Policy Cancellation & USPS Suspension: Impact on Global Sellers
In February 2025, the US eliminated the de minimis exemption for goods under $800 and USPS suspended parcel acceptance from China. Analysis of policy impact and strategies for global sellers.
Background
Starting February 4, 2025, the United States eliminated the de minimis exemption (duty-free clearance for goods under $800) and imposed at least 10% tariffs. Simply put, small packages now pay tariffs, and large packages pay even more.
https://content.govdelivery.com/bulletins/gd/USDHSCBP-3d062f4
On February 5, a second piece of bad news arrived: USPS suspended acceptance of parcels from China and Hong Kong. In simple terms, one of the most important last-mile carriers in the US simply stopped shipping for you.
Important: Always follow your freight forwarder's guidance! Policies are changing rapidly, and logistics providers are adjusting their services overnight.
How Should Global Sellers Respond?
Short-Term Strategy
Cautious sellers should temporarily reduce or pause US advertising and traffic-driving activities because with the policy changes, freight forwarders and last-mile carriers are adjusting their policies and services overnight. Everything is subject to change, so avoid further losses.
(For the bold, the unscrupulous, and those who love to hustle... you know what to do.)
Medium-Term Strategy
The most basic and simple answer is to increase your product prices (or shipping fees) to cover the tariff-related costs. It's an age-old principle: the customer ultimately pays.
Product costs and pricing also affect players' overall business strategies (including product selection, platform channels, traffic strategies, etc.), so some sellers need to rethink their approach.
Learn how to adjust prices for specific countries to handle shipping cost surges during peak seasons! 99 Shopify Tips (21)
Long-Term Strategy
All sellers should learn to diversify risk. From external policy shocks like the TikTok ban rollercoaster before Chinese New Year to tariff policies after; to internal industry evolution from the days when anyone could succeed on Amazon to now being squeezed by dropshippers and ultra-low prices.
Global selling is an industry with significant internal and external risks. How to diversify? What directions should you consider?
How to Declare Customs: The Details
Strongly recommend asking your freight forwarder directly, as they have first-hand information. After all, they're earning your money and should provide service.
Understanding Price Structure
First, understand the price structure before tariffs.
Figure 1: Without Tariffs, pricing typically consists of per-shipment weight fees plus registration fees.
Figure 2: EU Pricing, which includes VAT and service fees.
Currently, US pricing is similar to the EU model, with additional tariffs and handling fees.
Tariff Calculation
Currently, some freight forwarders charge a flat service fee, such as YunExpress at 20 RMB per shipment.
The actual tariff amount mainly depends on your declared value and product category (HS code).
How much to declare, what standard to use, and what category to declare—think carefully and try shipping a few test packages yourself.
Some Impacts
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Costs will definitely rise. Especially for sellers relying on low prices and volume to attract price-sensitive consumers—this is almost catastrophic. For sellers with clear differentiation and higher average order values, the impact is actually manageable.
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Delivery times to the US may become slower.
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Small package sellers (independent stores, fully managed platforms, Amazon FBM, etc.) will be more affected than sea freight + local warehouse players.
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Higher barriers to entry for the US market. Whether in product selection/operations decision-making costs or sea freight + local warehouse capital requirements. But higher barriers make some players happy—it filters out low-quality competitors.
FAQ
Final Thoughts
Independent store sellers, especially small individual sellers, are actually the least affected. As community members shared, these policies aren't targeting us—we're just collateral damage. Big sellers are actually suffering more, especially those with long e-commerce supply chains.
