As part of his escalating trade war, President Donald Trump is ending a shopping loophole that will make buying some of your everyday household goods more expensive very soon.
President Trump’s July executive order is ending the “de minimis” tariff exemption, which allowed U.S. shoppers to buy packages valued at $800 per day directly from foreign sellers free of tariffs and administrative fees, often skipping inspections and paperwork. After Aug. 29, that will end.
President Trump already ended “de minimis” tariff exemption for goods coming from China and Hong Kong, but his new executive order is ending this trading loophole for the rest of the world. Customs and Border Protection estimates that over 1.36 billion packages that were delivered in 2024 were “de minimis” shipments.
Now “all shipments, regardless of value or origin, will be subject to full customs clearance and applicable duties,” said Chris Tang, a University of California, Los Angeles professor who studies global supply chain management. All applicable duties broadly mean the tariffs from the item’s country of origin.
For example, the import duties from China are currently 30% due to the 90-day truce between the U.S. and China, meaning if you buy something valued at $200 from China, with a 30% tariff, that would end up being $260, Tang explained.
