The $20 parcel and the $200 parcel.
What do they owe the US now?

The rule, in one paragraph

For decades a parcel worth under $800 entered the United States duty-free. That ended on 29 August 2025, when CBP suspended the de minimis exemption for goods from all countries and all shipping modes — courier, postal and freight. A 2026 interim final rule made the suspension indefinite rather than temporary. Since then the duty a parcel owes depends on two things and nothing else: what is inside it, and what that item is worth. The full story of the change is here; this guide is about what it does to a parcel.

Duty is a percentage of the item, so parcel size sets the stake

The same class of goods carries the same band whether the parcel is small or large — the item value decides how much money that band is worth. These are the bands our engine prices against (US, rate table as of 15 Oct 2026):

Product class	Duty band on the item	On a $20 item	On a $200 item
Apparel	16 – 35%	$3.20 – $7.00	$32 – $70
Footwear	10 – 35%	$2.00 – $7.00	$20 – $70
Bags & luggage	8 – 25%	$1.60 – $5.00	$16 – $50
Jewelry	5 – 20%	$1.00 – $4.00	$10 – $40
Sporting goods	3 – 20%	$0.60 – $4.00	$6 – $40
Electronics & phone accessories, toys, lighting, kitchen, home & garden, pet supplies, tools, beauty	3 – 15%	$0.60 – $3.00	$6 – $30
Furniture, office	3 – 12%	$0.60 – $2.40	$6 – $24

Two things to notice. First, a small parcel is not exempt — it is simply cheaper, because the percentage is applied to less. A $20 phone case and a $200 tablet sit in the same class and owe the same rate; the difference in dollars is arithmetic. Second, the band is wide on purpose: US duty currently layers a base tariff, China-specific measures and trade-remedy layers, and parts of that stack are under active litigation. A single "exact" rate quoted to you today is a guess wearing a suit.

What duty is not charged on

Freight. Duty is calculated on the item value, so a free-shipping parcel still owes duty — free shipping changes your freight line to zero and nothing else. Postal items are assessed on value too (ad valorem), so the postal lane is not the cheaper lane; it is the same duty with a different hand-off at the border.

A worked parcel

The dog bed from our sample report — item $29.89, freight quote $1.99, pet supplies band 3 – 15%:

Line	At the low end of the band	At the high end
Item	$29.89	$29.89
Freight	$1.99	$1.99
Duty (3 – 15% of the item)	$0.90	$4.48
Delivered to the US	$32.78	$36.36

When we priced this product, the engine's single-point estimate was $2.69 of duty — about 9%, inside the band. We are showing the band here rather than only that number because the band is what is actually known. Run any product on the free tool and you get the single estimate, its confidence and the as-of date of the rate table — an estimate, not a customs ruling.

What to do about it

1. Price from the delivered figure. A $20 item with $3 of duty is a 15% cost increase that no listing page shows you.
2. Re-check before you commit. The suspension is indefinite, but the remedy layers under it are still moving — that is why every quote carries an as-of date.
3. Use the band where the class is wide. In apparel and footwear the gap between the ends of the band can be most of your margin: cost at the top, and treat the bottom as upside.

Related

What the suspension changed, class by class · Margin math: putting duty into the price · Canada: the same parcel, by province

Duty figures here are estimates with an accuracy promise, not a customs ruling. Rates and trade remedies are in flux — every number our tool shows carries a confidence band and an as-of date. See the sample report for exactly what you get.