Trade Court Backs Trump's End of $800 Loophole

The U.S. Court of International Trade ruled Thursday that President Trump had the legal authority to eliminate the "de minimis" exemption — the rule that let foreign shipments worth up to $800 enter the United States duty-free and with lighter customs scrutiny.

The challenge came from importers led by auto-parts seller Detroit Axle, which sued to restore the exemption. The court rejected it.

The practical effect for shoppers: the cheap direct-from-overseas parcel — the Shein and Temu model — no longer arrives tariff-free.

What the $800 Threshold Was

Under de minimis, most commercial shipments valued at $800 or less entered the country without ordinary customs duties and through simplified customs procedures.

The volume was enormous. In fiscal 2024, 1.36 billion de minimis shipments arrived in the United States with a declared value of $64.6 billion, according to U.S. government data cited by NTD. About 73% of those packages originated in China in 2024.

With the exemption gone, qualifying imports face duties and additional customs-entry requirements — which, as NTD notes, likely means higher costs for consumers. The sources in this story do not put a single dollar figure on what an individual package now costs; the charge depends on the tariff rate for the goods inside and the carrier's handling of the formal entry.