October 1, 2025
The de minimis threshold in the United States allowed goods valued under $800 to enter the country without incurring customs duties or taxes. This policy has greatly benefited international exporters, including UK businesses, particularly those involved in direct-to-consumer (D2C) e-commerce. However, increasing political and trade pressure within the US has seen the elimination of this threshold (as of 29 August 2025) which has significantly impacted UK exporters.
This has increased the overall cost for American consumers purchasing overseas goods, making British products more expensive compared to domestic alternatives. For small and medium-sized UK businesses that rely on selling to the US via platforms like Etsy, eBay, and Shopify, this poses a substantial risk to sales volume and profitability.
In addition to higher costs, removing the threshold has introduced greater administrative complexity. Every shipment requires customs declarations, brokerage services, and additional paperwork, increasing time and cost for UK exporters. This added bureaucracy may be difficult for smaller businesses to manage, especially those without dedicated compliance teams or logistics partners.
The push to eliminate the de minimis threshold is largely aimed at curbing the rise of low-cost imports from China. However, UK exporters could become unintended casualties of this policy shift. Sectors such as fashion, beauty, gifts, books, and specialty foods—all commonly exported in small parcels—are disproportionately affected.
To mitigate these risks, UK businesses may need to rethink their logistics strategies, potentially using US-based fulfilment centres or shipping goods to the US in bulk. While this won’t eliminate the duties or taxes, it can ease the clearance process and administrative work. However, without a consumer receiving the goods, if the fulfilment centres won’t act as the Importer of Record, the UK exporter will need to appoint a customs representative. Fiscal IOR (FIOR) can facilitate the import and work alongside the freight forwarder/ customs agent to ensure the process is as painless as possible. For more information on US imports and opportunities, please speak with the Fiscal IOR team.