Selling to US Customers After the End of De Minimis: What UK Brands Shipping Direct Need to Know

The US no longer lets low-value parcels in duty-free. The $800 de minimis exemption has been suspended for every country since 29 August 2025, US Customs and Border Protection (CBP) rules now make that suspension indefinite, and the statutory repeal takes effect on 1 July 2027. Every UK parcel to a US customer needs a customs entry and may owe duty.

For years a UK brand could send a single order to California with little thought about customs. This guide covers what changed, what it means for one parcel, how to choose between DDP, postal and US stock, and what to get right at the UK end, whether you dispatch in-house or through a multi-channel fulfilment partner. It is general guidance based on the US rules as they stand in October 2026, so confirm your set-up with a licensed customs broker before you change it.

What Has Changed and When

De minimis is gone for commercial shipments from the UK, and there is no date on which it is due to return. Four steps took it away:

• 29 August 2025: Executive Order 14324 suspended duty-free de minimis treatment for all countries.
• 20 February 2026: Executive Order 14388 continued the suspension for shipments of any value, origin and transport mode, including international post.
• 24 June 2026: CBP wrote the suspension into its regulations with two interim final rules, one for express, freight and every mode other than post and a second covering the international postal network.
• 1 July 2027: the One Big Beautiful Bill Act, enacted in July 2025, ends the legal basis for the exemption.

Under the non-postal rule, formerly de minimis shipments must use formal or informal entry. CBP has suspended the Entry Type 86 test that express carriers relied on and closed the old release-from-manifest route, which leaves Entry Type 11 informal entry as the main option for shipments of $2,500 or less. Only bona fide gifts and goods carried by travellers remain exempt, and Royal Mail is clear that businesses cannot declare packages as gifts by post.

The Postal Changes From 22 October 2026

If you send US orders by post, the next change lands on 22 October 2026, the compliance date for CBP's new postal informal entry process. Royal Mail has told senders that US customs requirements change on that date.

The postal rule creates an informal entry for mail shipments valued at $2,500 or less. The filer must be the owner or purchaser of the goods, or a licensed customs broker, and must hold a customs bond. For each shipment they report the description, country of origin, every applicable 10-digit tariff code, the value, the duty rate and the duty owed, then pay by the 7th of the month after arrival. Duty is not collected from the customer on delivery.

In practice the carrier, or a broker working with it, files these entries using the data you send when you create the label. Royal Mail's Postal Delivered Duties Paid (PDDP) service covers US packages up to $2,500: you collect duty at checkout, Royal Mail pays it to the US authorities and bills you for the duty plus a 50p handling fee per item. Items without full and accurate electronic customs data may be delivered duty unpaid or returned to the UK.

Some goods will need more than the postal route. From 22 October 2026, mail that is subject to other US agency requirements, or to certain additional duties, has to use formal entry instead (CBP is opening an optional Entry Type 13 test as an alternative). Food is the obvious example: Royal Mail requires business senders to file an FDA Prior Notice before shipping. Ask your carrier which of your product lines are affected before the date arrives.

What Duty a UK Parcel Pays

The duty on a parcel depends on what it is, where it was made and what it is worth, not where you post it from. A candle made in China and shipped from Northampton is Chinese-origin goods as far as US Customs is concerned.

Every product needs an accurate description, a customs value, a country of origin and a 10-digit code from the US Harmonized Tariff Schedule. The first six digits match the UK commodity code you already use; the last four are US-specific, so your UK export code is not enough on its own. The base duty comes from that schedule, and additional duties can stack on top. Those additional duties have moved more than once in 2026, including after the US Supreme Court ruled on tariffs imposed under emergency powers, and some, such as Section 232 duties, look at where component parts were made.

So avoid hard-coding a rate into your pricing. Ask your broker or carrier for the current rate on your top 20 products, record it against each SKU and recalculate your US margins. Then diarise a recheck, because the rate that applies is the one in force when the entry is prepared, not when the customer ordered.

DDP or DDU: Who Pays the Duty?

Under delivered duty paid (DDP), you collect duty at checkout and the customer pays nothing on arrival. Under delivered duty unpaid (DDU, close to the DAP Incoterm), the customer is asked to pay before release. For brands that want repeat US customers, DDP is the safer choice.

DDU hands your customer a surprise bill, often with a carrier fee on top. Some refuse to pay, and a refused parcel comes back at your cost or not at all. On the postal route, duty is not collected from the addressee on delivery, so the model is built around DDP. Our guide to EORI numbers, Incoterms and customs paperwork explains how DAP and DDP fit into your terms of sale.

DDP needs three things: a checkout that can show duty or a price that already includes it, clean product data for the carrier, and a decision on whether you absorb duty on low-margin lines. Show the total at checkout and say plainly that there is nothing more to pay on delivery.

Three Ways to Serve US Customers

You can ship every order direct from the UK, hold stock in the US, or split your range between the two. The right answer depends on volume, product value and how much delivery speed affects conversion.

Ship direct from the UK with DDP. Stock stays in one place and you avoid funding a second warehouse. It suits brands with modest US volumes or a wide range of slower lines. The cost is a customs entry, clearance charges and international transit time on every parcel.

Hold stock in the US. You import in bulk, clear each consignment through one formal entry and fulfil from a US warehouse. Delivery is faster and per-parcel clearance disappears, but you need forecasting, cash for a second stock pool and an importer of record for the bulk shipments.

Combine the two. Keep your best sellers in the US and ship the long tail from the UK. This is where many brands land once US demand is steady enough to forecast.

A simple test: if most US revenue comes from the same 20 or 30 SKUs, the case for US stock gets stronger. If US orders are spread thinly across hundreds of SKUs, shipping direct with DDP usually costs less overall.

Returns From US Customers Need a Plan

Decide how US returns will work before you launch, because sending a parcel back to the UK is slow and expensive for the customer, and the duty you paid is not always recoverable.

A US customer returning to the UK pays international postage, waits weeks for a refund and may meet a customs process on the way back. Royal Mail notes that on PDDP returns from the US to the UK, a request for a refund of customs duty does not apply. Most brands choose between a US returns address, letting customers keep low-value items and refunding, or a returns service that consolidates items and ships them back in bulk. Whichever you pick, record a reason code on every return so you can see which US lines cost you most.

Getting the UK End Right

Even when a carrier or broker handles US clearance, the data and the parcel leave your warehouse, so most holds and returns start with a mistake at the UK end. Before you switch to DDP, check that you can:

• Hold the 10-digit US tariff code, country of origin and a plain-English description against every SKU.
• Declare a value on the electronic data or commercial invoice that matches what the customer paid.
• Show the origin and code of each item inside bundles and gift sets.
• Pack to the carrier's customs and labelling requirements, so the box matches the data.
• Keep a record of what was declared on each parcel, so you can answer a query from the carrier or CBP.

Our article on how duty, VAT and documentation errors delay cross-border orders covers the common failure points in more detail.

Running US Orders From a UK Warehouse in Northampton

Fulfil with Synergy is a founder-led UK third-party logistics (3PL) provider that runs multi-channel, retail and Amazon Seller Fulfilled Prime fulfilment for growing and household brands from purpose-built facilities in Northampton. It combines AutoStore automation and the RedPrairie Dispatcher warehouse management system with services such as kitting, bonded warehousing and returns management, and it runs international orders as part of one connected operation rather than a separate service.

A team of over 280 fulfilment specialists works seven days a week, with integrations to carriers including DHL, DPD, Royal Mail and UPS for domestic and cross-border delivery. Stock is tracked down to unit, SKU, batch and location in RedPrairie Dispatcher, with a time-stamped audit trail of every stock movement, so the product data behind each US parcel comes from one record. For brands that later want stock closer to US customers, the multi-channel service includes access to a trusted global 3PL and 4PL partner network. Our guide to cross-border ecommerce fulfilment explains the wider model.

For brands that manufacture overseas and import before selling worldwide, the bonded warehouse matters. As an HMRC-approved bonded operator, Fulfil with Synergy can hold imported goods with UK duty and VAT suspended until they are released for sale in the UK. If stock leaves the bonded warehouse for another market, such as the US, no UK duty or VAT is payable, so you are not paying UK import duty on stock that is never sold in the UK.

Fulfil Plus finance partners help with unit economics and landed-cost clarity once US duty becomes a line in your margin, and a dedicated account manager gives you one point of contact as your US plans develop.

Checklist Before You Change Your US Offer

1. Confirm the current US duty rate for your top products with a broker or carrier.
2. Add the 10-digit US tariff code, country of origin and description to every SKU.
3. Decide on DDP at checkout and update your pricing and delivery wording.
4. Choose your route for each range: postal PDDP, courier DDP or US stock.
5. Check whether any lines need FDA or other US agency filings from 22 October 2026.
6. Set up a returns route for US customers.
7. Brief customer service on duty questions.
8. Test with a small batch of orders before switching all US traffic.

FAQ

Has US de minimis ended for UK sellers?

Yes, in practice. The $800 de minimis exemption has been suspended for every country since 29 August 2025, and since 24 June 2026 CBP regulations suspend it indefinitely for parcels arriving by courier, freight and post. The law that created it is repealed from 1 July 2027. Every commercial parcel from the UK to a US customer now goes through a customs entry and may owe duty, whatever its value. The only remaining exemptions are for bona fide gifts and goods carried by travellers, and businesses cannot use the gift route for customer orders sent by post. Plan on the basis that duty-free shipping to US consumers is not coming back.

Do I need a customs broker to ship to US customers?

Not always directly, but someone has to file a US entry for every parcel. For courier and postal parcels, that is usually the carrier or a broker working with it, using the data you send when you create the label. Under CBP's new postal informal entry, the filer must be the owner or purchaser of the goods or a licensed customs broker holding a customs bond. Bulk shipments into US stock need a formal entry and an importer of record, which is where a broker earns their fee. A broker is also the right person to confirm classification and current duty rates for your main lines before you set US prices.

Can I still send US orders through Royal Mail?

Yes. Royal Mail runs Postal Delivered Duties Paid (PDDP) services to the US for packages up to $2,500. You collect duty at checkout, Royal Mail pays it to the US authorities, and you are billed for the duty plus a 50p handling fee per item. Full electronic customs data has to go through an approved shipping solution; items without it may be delivered duty unpaid or returned to the UK. Royal Mail has also flagged that US customs requirements change on 22 October 2026, so check which services and product types your account can use after that date, particularly for food or other regulated goods.

Is it better to hold stock in the US?

It can be, once US demand is steady. Importing in bulk means one formal entry and one duty payment per consignment instead of a customs entry on every parcel, and customers get faster domestic delivery. The trade-off is a second stock pool to fund and forecast, an importer of record, and the risk of stock sitting in the wrong country when demand shifts. Many UK brands start by shipping direct with DDP, then move their top sellers into US stock when the same lines keep selling. Compare landed cost per unit on both routes before you commit to a US warehouse.

If your US orders are costing more than they should, or you are not sure your product data will stand up from 22 October, talk to Fulfil with Synergy about how to structure stock, customs data and returns for US customers.

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