Shipping to USA from UK: New Rules 2026 (De Minimis Ended)

Q: What is the US de minimis suspension?

The US de minimis suspension is the removal of the $800 duty-free import threshold (Section 321 of the Tariff Act of 1930) by Executive Order 14324, "Suspending Duty-Free De Minimis Treatment for All Countries." It means low-value parcels that used to enter the US duty-free now clear formal customs and pay import duty. It applies to every origin country, including the UK — not just China or specific trade partners.

Q: Does the end of de minimis affect UK senders?

Yes. Any UK business or individual sending goods to a US address is affected. A £40 t-shirt that used to arrive duty-free now attracts US import duty (roughly £6–£13 depending on HS code), plus an origin-based tariff surcharge — 10% for UK-made goods. If you ship non-DDP, the American buyer is billed that duty plus a $5–15 carrier handling fee at the door — which is why 15–35% of parcels get refused.

Q: Do I have to use DDP to ship to the USA now?

DDP (Delivered Duty Paid) isn't legally mandatory, but it's the only practical option. The alternative — DDU, where the buyer pays duty at the door — causes refused parcels, chargebacks and bad reviews. Under-declaring value to dodge duty is customs fraud. With DDP the duty is calculated and pre-paid at checkout so your buyer pays nothing on delivery. Read our full explainer at /what-is-ddp.

Q: What is the average US import duty rate from the UK?

There is no single flat rate — duty is charged ad valorem (a percentage of declared value) set by the product’s HS/HTS code, ranging from 0% on some books to 30%+ on some apparel and footwear. On top of that, an origin-based tariff surcharge applies: 10% for UK-made goods, 12.5% for most other origins (the July 2026 successor to the expired Section 122 baseline). Use our /uk-to-us-duty-calculator to get the exact figure for your product.

Q: What is the Section 122 surcharge?

Section 122 of the Trade Act of 1974 let the US impose a temporary across-the-board surcharge on imports to address balance-of-payments pressures — it applied at 10% (universal) from 24 February 2026 on top of normal HS-code ad valorem duty on UK→US shipments. It expired at its 150-day statutory limit on 24 July 2026 with no Congressional extension. USTR replaced it the same day with a forced-labour Section 301 surcharge — 10% for UK-made goods, 12.5% for most other origins — still additive on top of HS-code duty. The new surcharge has no built-in expiry, but it remains under legal challenge in US courts, so TradeWind reads live tariff data at quote time rather than relying on a fixed percentage.

Q: Does de minimis ending affect Royal Mail parcels?

Yes. Royal Mail International services to the US are subject to the same post-de-minimis rules as any other carrier. From 29 August 2025 to 28 February 2026, postal-network parcels were charged a simplified flat fee of $80–$200 per shipment. From 28 February 2026 onwards, they are billed at full ad valorem duty — a percentage of declared value, calculated per shipment by HS code. UK sellers who used to ship Royal Mail Tracked to the US duty-free can no longer do so.

Q: Is there any legal way to avoid US import duty?

No, not legally. Under-declaring the value of a parcel to lower the duty is customs fraud and can result in seizure, fines, and criminal liability. The right approach is to use a DDP service that pre-pays the correct duty at checkout, factor that cost into your retail pricing, and be transparent with the buyer about the all-in landed cost. Some products with low duty rates (e.g. books, certain handicrafts) face minimal impact; apparel and footwear carry material costs that need pricing in.

Last updated: July 2026

What changed on 29 August 2025 (and the tariff surcharge since)

The US $800 de minimis exemption ended on 29 August 2025 under Executive Order 14324. Low-value UK→US parcels no longer clear customs duty-free: every shipment now pays ad valorem import duty set by its HS code, plus an origin-based tariff surcharge on top — 10% for UK-made goods, 12.5% for most other origins (the July 2026 successor to the expired Section 122 baseline). A simplified $80–$200 flat fee bridged postal parcels until 28 February 2026; since then, all carriers bill full duty. In practice, if you ship to the USA from the UK you now need DDP (Delivered Duty Paid) so the buyer pays nothing at the door.

Short version, July 2026: if a UK→US parcel doesn't ship DDP (duty pre-paid), 15–35% of American buyers refuse it at the door once they're handed a $5–15 USPS brokerage fee plus the duty itself. UPS Worldwide Economy DDP via TradeWind (from £12.80 all-in) beats Royal Mail International PDDP (£19–£24 all-in) for most ecommerce parcels. The longer version below explains how we got here.

Start here — the 2026 US shipping rules hub:

UK→US duty calculator — exact duty by HS code
What is DDP? — Delivered Duty Paid, explained
UPS Worldwide Economy DDP — house rates from £12.80
UK→US customs guide — paperwork & HS codes

$800 → $0

Duty-free threshold

29 Aug 2025

EO 14324 in effect

+10%

UK tariff surcharge

100%

Need DDP now

Before 29 August 2025: the duty-free era

Any UK→US parcel valued at £0–$800 USD cleared US customs automatically, duty-free, with minimal paperwork. A £40 cotton t-shirt cost you £8–10 in carriage and nothing else; the buyer paid nothing at the door. It was simple. It also meant the US government collected zero import duty on millions of parcels from low-cost sellers, which drove the policy change.

What changed and when

29 August 2025 — Executive Order 14324

Executive Order 14324, titled "Suspending Duty-Free De Minimis Treatment for All Countries," was signed on 30 July 2025 and took effect on 29 August 2025. It suspended the $800 duty-free threshold (Section 321 of the Tariff Act of 1930) for parcels arriving in the US through commercial carriers (UPS, FedEx, DHL, etc.). For postal-network shipments (Royal Mail / USPS / La Poste), it introduced a simplified flat-fee regime: parcels below $800 paid either $80, $160, or $200 per shipment depending on the country-of-origin tariff bracket.

For UK sellers, the practical effect was immediate: every UPS, FedEx, or DHL parcel to the US suddenly required formal customs entry and ad valorem duty calculation. Royal Mail kept the simplified flat-fee path open, but UK-origin shipments were billed $80 per parcel — far above the previous duty-free position.

The Section 122 surcharge — and what replaced it in July 2026

Alongside the end of de minimis, a Section 122 baseline surcharge (Section 122 of the Trade Act of 1974 — a temporary across-the-board charge to address balance-of-payments pressure) applied on top of the normal HS-code ad valorem duty for UK→US shipments from 24 February 2026. It expired at its 150-day statutory limit on 24 July 2026, with no Congressional extension. USTR replaced it the same day with a forced-labour Section 301 surcharge — 10% for UK-made goods, 12.5% for most other origins — still additive on top of HS-code duty, and with no statutory expiry (though it remains under legal challenge in US courts). Because rates can still move, TradeWind calculates duty from live tariff data at the moment you quote rather than baking in a fixed percentage. See the exact figure for your product with the UK→US duty calculator, and the paperwork side in the UK→US customs guide.

28 February 2026 — flat fees end

The simplified flat-fee regime for postal-network parcels expired on 28 February 2026. From that date forward, every parcel into the US — postal or commercial — must clear customs with full ad valorem duty calculated by HS code. The $80 per-Royal-Mail-parcel flat fee that gave UK sellers some predictability through autumn and winter 2025 is gone.

May 2026 — Royal Mail fuel surcharge increase

From 3 May 2026, Royal Mail's Fuel and Energy Surcharge increased from 11% to 16% on domestic services and from 6.5% to 12% on international. Parcelforce Worldwide's surcharge rose from 8% to 13%. These changes — driven by global oil-price instability — further erode any cost advantage the UK postal network used to have over commercial carriers like UPS.

What this means for UK sellers in practice

Pre-de-minimis (spring 2025): £40 cotton t-shirt via Royal Mail Tracked 48 cost you £8.99 carrier fee, no duty (under $800 threshold). Buyer paid nothing at the door. Total seller cost: ~£9.

Post-de-minimis (May 2026), same parcel, three options:

Royal Mail International Tracked (non-DDP): £8.99 base + 12% fuel surcharge = £10.07. Buyer invoiced for ~£6.50 US import duty (16.5% of £40) + $5–15 USPS handling fee at the door. Parcel refusal rate: 20–30%. Seller refunds and return shipping costs often exceed original margin.
Royal Mail International PDDP (DDP): £19 all-in (includes 12% fuel + pre-paid duty). Buyer receives with zero door charge. Reliable. 5–7 working days.
UPS Worldwide Economy DDP via TradeWind (DDP): £12.8-£15.5 all-in (includes pre-paid duty from USITC HS code lookup). Free drop-off at UPS Access Point. 4–7 working days. Buyer pays zero at door.

For most parcels, the UPS WWE DDP option is now the cheapest and cleanest experience for both seller and buyer.

Why DDP is the only sensible choice now

There are three ways to handle US import duty on a UK→US parcel: pre-pay it at shipping (DDP — Delivered Duty Paid), let the buyer pay at the door (DDU — Delivered Duty Unpaid), or under-declare the value to dodge it (customs fraud, illegal).

DDU is increasingly impractical because:

USPS now charges a $5–15 brokerage/handling fee on every duty-paying parcel. Buyers see this on top of the duty itself and often refuse to pay.
Buyers who didn't expect the charge often blame the seller — bad reviews, refund requests, returns.
Refused parcels return to the UK at the seller's cost, often after weeks of customs storage.

Under-declaring is illegal and increasingly enforced. CBP has substantially expanded inspection of parcels post-EO 14324, and penalties scale with parcel volume. Don't.

DDP is the only option that's both legal and provides a clean buyer experience. The only question is which DDP service to use.

Choosing your DDP shipping option

The two main DDP options for UK sellers shipping to the US:

Royal Mail International PDDP

Royal Mail's "Parcels Delivered Duty Paid" service, accessible directly through Royal Mail Click & Drop or via the Post Office counter. Currently priced at £13.50 (0–1kg) and £17.50 (1–2kg) reseller rates, plus 12% international fuel and pre-paid duty. Tracked end-to-end. Drop off at a Post Office.

Pros: Familiar to UK sellers. Many people already have a Click & Drop account.
Cons: Limited weight range (up to 2kg). Slower transit (5–7 working days). More expensive than UPS WWE DDP for most parcel sizes.

UPS Worldwide Economy DDP

UPS's economy international service with all duty pre-paid. Available to UK sellers via TradeWind's UPS Worldwide Economy DDP (no UPS contract required) at reseller rates from £12.80. Currently from ~£13 for small parcels, scaling to ~£101 for 30kg. Drop off at any UPS Access Point shop.

Pros: Almost always cheaper than Royal Mail PDDP. Wider weight range (up to 30kg). Better tracking integration. Cleaner customs paperwork (UPS handles the import-of-record process).
Cons: Drop-off only (no collection in the entry-level service). Comparable transit to Royal Mail (4–7 working days).

How TradeWind handles post-de-minimis DDP

TradeWind resells UPS Worldwide Economy DDP labels to UK sellers. No UPS contract, no monthly fee. Quote, pay (card/Apple Pay/Google Pay/PayPal), print, drop at any UPS Access Point (5,000+ UK locations). We automate:

HS code & duty lookup: Contents description matched to USITC Harmonized Tariff Schedule. Duty calculated as percentage of declared value, plus an origin-based tariff surcharge (10% for UK-made goods, 12.5% for most other origins). Locked in before payment.
Customs paperwork: Commercial invoice and CBP customs declaration generated from inputs. Attached to parcel in clear pouch.
Customs entry: UPS files formal entry with US Customs electronically before parcel reaches US border. Pre-paid duty status clears parcel to final-mile network (USPS/UPS) without buyer intervention.
Tracking & alerts: Public tracking page at tradewind.express/track/[ID]. Email alerts at dispatch, customs clearance, delivery.

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Frequently asked questions

When did US de minimis end?

The $800 US de minimis exemption ended on 29 August 2025 under Executive Order 14324 (commercial carriers). A simplified $80–$200 flat fee bridged postal-network parcels until 28 February 2026; since then every UK→US parcel is billed full ad valorem duty by HS code, whatever the carrier.

What is the US de minimis suspension?

It's the removal of the $800 duty-free import threshold (Section 321 of the Tariff Act of 1930) by EO 14324. Low-value parcels that used to enter the US duty-free now clear formal customs and pay duty. It applies to every origin country, including the UK.

Does the end of de minimis affect UK senders?

Yes — any UK business or individual sending to a US address. A £40 t-shirt that arrived duty-free now attracts roughly £6–£13 duty plus an origin-based tariff surcharge — 10% for UK-made goods. Ship non-DDP and the buyer is billed that duty plus a $5–15 handling fee at the door.

Do I have to use DDP to ship to the USA now?

It isn't legally mandatory, but it's the only practical option. DDU (buyer pays at the door) causes refused parcels and chargebacks; under-declaring is fraud. With DDP the duty is pre-paid at checkout so the buyer pays nothing on delivery.

What is the average US import duty rate from the UK?

There's no single flat rate — duty is ad valorem, set by HS/HTS code (0% on some books to 30%+ on some apparel and footwear). On top of that, an origin-based tariff surcharge applies: 10% for UK-made goods, 12.5% for most other origins (the July 2026 successor to the expired Section 122 baseline). Get the exact figure with our UK→US duty calculator.

What is the Section 122 surcharge?

A temporary across-the-board import surcharge (Section 122 of the Trade Act of 1974) that applied on top of normal HS-code duty on UK→US shipments from 24 February 2026. It expired at its 150-day statutory limit on 24 July 2026 and was replaced the same day by a forced-labour Section 301 surcharge — 10% for UK-made goods, 12.5% for most other origins — still additive on top of HS-code duty. The new surcharge has no built-in expiry but remains under legal challenge, so TradeWind reads live tariff data at quote time rather than a fixed percentage.

Does de minimis ending affect Royal Mail parcels?

Yes. From 28 February 2026, Royal Mail International services to the US are billed full ad valorem duty per shipment. There's no postal-network exemption.

Is there any legal way to avoid US import duty?

No. Under-declaring is customs fraud. The right answer is to use a DDP service, factor duty into your retail pricing, and be transparent with the buyer about the all-in landed cost.

Sources

This article is provided for general guidance to UK ecommerce sellers. It is not legal or tax advice. Rates and rules change; verify current rates with the linked primary sources before making business decisions.