Low-Value Shipments
Key claim: U.S. Customs would require more complete filings for imported goods worth $2,500 or less, create a new electronic informal entry for mail packages, collect extra data from carriers, and require bonds on some of those shipments.
Abstract
(Proposed Rule · Homeland Security Department, U.S. Customs and Border Protection) This document proposes to amend the U.S. Customs and Border Protection regulations to modify filing requirements for informal entries of goods valued at $2,500 or less and to establish a new electronic informal entry type for merchandise entering through the mail environment. This document also proposes other related changes such as requiring an additional data element for carriers pertaining to mail shipments and imposing bonding requirements for certain informal entries.
Why this matters
Low-value and mail shipments have historically moved under lighter filing regimes, which fueled cross-border e-commerce but also limited CBP visibility into contents, valuation, and parties. Requiring fuller informal-entry data and bonds on sub-$2,500 shipments shifts compliance cost and paperwork onto carriers and small importers, and could slow or raise the landed cost of mail-order goods. The proposal is a procedural tightening rather than a statutory rewrite of de minimis, but it signals the direction CBP is taking as the broader Section 321 regime is rolled back.