BREAKING: All Packages From Abroad to Be Taxed Under New Executive Order

Trump ends duty-free treatment for all international shipments under $800, from 29 August — ending decades of frictionless global e-commerce and giving U.S. Customs sweeping new powers.

What we’ll cover here:

• Executive Order: “Suspending Duty-Free De Minimis Treatment for All Countries”

• What this Executive Order does

• The legal mechanism: emergency powers

• The real world impact

• What to watch for next

• Why this hasn’t been widely reported

Dear friends

I’m interrupting my holiday prep to flag an Executive Order that demands your attention. Signed on 30 July 2025, it suspends duty-free de minimis treatment for all countries — effectively wiping out the rule that once allowed low-value imports to enter the U.S. without duties or delays.

De minimis is a trade rule that sets a value threshold — $800 — for imports to the U.S. In practice, it means that if something you order from abroad is under the value of $800, it clears customs without duties, delays, or paperwork. Although it accounts for a relatively small share of the total value of imports, de minimis trade today represents 92% of all international packages entering the U.S., with CBP processing over 1 billion packages last y…