North America Customs Duty

Key Takeaways

• The US eliminated its $800 de minimis exemption for all countries by August 2025, and confirmed the suspension is indefinite in June 2026.
• There is no flat-fee alternative anymore either - a transitional flat per-item fee option expired 28 February 2026.
• The general duty rate has changed multiple times through 2025-2026 amid active litigation - we review this page frequently, but don’t treat any single percentage as fixed.
• State sales tax is a separate matter, usually already shown at checkout by the seller - it’s not part of this calculator’s import-cost estimate.

Why De Minimis Disappearing Matters

For years, the $800 de minimis threshold meant most everyday online orders into the US crossed the border duty-free. That’s no longer true for anyone, from any country. China and Hong Kong lost the exemption first, in May 2025; every other country followed by the end of August 2025; and a June 2026 Federal Register notice made the suspension indefinite for all non-postal shipping modes.

A brief transitional option let postal shipments pay a flat $80-$200 fee (tiered by the origin country’s tariff rate) instead of a percentage-based duty - that option expired 28 February 2026. Every import now pays standard ad valorem (percentage-of-value) duty, with no exceptions by value.

Why the Rate Is Unusually Hard to Pin Down

Unlike the EU or UK, the US duty rate that actually applies has been unstable through active litigation: IEEPA “reciprocal” tariffs were struck down by the Supreme Court in February 2026, replaced same-day by a flat 10% surcharge under a different legal authority, which itself expired by statute in July 2026 and was replaced within the hour by Section 301 “forced-labor” tariffs at a 10-12.5% baseline covering roughly 60 countries. China frequently sits higher than that baseline due to additional pre-existing tariffs stacking on top.

We use a representative estimate for the calculator above, reviewed regularly - but if you’re making a real purchasing decision on a specific product, verify the current rate for that product’s HTS code and country of origin directly with CBP.

What Also Applies, on Top of Duty

A Merchandise Processing Fee applies to every formal or informal US customs entry, separate from and in addition to duty. Carriers also charge a disbursement fee, typically 2-3% of the duty they advance on your behalf. State sales tax, where owed, is a different problem entirely - it’s usually collected by the seller or marketplace at checkout under state economic-nexus rules, not hidden at the border like the other charges here, so this calculator doesn’t attempt to estimate it.

Canada and Mexico

Both of the USA’s North American neighbors run genuinely different systems, each with its own recent volatility:

• Canada: GST/HST (5-15%, depending on destination province) plus customs duty above a de minimis threshold that depends on where the shipment comes from - a flat CAD 20 for most countries and all postal shipments, or a much higher CAD 150 duty-free / CAD 40 tax-free ceiling for courier shipments confirmed as US or Mexico-origin under CUSMA.
• Mexico: 16% IVA, with a tiered USMCA de minimis (exempt under $50, IVA-only $50-$117) for US/Mexico-origin courier shipments, but a flat 33.5% simplified rate with no exemption at all for shipments from everywhere else - a rule that’s changed three times since January 2025 and remains actively volatile.

Frequently Asked Questions

Is there any way to import into the US duty-free now?

Not through a value-based exemption - de minimis is gone entirely, for every country of origin, with no confirmed return date.

Why does the duty rate keep changing?

Several of the legal authorities the US government has used to impose tariffs in 2025-2026 have been challenged and struck down in court, each time triggering a replacement measure under different legal grounds. This is an unusually active area of trade litigation.

Does this calculator include state sales tax?

No, by design - state sales tax varies by state and is typically already shown at checkout by the seller, unlike customs duty and fees, which are usually hidden until the parcel arrives.

Do Canada and Mexico have the same rules as the US?

No - each North American country runs its own separate system. Canada uses province-specific GST/HST with an origin-dependent de minimis (higher for confirmed US/Mexico-origin courier shipments under CUSMA). Mexico charges 16% IVA with a similar USMCA-based split, but shipments from non-USMCA countries lost their de minimis entirely in 2025. See the dedicated Canada and Mexico guides for the specifics of each.