The U.S. de minimis exemption remains suspended, per an executive order from President Donald Trump on Friday, despite a Supreme Court ruling experts say raised fresh questions about the suspension's future.
Before Trump removed the exemption via executive order last August, de minimis allowed shipments of less than $800 to enter the country duty and tax free, helping enable cost-effective parcel shipping for e-commerce marketplaces and merchants. The White House said in a 2025 fact sheet it eliminated the exemption to crack down on drug trafficking and instances of importers avoiding tariffs.
Trump's executive order last year ending de minimis noted that the International Emergency Economic Powers Act, along with other laws, gave him the authority to do so. The Supreme Court ruled Friday that tariffs issued under the IEEPA were unconstitutional. However, Trump's order issued the same day said the original de minimis elimination is not affected by changes to the validity of IEEPA tariffs imposed in previous actions.
The court's ruling did not mention the de minimis exemption, if the IEEPA authorized the trade tool's elimination or if the Trump administration's order was unconstitutional, noted Nick Baker, co-lead of Kroll's trade and customs practice, in an interview with Supply Chain Dive. But prior to Trump's Friday order, Baker said he feels de minimis should be covered by the ruling, as the suspension used IEEPA to open the door for tariffs to apply to imports that previously could have avoided them.
Tariffs, including those installed under the IEEPA, have applied to all low-cost imports after the U.S. ended the de minimis exemption. Last year's order also mandated that postal packages must be assessed either a duty equal to IEEPA tariffs or an $80-to-$200 fee based on the IEEPA rate.
Trump's more recent order changed how postal duties are assessed. Now, transportation carriers or other qualified parties must collect and remit a duty equal to the 10% global tariff announced Friday on goods sent via the postal system. Trump recently signaled he would raise the global tariff to 15%, but hasn't issued official documentation on the matter as of Monday morning.
The new postal duty will take effect Tuesday. It will stay in place until the global tariff expires — up to 150 days from its effective date — "or until the effective date of the new entry process for postal shipments established by CBP, whichever date occurs first," per the order.
Irina Vaysfeld, principal in KPMG's trade and customs practice, said while the Supreme Court's ruling doesn't invalidate Trump's de minimis suspension, it could influence the outcome of ongoing litigation related to the exemption's future.
In Axle of Dearborn, Inc. v. Department of Commerce, the plaintiff argues the IEEPA doesn't allow Trump to override de minimis. The court denied the plaintiff's motion for a preliminary injunction on July 28 and stayed the case until V.O.S. Selections, Inc. v. Trump — one of the consolidated suits the Supreme Court ruled on Friday — was resolved.
"There are competing legal arguments: On one hand, the SCOTUS logic that IEEPA cannot be used to impose tariffs could be extended to mean it cannot be used to revoke a tariff exemption, which has a similar effect," Vaysfeld said in an email. "However, a counter argument is that the President did not impose a ‘new’ tax but merely removed a discretionary administrative exemption, potentially using authority granted by a different statute."
Even if de minimis was revived through the courts, it would be a short-lived stint due to legislation signed last year that put the exemption on the chopping block in July 2027, Kroll's Baker said.
