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Regulatory Radar · United States · Customs

US mail clears as a full import: Entry Type 13 mandatory from 20 January

In force · updated 14 October 2026 · reviewed 23 October 2026 · North America
Next date: 7 Dec 2026

CBP suspended the $800 de minimis exemption indefinitely for all modes on 24 June 2026. Since 24 July, mailed goods worth $2,500 or less clear through a new postal informal entry that only the owner, the purchaser or a licensed customs broker they designate may file, with a customs bond, a 10-digit tariff classification per item and duty paid through Pay.gov by the 7th of the following month. The electronic version, Entry Type 13, has run as a voluntary test since 22 September; on 14 October CBP moved its mandatory date for mail subject to Section 201, 232 or 301 duties or to partner agency rules from 22 October 2026 to 20 January 2027, and a proposed rule published on 8 October would make Entry Type 13 permanent, with a bond for every filer and abandonment of mail not entered within 15 days.

For a parcel Every mailed item into the United States now needs a named filer, a bond, a 10-digit classification, origin and value, so clearance becomes a per-item cost on top of the duty.

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Who it hits

Foreign postal operatorsLicensed customs brokersCross-border marketplaces and sellersUSPS

What to prepare

  • Use the delay to the 20 January deadline to secure a filing position: a licensed broker with a continuous bond, or a partner that holds one, and move test volumes onto Entry Type 13 before the deadline rather than after peak
  • Make item-level data (10-digit code, origin, verified value) a condition of induction for US-bound mail, and flag food, cosmetics and other agency-regulated goods separately
  • Price US-bound mail as landed cost per item, with duty, filing and advancement fees shown to the shipper

Our reading

The move to 20 January takes the deadline out of peak, which lowers the risk of holds this quarter, but the proposed rule (net cost put by CBP at about $9.3 billion over 2026 to 2035 at a 3% discount rate) shows the direction: bonded, electronic, per-item clearance for all mail. Because foreign posts can no longer file, clearance margin moves to whoever holds the broker licence and the customer data.
End of de minimisUS-China truce

Sources

  1. Indefinite Suspension of the De Minimis Exemption for Mail Shipments and New Postal Informal Entry Process · Federal Register (CBP) · 2026-06-24
  2. Test of the New Electronic Informal Entry Process for Mail · Federal Register (CBP) · 2026-06-24
  3. U.S. CBP indefinitely suspends de minimis exemption for all modes of importation; new postal entry procedures · KPMG TaxNewsFlash · 2026-06-24
  4. Prior Notice: Adding Requirement To Submit Mail Tracking Number for Articles of Food Arriving by International Mail · Federal Register (FDA) · 2025-09-25
  5. Low-Value Shipments (proposed rule, docket USCBP-2026-0298) · Federal Register (CBP) · 2026-10-08
  6. International Mail Entry Type 13 mandatory implementation date extended to Jan. 20, 2027 · U.S. Customs and Border Protection · 2026-10-14
  7. USA update: CBP extends mandatory postal Entry Type 13 to 20 January 2027 · Sterlinx Global · 2026-10-15

Information, not legal advice. Dates come from official texts or quality legal and trade press, and slip often: always check the current text before acting. Back to the full radar.

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