Proč nyní každý balíček z Číny do USA potřebuje celního zprostředkovatele
Less than two years ago, a Shopify seller in Ohio could buy a phone cover from a factory in Yiwu, send it straight to a customer’s door and never care about customs. The shipment went through on a $800 exemption, no broker, no duty, no formal entrance. That world has gone. Every item coming in from China now has to go through a formal customs process, and for most firms that means working with a licensed customs broker, whether they want to or not.
In this article we’ll explain exactly what changed, why the old shortcuts don’t work anymore, what a broker truly does in this new climate and how sellers, importers and dropshippers are adapting their businesses to continue shipping economically in the second half of 2026.
The Loophole That Powered a Decade of Cross-Border E-Commerce
Central to all this is the so-called de minimis rule, a provision of the Tariff Act under Section 321 that permits shipments with a value of $800 or less to enter the United States without duty and without a formal customs entry. It was raised from $200 to $800 in 2016 and by 2024 covered more than 1.3 billion items a year – more than 90 per cent of everything coming into the US by parcel volume, with about 60 per cent of that flow coming from China.
For dropshippers, TikTok Shop merchants and Amazon sellers fulfilling directly from China, this was no small matter of ease. And it was their whole business model. A $20 item supplied in its own box cleared for free, no broker, no bond, no HTS code required on a per SKU basis. Margins were created on that assumption, pricing hardly considered what would happen if it went away.
What Actually Changed, and When
It was a contrived unwind, quicker than most importers had imagined. The order is given in the table below.
| Datum | Změna zásad | Praktický efekt |
| May 2, 2025 | De minimis exemption suspended for goods of Chinese and Hong Kong origin | Packages under $800 from China lose duty-free, paperwork-free entry |
| August 29, 2025 | De minimis suspension extended to all countries of origin | Transshipment through third countries no longer avoids the rule |
| Února 24, 2026 | Executive order maintains the global suspension under a formal trade framework | Confirms the change is a lasting policy, not a temporary enforcement spike |
| May 2, 2026 | The informal T86 clearance channel used for low-value parcels is closed | Nearly all inbound parcels must go through full formal customs entry |
| 24. června, 2026 | CBP finalizes the suspension of low-value informal entry as a standing federal regulation | Removes any expectation that the old system will return |
The biggest error smaller firms made was thinking they had more runway than they did. Many operators had expected partial enforcement to continue through 2027, given the gradual nature of previous tariff measures. Instead, the elimination occurred in a narrow eighteen month window and the T86 informal route – the method low-value parcels had relied on for years – was sealed for good in May 2026.
Why Formal Entry Changes Everything for a Small Package
Formal entry may sound like a bureaucratic technicality, but it changes the whole shipment. Now each parcel requires a designated importer of record—a legal entity responsible for the entry, such as the seller’s own US firm, a licensed customs broker acting as the seller’s agent, or a fulfilment partner authorised to submit on the seller’s behalf.
A complete 10 digit HTS categorisation is also required. The old practice of grouping products under wide six-digit identifiers that was acceptable for low-value parcels simply does not work with the Automated Commercial Environment (ACE) that CBP has in place. Get the categorisation incorrect and it’s not just a paperwork headache – it directly impacts the duty rate that is imposed, and can result in a hold or a penalty if caught in an audit.
Declared value and country of origin also come under increased scrutiny. With de minimis, you rarely got a second glance at a box for less $800. Undervaluation is becoming an issue on every cargo, regardless of value, and it is the type of trend customs agents are trained to look for. Sellers need to have paperwork that supports what they are claiming.
What a Customs Broker Actually Does in This Environment
That party is a licensed customs broker authorised to communicate with CBP on behalf of an importer. In the post-de-minimis environment, that position has gone from optional to necessary for pretty much anyone importing commercial products from China.
Practically speaking, the broker classifies the products under the appropriate HTS code, calculates and remits the duty due, files the formal entry through the Automated Commercial Environment, and controls the customs bond that secures payment to the government. CBP will flag a shipment for inspection or more documentation, and the broker is the one who answers, not the seller sitting in a warehouse thousands of miles away.
A broker also guards against costly errors—costly now, when mistakes are more expensive than they were under informal entry: misfiled classification, invoice value that does not match, incomplete country-of-origin declaration. With the old standards, a little package that contained a paperwork issue may easily get overlooked. The same mistake under formal entry may lead to a hold at the port, a fine or a shipment sent back.
The Real Cost Math: Duties, Fees, and What Is Left of Your Margin
The dollars-and-cents impact is where this shift in policy really strikes. Let’s say that a small business imports $500 worth of phone accessories from China. Under the former method, that package was cleared for free. Under the existing laws, the duty alone can easily add well over a hundred dollars for some product categories, at an effective tariff rate that can reach the mid-30s percent. Broking fees usually tack on another fifty to a few hundred dollars, depending on the complexity of the entry.
| Položka | Under the Old $800 Rule | Under Formal Entry (2026) |
| Celní papírování | Informal, often automatic | Full 10-digit HTS classification and formal entry filing |
| Duties owed | $0 below $800 | Full tariff rate applied to declared value, no threshold |
| Poplatek celního makléře | Nevyžaduje se | Roughly $50 to $300 per entry depending on complexity |
| Dovozce záznamu | Not required for most parcels | Mandatory — a US entity, broker, or authorized fulfillment partner |
| Risk of delay or hold | Nízké | Higher, especially for misclassified or undervalued goods |
Scale that over a catalogue of low-ASP products and it is easy to see why so many dropshipping models built around individual $15-$30 orders have simply stopped being sustainable in their original form. According to Universal Postal Union data quoted in recent trade news, the volume of sub-$800 shipments entering the US plummeted by around 54 percent within four months of full enforcement — about 740 million fewer parcels a year coming through the old channel.
Three Ways Businesses Are Adapting
Everyone’s experience is different, and it really depends on volume for the right approach. For brands shipping a few thousand units or more every quarter, the prevailing answer has been to move away from per-parcel shipping to bulk ocean or letecká nákladní doprava, formally clearing the items at the port in a single consolidated entry and holding inventory in a US warehouse for last-mile fulfilment. One formal entry for a whole container is far less per unit than hundreds of individual package entries.
More and more, smaller operators and dropshippers without the volume to justify a US warehouse are working with a goods forwarder that also has customs broking licensing, meaning one partner handles first-leg transportation, formal clearance and last-mile delivery as one continuous chain instead of three separate vendors that have to be co-ordinated manually.
The third group is repricing, rather than restructuring, baking the duty and broking cost into the retail price of each SKU, accepting a thinner margin on low-value items and reserving the direct-from-China parcel shipping for higher-ticket items where the fixed cost of formal entry is a smaller share of the sale price. Many operators use two or even all three of these ways concurrently on separate segments of their catalogue.
Where a Logistics Partner Like Topway Shipping Fits In
Almost anyone selling into the US market wants to become a customs compliance specialist on top of running a store, so most of the adjustment outlined above involves finding a logistical partner that already has the licensing, the bond, and the port ties in place.
Topway Shipping is located in Shenzhen, China, and has been engaged in cross-border e-commerce logistics since 2010. The founding team has more than 15 years of expertise in international freight and customs clearing, especially in the China-US trade lane. This is important here as the company does not just book ocean freight but offers services for the whole chain a formal-entry shipment now requires: first leg transport out of Chinese factories, overseas skladování on the US side, customs clearance itself and last mile delivery to the end customer.
Topway Shipping also provides flexible full-container-load and less-than-container-load ocean freight solutions to major ports around the world, giving sellers moving from parcel-by-parcel shipping to consolidated freight the ability to gradually scale up their shipment size instead of going straight from single parcels to a full container before the volume warrants it. One partner for transportation, clearing and warehousing minimises many of the coordination risks that come with separating those operations across multiple suppliers, the locale where categorisation errors and lost documents tend to arise.
Závěr
The $800 de minimis exemption is not coming back in any recognisable form, and the firms who are handling this transition efficiently are not waiting for it to. Every shipment from China now requires proper HTS classification, a designated importer of record and someone authorised to file a formal entry with US Customs and Border Protection — in practice, that means a customs broker, whether a seller hires one directly or goes through a freight forwarder that provides broking as part of a bundled service.
The cost of doing it wrong has increased considerably, from a shipment that used to sail through free of charge to one that might now be detained, penalised or delayed for a paperwork error. But the firms reading this as a structural change – rather than a transitory enforcement wave – are finding actual ways around it: combining shipments, repricing catalogues where it makes sense, and relying on logistics partners who already have the clearing infrastructure constructed. The regulations changed quickly, but there is already a playbook that works for those willing to use it.
Nejčastější dotazy
Q: Does every single package from China really need formal customs entry now?
A: Yep. The de minimis exemption for Chinese commodities was stopped in May 2025 and extended globally in August 2025, thus all commercial shipments require a formal entry irrespective of the claimed amount.
Q: Can I file customs entries myself instead of hiring a broker?
A: Technically yes, but the importer of record would need a customs bond, the correct HTS classification and to be able to continue filing through CBP’s electronic system. That is why most sellers choose to use a licensed broker or a forwarder that incorporates broking.
Q: How much does a customs broker typically charge per shipment?
A: Fees vary but are usually between $50 to $300 per entry based on the intricacy of the classification, number of line items, and whether the cargo is highlighted for additional examination.
Q: Is consolidating shipments into full-container or less-than-container loads actually cheaper?
A: For sellers that move considerable volume, sure – one official entry for a full container is typically a lot less per unit than paying broking and duty on hundreds of individual packages.
Q: Did the recent US–China tariff talks bring back de minimis?
A: No. Tariff rate changes and the de minimis suspension are on two different policy tracks. Lowering general tariff rates doesn’t mean the old duty-free level is restored.
