De minimis is the customs concept that says shipments below a certain value aren’t worth the government’s time to formally process. Each country sets its own threshold and its own treatment. The US Section 321 threshold was $800 (suspended for commercial ecommerce on August 29, 2025). Canada’s CUSMA de minimis is CAD $40 for duty and CAD $150 for tax on shipments from the US and Mexico. The EU eliminated its de minimis entirely on July 1, 2021, with VAT now owed from the first euro.
How it works in practice
Before the US suspension, a typical de minimis flow looked like this: a Toronto-based brand fulfills a $75 order to a Boston customer, the parcel crosses the border with a simple manifest, no duty is collected, and the customer receives it within 4-5 days. Post-suspension, that same parcel requires formal entry, HS classification, and payment of any applicable duty plus Section 122 surcharge. For Canada-bound orders from US warehouses, the CUSMA threshold still applies: $40 for duty-free, $150 for tax-free, and orders above either threshold trigger collection at the border or at the door.
Why it matters
De minimis policy is the single biggest determinant of cross-border ecommerce economics. A working de minimis regime lets brands operate single-node fulfillment across a border. A suspended or low de minimis forces brands to either pay duty on every order or build inventory in-country. The difference between those two operating models is usually 3-8 percentage points of gross margin.
Common misconceptions
- De minimis is not the same in every country. The US, Canada, Mexico, EU, UK, and Australia all set different thresholds.
- De minimis does not waive the customer’s responsibility for prohibited or restricted goods.
- “Personal use” de minimis and “commercial” de minimis are different categories in most jurisdictions.