And very soon that will apply to packages with values below $800 as the de minimis exemption is being phased out I reckon. Not exactly business-friendly, the government should be able to handle the load before enacting these rules at least.
> the government should be able to handle the load before enacting these rules at least.
No, no… that’s the point. We often think of costs in monetary values only. Costs are two-dimensional: money and time to acquire the good. This is a tariff on time.
A couple of months ago, I saw something about Temu paying the tariffs for all of their shipments to the US in bulk but still shipping them individually.
The basic idea was that they'd figure out the tariff on everything they shipped during a time period as if it was done in one shipment, pay that, and then do individual shipments.
I suspect that something like this will happen.
Of course, there will be auditing to ensure that companies don't pay tariffs on $10M worth of goods when the actual total is $100M, but that's doable.
Australian businesses collect a value added tax (called GST) on almost all sales (some exempt goods). The same tax is payable on sales in Australia and imports.
For big intl retailers the effect is as you describe, they collect and remit the tax, then their shipments are considered tax paid when imported otherwise they would be held at customs.
It probably wouldn't be that hard to audit just with data from the major payment processors.
I mean, how often is it really necessary for an ordinary consumer to directly import stuff?
The last time I imported from an overseas order, I was enthralled by a hot blonde Irish singer and buying all her CDs, but most of them were also on eBay from American sellers who already did the messy work of importing goods.
Pretty often for savvy consumers of certain product groups. It all comes from China anyways, so if you know what you're doing you can easily save 50% or more buying direct from the source vs. a reseller on Amazon. Even better if you were participating in group buys of certain items.
Cutting out the middleman is a good thing for consumers which is going away.
I’m guessing a lot of customers are being tardy in paying tariffs, leaving DHL to deal with packages that won’t clear customs. Probably a much bigger issue for B2C shipments than B2B shipments.
Nothing to do with tariffs, which is clear in the first paragraph:
Effective April 5, 2025, all shipments to the U.S. with a declared customs value over USD 800 require formal entry processing - down from the previous USD 2,500 threshold due to new U.S. Customs regulations.
$800 is the threshold for different tariff rules, so yes it is absolutely related. Those would previously have fallen under de minimis rules, but as of May 2 these are rescinded.
> All postal items containing goods described in section 2(a) of Executive Order 14195 and sent to the United States through the international postal network from the PRC or Hong Kong and transported by carriers that are valued at or under 800 dollars and that would otherwise qualify for the de minimis exemption authorized in 19 U.S.C. 1321(a)(2)(C) shall be subject to the duties described in subsection (c) of this section.
You're almost correct but in this case they are suspending shipments for over $800, not under. This doesn't appear to be caused by any changes to the de minimis rules, but rather the rules for the tier after de minimis
> Throwaway accounts are ok for sensitive information, but please don't create accounts routinely. HN is a community—users should have an identity that others can relate to.
I'm curious why "new customs regulations" makes you think "nothing to do with tariffs". I'm no expert in this space but that sounds like it can include tariffs to me, and there has been a lot of significant and fluctuating new tariff regulation.
The threshold change is part of the new tariff changes. They have removed de minimis exemptions for tariffs and require further tariff handling at lower value thresholds (the $800 threshold here)
Unfortunately that is also going away as part of the tariff laws.
Ordering even a $5 part from out of the country is now going to be very expensive due to tariffs and the brokerage fees you will be charged for them to process the tariffs.
Doing all of the paperwork and payment processing for the tariffs adds a lot of overhead so they’re going to have to make it up with extra fees.
Aliexpress already dealt with something similar years back when they had to stop using USPS for brokerage. They've got their own in-US logistics now - "SpeedX". I ordered some things this month - 9 days to my door, delivered in a consumer vehicle. I suspect within a month or maybe two of the de minimis rule going away, we will see Aliexpress start doing something like showing the additional tariffs at checkout and handling the clearance at scale.
Not that Krasnov's blockade isn't horrible, of course. It just seems primed to backfire here as well, like the rest of the destructionists' purported agenda. Underemployed people in a collapsed economy are more likely to try scrimping every last penny they can by shopping at places other than convenient-but-overpriced Amazon. I wouldn't be surprised if direct from China purchases actually went up as a proportion of sales.
Yes, but they are overhauling that. De minimis is going away for Chinese goods (and definately did give companies like ali express an unfair advantage with price conscious shoppers).
I honestly dont know how the IOT space is going to manage. Espressif microcontrollers that used to cost < $2.00 that you could slap in a security camera are going to cost $50.00 now.
I also wonder how it is going to affect the US's ability to develop their electronics industry in the long term. It's not just manufacturing and components at stake here. Many people are exposed to and learn about electronics design through less expensive Chinese products. Maybe American companies will step up and address these markets again. Maybe. Or maybe not.
Well those manufacturers rely on those compnents. Maybe Texas Instruments and the likes can takr over, but even TI has a factory in china with 3 others worldwide, but there arent many that can. Noones going to invest in these types of factories either, not on a 3 year timeline... Everything is juat going to cost a ton until people realize.
I don't think this rule will be applied only to Chinese goods. Otherwise a simple strategy for Chinese firms is to send product to another country and then to the USA.
> Today, President Donald J. Trump signed an Executive Order eliminating duty-free de minimis treatment for low-value imports from China, a critical step in countering the ongoing health emergency posed by the illicit flow of synthetic opioids into the U.S.
> All relevant postal items containing goods that are sent through the international postal network that are valued at or under $800 and that would otherwise qualify for the de minimis exemption are subject to a duty rate of either 30% of their value or $25 per item (increasing to $50 per item after June 1, 2025).
You can get an Biz entity(and anyone who shoukd have one likely already does or has been meaning to) for < $50.00 and you can bet your ass that number will be coming down as the economy falls apart. During the covid crisis I could register LLCs in Colorado for $1.00 with a yearly renewal fee.
The footgunning unravels the US economy in myriad ways with unintended consequences. Brain drain, tourism, and higher prices with stagflation are just the beginning. It will take a few months to a year, but I think the disillusionment will slowly sow the field for competency and compassion.
>I think the disillusionment will slowly sow the field for competency and compassion.
What do you mean by this, and why do you consider it plausible?
The mass media and way too many people continue to say "surely the Trump administration will see reason and admit failure" when they have NEVER ONCE done that in the last 9 years.
In the StarTrek style future you could get anything you need for free. We're just exiting the era where we were having anything we wanted for $9.99 or whatever low silly price the people in Guangdong and Dongguan were ready to accept. Is there a difference between the free and low silly price? Yes, the low silly price still makes you not-that-wasteful like the free could. Anyway, it is the end of an era.
And it wasn't just era of cheapness, it was also an era of variety, as many trinkets which were economical to produce for the whole world wouldn't be economical to produce in/for the walled tariff gardens.
This comment is silly and not a great critique of Star Trek economics.
To hack Star Trek imagine the replicator system as a transport pad and then think about who controls the transporters. Next, imagine the phaser system as a transporter pad. Now you have a critique.
> And, consumers importing amounts over $800 is probably fairly unusual.
Not true. It’s common to receive phones and laptops shipped internationally from Apple, for example.
I don’t understand why some people are searching for ways to dismiss and downplay this in these comments. DHL is doing this because the volume of processing was excessively high now that the thresholds are lower. That means a lot of packages were meeting this criteria.
> I don’t understand why some people are searching for ways to dismiss and downplay this in these comments.
"I don't do it, therefore it is unusual for it to happen in the first place."
It's very hard to take dismissive, flatly stated comments like GP's in good faith. I usually expect better from this site, but a lot has changed in the last few years.
It literally says in the notice that threshold value lowered from $2,500 to $800 caused a surge in volume of clearance processing which is why they're suspending it. They can't keep up with the volume.
Most people don't order from Printed Solid, because they've historically been more expensive than just importing a Prusa. I imagine that will change now.
Many electronic music gear purchases from small companies outside the US exceed that threshold. This is certainly going to hit the small producers in the synth and electronic music industry.
DHL for consumer mail in USA is a minor player compared to USPS, FedEx, and USPS. IIRC, they don’t even own the planes they fly here, just charter them. Those are the ones to watch for shipment suspensions.
And very soon that will apply to packages with values below $800 as the de minimis exemption is being phased out I reckon. Not exactly business-friendly, the government should be able to handle the load before enacting these rules at least.
> the government should be able to handle the load before enacting these rules at least.
No, no… that’s the point. We often think of costs in monetary values only. Costs are two-dimensional: money and time to acquire the good. This is a tariff on time.
So...you can't buy anything over $800 to the US now from other countries?
You have to satisfy the business requirement, which may be pretty easy to do. I am not sure. Just indicate it's for your side hustle business.
Looks like a d/b/a will be the hot Christmas gift this year.
It only costs about $300 to register a Delaware LLC.
Yearly maintenance costs and some states require you to also file as a foreign corporation doing business in the state.
$99 to register an LLC in Ohio and it takes about 15 minutes online through their website. Free to get a federal EIN.
IIRC - Once you file for an EIN then you also have to file state sales tax returns, even if sales are $0.
https://www.avalara.com/
(no affiliation)
With a single member LLC it is just an extra form on your personal return at least!
That might work until too many people figure it out, then the constraint will be put on business too
Someone will probably turn this into a service to make it more convenient.
You just have to ship with another carrier, not DHL.
And it is the carrier who does most of the customs work these days - government delegates most of the enforcement to carriers.
Reading between the lines, it's pretty clear they're telling everyone to declare values as $799.
that exemption will expire in 2 weeks
A couple of months ago, I saw something about Temu paying the tariffs for all of their shipments to the US in bulk but still shipping them individually.
The basic idea was that they'd figure out the tariff on everything they shipped during a time period as if it was done in one shipment, pay that, and then do individual shipments.
I suspect that something like this will happen.
Of course, there will be auditing to ensure that companies don't pay tariffs on $10M worth of goods when the actual total is $100M, but that's doable.
Australian businesses collect a value added tax (called GST) on almost all sales (some exempt goods). The same tax is payable on sales in Australia and imports.
For big intl retailers the effect is as you describe, they collect and remit the tax, then their shipments are considered tax paid when imported otherwise they would be held at customs.
It probably wouldn't be that hard to audit just with data from the major payment processors.
Bye bye USA. Was nice trading with you.
Wouldn’t be surprised if UPS and FedEx follow suit. The frequently shifting tariff silliness is forcing companies to sit things out.
I mean, how often is it really necessary for an ordinary consumer to directly import stuff?
The last time I imported from an overseas order, I was enthralled by a hot blonde Irish singer and buying all her CDs, but most of them were also on eBay from American sellers who already did the messy work of importing goods.
If you want a consumer 3d printer and you don't want to buy a Chinese printer like Creality or Bambu, you're probably importing a Prusa.
Many companies ship directly from their factories in Mexico or Canada.
Many consumers order parts internationally for hobbies or even professional products.
Just because you don’t do it doesn’t mean it’s going to negatively impact a lot of people.
Many people do not even know where their order originates.
Pretty often for savvy consumers of certain product groups. It all comes from China anyways, so if you know what you're doing you can easily save 50% or more buying direct from the source vs. a reseller on Amazon. Even better if you were participating in group buys of certain items.
Cutting out the middleman is a good thing for consumers which is going away.
I’m guessing a lot of customers are being tardy in paying tariffs, leaving DHL to deal with packages that won’t clear customs. Probably a much bigger issue for B2C shipments than B2B shipments.
Nothing to do with tariffs, which is clear in the first paragraph:
Effective April 5, 2025, all shipments to the U.S. with a declared customs value over USD 800 require formal entry processing - down from the previous USD 2,500 threshold due to new U.S. Customs regulations.
$800 is the threshold for different tariff rules, so yes it is absolutely related. Those would previously have fallen under de minimis rules, but as of May 2 these are rescinded.
> All postal items containing goods described in section 2(a) of Executive Order 14195 and sent to the United States through the international postal network from the PRC or Hong Kong and transported by carriers that are valued at or under 800 dollars and that would otherwise qualify for the de minimis exemption authorized in 19 U.S.C. 1321(a)(2)(C) shall be subject to the duties described in subsection (c) of this section.
https://www.federalregister.gov/documents/2025/04/07/2025-06...
You're almost correct but in this case they are suspending shipments for over $800, not under. This doesn't appear to be caused by any changes to the de minimis rules, but rather the rules for the tier after de minimis
And what an odd comment to use a throwaway for...
> And what an odd comment to use a throwaway for...
Certain people seem to use throwaways for every comment or spree of comments.
Those people are breaking the site guidelines:
> Throwaway accounts are ok for sensitive information, but please don't create accounts routinely. HN is a community—users should have an identity that others can relate to.
https://news.ycombinator.com/newsguidelines.html
ah, whoops
certainly strange if not conspiracy
I'm curious why "new customs regulations" makes you think "nothing to do with tariffs". I'm no expert in this space but that sounds like it can include tariffs to me, and there has been a lot of significant and fluctuating new tariff regulation.
The threshold change is part of the new tariff changes. They have removed de minimis exemptions for tariffs and require further tariff handling at lower value thresholds (the $800 threshold here)
So yes, it is related to the tariff changes.
That’s tariffs. Goods under $800 have de minimis exemption from tariffs.
Unfortunately that is also going away as part of the tariff laws.
Ordering even a $5 part from out of the country is now going to be very expensive due to tariffs and the brokerage fees you will be charged for them to process the tariffs.
Doing all of the paperwork and payment processing for the tariffs adds a lot of overhead so they’re going to have to make it up with extra fees.
Aliexpress already dealt with something similar years back when they had to stop using USPS for brokerage. They've got their own in-US logistics now - "SpeedX". I ordered some things this month - 9 days to my door, delivered in a consumer vehicle. I suspect within a month or maybe two of the de minimis rule going away, we will see Aliexpress start doing something like showing the additional tariffs at checkout and handling the clearance at scale.
Not that Krasnov's blockade isn't horrible, of course. It just seems primed to backfire here as well, like the rest of the destructionists' purported agenda. Underemployed people in a collapsed economy are more likely to try scrimping every last penny they can by shopping at places other than convenient-but-overpriced Amazon. I wouldn't be surprised if direct from China purchases actually went up as a proportion of sales.
Yes, but they are overhauling that. De minimis is going away for Chinese goods (and definately did give companies like ali express an unfair advantage with price conscious shoppers).
I honestly dont know how the IOT space is going to manage. Espressif microcontrollers that used to cost < $2.00 that you could slap in a security camera are going to cost $50.00 now.
I also wonder how it is going to affect the US's ability to develop their electronics industry in the long term. It's not just manufacturing and components at stake here. Many people are exposed to and learn about electronics design through less expensive Chinese products. Maybe American companies will step up and address these markets again. Maybe. Or maybe not.
Well those manufacturers rely on those compnents. Maybe Texas Instruments and the likes can takr over, but even TI has a factory in china with 3 others worldwide, but there arent many that can. Noones going to invest in these types of factories either, not on a 3 year timeline... Everything is juat going to cost a ton until people realize.
I don't think this rule will be applied only to Chinese goods. Otherwise a simple strategy for Chinese firms is to send product to another country and then to the USA.
> Today, President Donald J. Trump signed an Executive Order eliminating duty-free de minimis treatment for low-value imports from China, a critical step in countering the ongoing health emergency posed by the illicit flow of synthetic opioids into the U.S.
> All relevant postal items containing goods that are sent through the international postal network that are valued at or under $800 and that would otherwise qualify for the de minimis exemption are subject to a duty rate of either 30% of their value or $25 per item (increasing to $50 per item after June 1, 2025).
https://www.whitehouse.gov/fact-sheets/2025/04/fact-sheet-pr...
It's getting removed too, on 2025-05-02, unless amended.
How does a home-based business demonstrate their business bona fides here? Having a business account with DHL? Having a business name?
You can get an Biz entity(and anyone who shoukd have one likely already does or has been meaning to) for < $50.00 and you can bet your ass that number will be coming down as the economy falls apart. During the covid crisis I could register LLCs in Colorado for $1.00 with a yearly renewal fee.
"there are 50 million new startups! The economy is doing great, we made American great again!" /s
DUNS number and/or EIN.
Please as ‘shipments to the US’ in the title. DHL operates globally and the title is misleading.
The footgunning unravels the US economy in myriad ways with unintended consequences. Brain drain, tourism, and higher prices with stagflation are just the beginning. It will take a few months to a year, but I think the disillusionment will slowly sow the field for competency and compassion.
>I think the disillusionment will slowly sow the field for competency and compassion.
What do you mean by this, and why do you consider it plausible?
The mass media and way too many people continue to say "surely the Trump administration will see reason and admit failure" when they have NEVER ONCE done that in the last 9 years.
The maga destruction continues
It’s a bad era to do business in the US :(
It's a bad era to do business with the US :(
I cannot imagine the scale of the economical damage of all this...
In the StarTrek style future you could get anything you need for free. We're just exiting the era where we were having anything we wanted for $9.99 or whatever low silly price the people in Guangdong and Dongguan were ready to accept. Is there a difference between the free and low silly price? Yes, the low silly price still makes you not-that-wasteful like the free could. Anyway, it is the end of an era.
And it wasn't just era of cheapness, it was also an era of variety, as many trinkets which were economical to produce for the whole world wouldn't be economical to produce in/for the walled tariff gardens.
This comment is silly and not a great critique of Star Trek economics.
To hack Star Trek imagine the replicator system as a transport pad and then think about who controls the transporters. Next, imagine the phaser system as a transporter pad. Now you have a critique.
It doesnt apply to businesses.
And, consumers importing amounts over $800 is probably fairly unusual.
> And, consumers importing amounts over $800 is probably fairly unusual.
Not true. It’s common to receive phones and laptops shipped internationally from Apple, for example.
I don’t understand why some people are searching for ways to dismiss and downplay this in these comments. DHL is doing this because the volume of processing was excessively high now that the thresholds are lower. That means a lot of packages were meeting this criteria.
> I don’t understand why some people are searching for ways to dismiss and downplay this in these comments.
"I don't do it, therefore it is unusual for it to happen in the first place."
It's very hard to take dismissive, flatly stated comments like GP's in good faith. I usually expect better from this site, but a lot has changed in the last few years.
> consumers importing amounts over $800 is probably fairly unusual
Likely not—I have a Macbook Pro on order from the Apple Store, shipped via DHL with origin from Shanghai, and currently jammed up in Cleveland.
It literally says in the notice that threshold value lowered from $2,500 to $800 caused a surge in volume of clearance processing which is why they're suspending it. They can't keep up with the volume.
Is it unusual to buy a laptop, stereo equipment, or things for pretty much every hobby from abroad?
Can you buy a bike for less than $800? A camera (Say from Japan perhaps)? A good fountain pen from Japan, Germany or Italy?
Probably why the US lowered the de minimis exemption.
That's basically every Prusa sale unless you're buying from Printed Solid.
Wouldn't most US shipments be coming from Printed Solid? That's Prusa's US distributor.
Most people don't order from Printed Solid, because they've historically been more expensive than just importing a Prusa. I imagine that will change now.
Many electronic music gear purchases from small companies outside the US exceed that threshold. This is certainly going to hit the small producers in the synth and electronic music industry.
DHL for consumer mail in USA is a minor player compared to USPS, FedEx, and USPS. IIRC, they don’t even own the planes they fly here, just charter them. Those are the ones to watch for shipment suspensions.