For years, international mail was the lighter-touch way to get low-value parcels into the United States. That lane is now closed. On June 24, 2026, U.S. Customs and Border Protection published two interim final rules that codify the indefinite suspension of the $800 de minimis exemption and build an entirely new entry process for mail. The mail rule takes effect July 24, 2026. The companion rule for every other mode took effect the day it published, June 24.
Short version for FlavorCloud merchants: if any of your US-bound volume still moves through the international postal network on the assumption that it carries lighter documentation than courier or express, that assumption no longer holds. Postal now needs real entry data, a bond, and duty paid on schedule.
Until now, the postal suspension ran on a series of executive orders rather than codified CBP regulation. These interim final rules lock it into the regulations and signal a long-term posture: CBP will keep the exemption suspended until it decides the exemption no longer jeopardizes revenue or facilitates unlawful imports.
The practical effect: all imports valued at $800 or less that used to enter duty-free now need an appropriate entry and are subject to applicable duties, taxes, and fees, whatever mode they arrive on.
For mail shipments valued at $2,500 or less moving through the streamlined postal informal entry process, the filer now has to provide:
Payment is due no later than the 7th day of the month following the shipment's arrival.
One structural point that catches merchants off guard: the filer has to be the owner, purchaser, or a licensed customs broker. If you ship into the US by mail and do not have a broker relationship in place, that is the gap to close before the deadline.
Duty is assessed ad valorem on the declared value and collected by the carrier or a CBP-approved qualified party. The temporary flat, per-package option ended February 28, 2026, so ad valorem is the only method available now.
The streamlined postal process is not for everything. Goods subject to antidumping or countervailing duties and quotas are excluded from the simplified postal process and have to move through formal entry or Entry Type 13. The same goes for goods subject to Partner Government Agency (PGA) requirements. PGA covers any product that answers to a non-CBP federal agency, such as the FDA, FCC, or EPA, because those items need product compliance review and approval from the regulating agency on top of CBP's import review. CBP is phasing this in: PGA-regulated goods can still use the postal informal process until October 22, 2026, and are excluded from it after that date. October 22, 2026 is also the compliance date for the substantive postal requirements.
CBP is also running a voluntary electronic test, Entry Type 13, that launches in production on September 22, 2026 and runs indefinitely. It lets importers and brokers file mail shipments of $2,500 or less directly in CBP's Automated Commercial Environment (ACE) with full shipment-level data: classification, origin, value, duty calculation, and bond information. Entry Type 13 is not available for goods subject to antidumping or countervailing duties, quotas, or Partner Government Agency requirements. Those still move through standard formal entry. CBP has framed Type 13 as the step toward bringing mail into full parity with every other import channel, which tells you where this is going.
Postal was the last channel where lighter documentation was a real cost advantage. That advantage is gone, and the enforcement gap between mail and courier is closing on a fixed timeline. This is the same pattern showing up across every market: EU customs reform, shifting de minimis treatment, new electronic filing mandates. The rules keep multiplying, and the cost of a manual workaround keeps rising.
That is the barrier FlavorCloud exists to remove. As the AI-native Cross-Border Commerce OS, we act as importer of record across 220+ countries, generate and file the required customs documentation, post the bond, and keep regulated shipments moving so compliance stops being the thing that caps your international growth. Most brands earn 10 to 20% of revenue overseas. The ones that win globally reach 40 to 60%, and they get there because compliance is handled, not feared.
The postal shortcut is closed. The compliant path is not, and it is the one that compounds.
Not sure which of your flows still ride the postal network? Reach out to your FlavorCloud team and we will map them against the new requirements.