DHL suspends B2C shipments over 800 USD until further notice
76 comments
·April 18, 2025gip
teeray
> 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.
syntaxing
So...you can't buy anything over $800 to the US now from other countries?
rietta
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.
teeray
Looks like a d/b/a will be the hot Christmas gift this year.
cantrecallmypwd
It only costs about $300 to register a Delaware LLC.
jjfoooo4
That might work until too many people figure it out, then the constraint will be put on business too
cantrecallmypwd
Someone will probably turn this into a service to make it more convenient.
londons_explore
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.
londons_explore
Reading between the lines, it's pretty clear they're telling everyone to declare values as $799.
tpm
that exemption will expire in 2 weeks
anamax
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.
flyflewflaw
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.
h05sz487b
Bye bye USA. Was nice trading with you.
master_crab
Wouldn’t be surprised if UPS and FedEx follow suit. The frequently shifting tariff silliness is forcing companies to sit things out.
AStonesThrow
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.
terribleperson
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.
Aurornis
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.
tempest_
Many people do not even know where their order originates.
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phil21
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.
ummonk
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.
wffurr
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.
throwaway36834
$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...
colingauvin
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...
collingreen
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.
Aurornis
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.
ummonk
That’s tariffs. Goods under $800 have de minimis exemption from tariffs.
Aurornis
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.
TechDebtDevin
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.
throwaway36834
> 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...
occz
It's getting removed too, on 2025-05-02, unless amended.
rietta
How does a home-based business demonstrate their business bona fides here? Having a business account with DHL? Having a business name?
TechDebtDevin
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.
throw310822
"there are 50 million new startups! The economy is doing great, we made American great again!" /s
cantrecallmypwd
DUNS number and/or EIN.
hsbauauvhabzb
Please as ‘shipments to the US’ in the title. DHL operates globally and the title is misleading.
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cantrecallmypwd
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.
Arainach
>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.
zombiwoof
The maga destruction continues
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.