I thought it would be helpful to put together a summary of where things stand based on current, known information.
Glossary
CPC - Canada Post Corporation
CBP - US Customs and Border Protection
EO - Executive Order
DDU - Delivery Duty Unpaid
DDP - Delivery Duty Paid
IPU - International Postal Union
CBS - Cross border shipper
ISC - International Service Center
IEEPA - International Emergency Economic Powers Act
sec 321 - de minimis import rule for items valued at 800$ USD or less
Overview
Effective August 29 2025, an executive order that was issued on July 30 2025 repeals the use of section 321 entry, also known as 'de minimis' entry, for goods manufactured in any country around the world entering the US. This EO advances the timeline setout in the 'Big Beautiful Bill' for the repeal of de minimis by 2 years, as it was slated to be repealed in July 2027. In the EO, all shipments entering the US that previously entered duty free will now incur the IEEPA tariffs as set out in other EOs by the White House.
Further requirements as set out by CBP on August 15 2025, require that all low value shipments have the duty prepaid (enter DDP), no matter who is the carrier, service, etc. That includes all transport companies, CBS services, couriers, and International Postal shipments - this includes Canada Post shipments.
International Postal Shipments
Previous to these announcements and rule changes, IPU member agreements were in place where shipments arriving from postal networks were assessed duty once they arrived into the US at USPS ISC facilities by CBP, where CBP would assess each shipment, one by one for any duties owing and collect them from the recipient as they could do so (USPS collection, direct billing, etc). However in the rule changes announced by CBP on August 15, it is EXPRESSEDLY stated that all IPU shipments entering the US must arrive DDP, all tariffs paid. Shipments that do not arrive DDP will be rejected by CBP. Therefore from the point of view of mail system shipments, there is effectively no more DDU option available where the recipient pays duties. CBP is effectively ignoring the IPU agreements on duty collection and forcing all IPU members to prepay the tariffs.
Royal Mail is implementing a system to allow prepayment of tariffs that they are announcing will be available by August 29. Various European post systems have announced that they are suspending shipments to the US until a valid, working system is in place.
For international postal shipments (such as those by Canada Post), the duty will have two possible methods of being assessed. The method used can be changed once a month by each carrier, for 6 months. After which the ad valorem rate must be assessed and collected.
Method 1:
The IEEPA ad valorem rate as published by CBP based on the country of origin (e.g. UK = 10%, CN = 30%)
Method 2:
A flat rate based on the current IEEPA ad valorem rate per country as follows:
Countries with an effective IEEPA tariff rate of less than 16 percent: $80 per item
Countries with an effective IEEPA tariff rate between 16 and 25 percent (inclusive): $160 per item
Countries with an effective IEEPA rate above 25 percent: $200 per item
If products from multiple countries of origin are contained within the package, the highest IEEPA rate will be used to determine the specific duty rate.
To date at the time of this post, there has been no specific announcement from Canada Post as to what they are intending to implement regarding the situation.
Couriers (CBS providers, UPS, FedEx, Etc)
In the case of couriers (CBS providers included), all shipments will be DDP via entry type 11. Type 11 shipments reduce the documentation requirements and support low value shipments as compared to formal entry types, however duties/tariffs must be collected before arrival into the US. As well these type of shipments require a bond, and more information than the previous sec 321 entry type such as HTS codes, manufacturer name, manufacturer address and country of origin. Brokerage is now required for packages entering via couriers, who use the CBP ACE system.
Couriers also charge brokerage fees (these vary widely, from less than 5$ for CBS providers to much higher prices by UPS, FedEx, etc). In the case of UPS, they do offer a DDU option where they will ATTEMPT to collect duties on delivery to the recipient. However the very nature of the entry of goods into the US by these couriers via type 11 means they have prepaid the duty to the US government on their own dime before entering the US with the shipment. If the recipient declines to pay the duty and brokerage fees, the courier will attempt to regain all the costs including duty and brokerage fees from the shipper. This is due to the fact that since the duties are in place via the IEEPA declarations they CANNOT be withdrawn and returned to the original payer of the tariffs.
As well, shipments sent DDP via couriers will be subject to ALL tariffs, not just the ad valorem tariff rate per country. So if there are tariffs in place against unfair trade practices (such as the section 301 tariffs against China), they will stack with the IEEPA tariffs per country. And, any existing tariffs on products will also stack.
-- For example --
Men's cotton t-shirt (HTS code 6205.20.20.67) made in China:
Section 301 tariff for specific Chinese products - 7.5%
Base tariff for cotton products - 19.7%
IEEPA tariff for China - 30%
Total tariff - 57.2%
Remarks
In information transmitted to Royal Mail, by CBP it seems that shipments sent via international postal networks will only have the country specific IEEPA tariff applied. This is not confirmed.
Most CBS providers have announced they will be continuing to carry parcels via DDP, and are working on details regarding other factors/regulations such as CUSMA compliant shipments, possible products that may still be able to ship as sec 321 (such as books, CDs, etc). As well no other guidance to date has been given by UPS, FedEx, or any of the other major carriers how they will be proceeding.
Links
Executive order https://www.whitehouse.gov/presidential-actions/2025/07/suspending-duty-free-de-minimis-treatment-fo...
CBP rules on international postal shipments (open the PDF link at the bottom of the page) https://content.govdelivery.com/bulletins/gd/USDHSCBP-3ee147f?wgt_ref=USDHSCBP_WIDGET_2
HTS code finder https://www.tariffinder.ca/en/getStarted
Tariff estimator by ClearIt https://admin.clearitusa.com/page/estimate_calculator
Royal Mail announcements https://www.royalmail.com/usabusinessupdates
European mail announcement https://www.euractiv.com/section/politics/news/european-postal-operators-halt-us-parcel-shipments-ov...
