All countries have rules about what happens if you order something online from another country. You may have to pay tax, and for larger orders there may be duty payable. In addition, there may be a handling charge.
For a long time the USA has had quite a generous scheme, whereby an individual could received up to US$800 value in shipments on any one day, regardless of which country the goods had originated from, and there would be no charges levied at all.
However back in May 2025, this exemption was removed for all shipments from China and Hong Kong. Then, at the end of July 2025, the USA announced that the scheme (known as the De Minimus scheme) would be completely suspended for ALL shipments to the USA at the end of August 2025.
So, starting from August 29th 2025, if a customer in the USA orders any item online from any other country, charges will be levied when it reaches the USA, and will likely need to be paid before the package can be delivered. It is not yet clear exactly how this will work if you order via a courier like DHL or FedEx. And there has been mention of a flat fee for items that are delivered by USPS.
There is still some uncertainty as to how all this will work, since there has not been a very long notice period. And the wording is that the De Minimus exemption has been 'suspended' not cancelled. So there may be further changes in future.
