U.S. Customs and Border Protection (CBP) has proposed requiring importers of goods valued at $2,500 or less to file entry electronically on or before the day a shipment arrives, ending the current 15-day post-arrival filing window for informal entries and extending a new process to merchandise arriving by mail.
The notice of proposed rulemaking was published Oct. 8 in the Federal Register under the title “Low-Value Shipments” and would establish a new electronic informal entry type—entry type 13—for merchandise entering through U.S. borders via an international postal network, according to CBP.
Low-value shipments that arrive as cargo will continue to be designated as entry type 11 filings, which represent general informal entry for merchandise valued at $2,500 or less.
Comments on the proposal are due on or before Dec. 7, 2026.
Informal entry type 11 accounted for 52,450,418 entries between Sept. 1, 2025 and May 31, 2026, while postal entries totaled 24,427,685 over the same period, according to figures CBP published in the proposed rule.
The agency framed the proposal in the rulemaking as a response to enforcement problems that grew alongside the volume of low-value shipments, which surged after the de minimis threshold rose to $800 in 2016. The threshold was suspended for all countries Aug. 29, 2025 via executive order, with the One Big Beautiful Bill Act terminating the exemption effective July 1, 2027.
Merchandise formerly eligible for the exemption has been shifting into informal entry channels including type 11.
The mail stream drew particular attention because the informal mail entry process was a paper process that provided almost no advance entry information, according to CBP.
“CBP requires an electronic process for informal entries in order to effectively process data for purposes of validating entry information, conduct targeting in a timely and effective manner, and detect and seize illicit merchandise, such as illegal firearms, prohibited items, illicit fentanyl and other illicit drugs,” the agency wrote in the rulemaking. “Absent these proposed regulatory amendments…the sheer volume of imports in the informal entry environment would continue to hamper CBP’s efforts to process entries and enforce U.S. law.”
The earlier deadline would require a substantial shift in current filing practice, based on a random sample of 392,473 type 11 entries from September to November 2025. Only 27 percent of sampled entries were filed on or before the day of arrival, according to CBP.
Data requirements for type 11 entries would expand through a new obligation to identify the final deliver-to party, including that party’s address, when the final recipient differs from the ultimate consignee named on the entry summary.
Entry type 13 filings would require the same data as type 11 filings along with two additional elements, the shipper or sender’s name and address and the package tracking number. Carriers would have to submit the tracking number on the inward manifest as well.
CBP said the changes would bring stricter duty collection for postal entries and higher shipping costs for both entry types and would likely cause imports to fall, and it put the present value of the rule’s net cost at nearly $9.3 billion from 2026 to 2035.
The U.S. Postal Service estimates that updating its systems for entry type 13 would cost between $12 million and $20 million and take up to eight months, according to figures CBP obtained from USPS.
Mail shipments that are not properly entered within 15 days would be treated as voluntarily abandoned under the proposal, after which the Postal Service could destroy the merchandise or return it to the sender.
CBP acknowledged that USPS currently holds items for pickup for 30 days and that the tighter deadline carries the risk that some importers will not receive their shipments.
Entry type 13 also carries a nearer deadline for a subset of mail. Postal shipments subject to Section 201, Section 232 or Section 301 duties, or falling under a partner government agency, must use entry type 13 from Jan. 20, 2027 or move to formal entry, a date CBP extended from Oct. 22, 2026 under its June 24 rule suspending the de minimis exemption for mail shipments.
“CBP is focused on securing our borders and using advance data to identify threats in international mail before they reach American communities,” said Susan Thomas, executive assistant commissioner of CBP’s Office of Trade, in the agency announcement extending the January deadline. “These requirements will close gaps that have been exploited by criminals to smuggle contraband sent through international mail.”