321 Clearance Via Manifest to Continue Under CBP Proposed Rule
Type 86 entries would be replaced by an "enhanced entry process" if a proposed rule becomes final, but clearing goods off the manifest via a "basic" entry process would still be possible for de minimis shipments, CBP said in a notice of proposed rulemaking scheduled for publication Jan. 14.
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The NPRM makes several other significant changes to its approach to de minimis packages. One, if an importer exceeds $800 in value in shipments in one day across multiple packages, none of the packages would be eligible for duty-free entry. Also, the ability to send packages to different employees at the same business to get around the $800 limit would no longer exist. Only the owner or buyer is considered for de minimis, not a consignee that is receiving the goods.
The regulation would also change language allowing the duty exemption from "shall" to "may," with the notice saying: "the administrative exemptions are a privilege and not an absolute right."
Importing through the mail would have to be done through the enhanced entry process.
The "basic" entry process would be quite similar to current processes for goods cleared off the manifest, except that the "ultimate consignee" would be replaced with the name and address of the final deliver-to party, if that's different from the buyer. It also would require the buyer's or owner's name because that would be who the $800 limit is linked to.
For the enhanced entry, CBP will require:
- Clearance tracing identification number
- Country of shipment
- HTS code (but waivers will be available for "for filers with demonstrated capabilities and histories of segmenting out goods subject to PGA requirements.")
- Either the marketplace' product listing URL, a product picture, a SKU or product code, and/or a foreign security scanning report, such as a shipment x-ray
- Seller name and address
- Purchaser name and address
- PGA data, if warranted
- Marketplace name and website
Comments on the proposed rule may be filed by March 17 at https://www.regulations.gov, via docket number USCBP-2025-0002
The notice said the administration intends to publish the other notice of proposed rulemaking, which would restrict which goods are eligible for de minimis entry, "in the coming days."
If these rules become final, they would not end the Section 321 Data Pilot. There will be changes to that pilot that will be announced in a later FR notice, the administration said.