U.S. Customs and Border Protection has pivoted surprisingly well in handling an enormous increase in workload in 2025. Not only has the agency been tasked with a constantly shifting set of import tariffs; it has also had to apply those tariffs to billions of packages that required no assessment before, after phasing out the de minimis duty exemption for small packages earlier this year.

But the story might not be the same for delivery companies responsible for getting those packages to their end recipients. “For carriers, this is new for them — the declarations and the process of how CBP is clearing [packages],” says Rathna Sharad, CEO and co-founder of FlavorCloud, a cross-border shipping management platform. “Some carriers are better than others.”

The de minimis rule effectively gave a free pass to any package entering the U.S. with a value of less than $800. President Trump ended the rule on May 2 for packages coming from China – which represented the vast majority of these low-value shipments – and on August 29 for the rest of the world. In 2024, an estimated 1.2 billion packages qualified for the exception.

“CBP has not experienced any delays in cargo processing since the suspension of de minimis,” a CBP spokesperson told SupplyChainBrain. As of December 15, 2025, the CBP says, it has collected more than $1 billion in duty on shipments that would have previously entered duty-free. The agency added that it has successfully implemented more than 40 tariff-related presidential actions during the Trump administration, and “remains prepared and equipped to carry out enhanced package screenings.”

Read More: CBP Collects $1B in Duties Since End of De Minimis

It's a different story for shippers, carriers and merchants, says Sharad. Previously, on packages under the de minimis limit, “there was no customs scrutiny of any kind. You didn’t have any way of figuring out what was coming into the country or where it was from. Visibility was zero and scrutiny was zero, which was why de minimis was ended in the first place – for national security.”

Since de minimis ended for China and Hong Kong, CBP seizures of unsafe and non-compliant low-value goods have increased by 82%, the agency said in a December 15 press release. These included counterfeits, narcotics, faulty electronics and goods containing hazardous chemicals.

Now, every package entering the U.S. has to be declared, “which is a very big technical challenge — for shippers for carriers, for merchants [and] for everyone involved in that process,” Sharad explains. That means submitting an exact description of every component of what’s in a shipment, including what it’s made of and where it comes from, along with a 10-digit Harmonized Tariff System (HTS) code. “Nobody had to bother with that before, which is why all these postal carriers have stopped [serving the U.S.], because they simply don’t have the means,” says Sharad, citing Australia Post, the U.K.’s Royal Mail and Deutsche Post/DHL, among others that have suspended or restricted parcel service to the U.S. because of all the confusion.

“Shipping across borders has become increasingly complex, as new regulations have heightened the importance of accurate documentation when a shipment is created,” said a FedEx spokesperson, in response to a request for explanation as to why a package sent to this reporter from the U.K. was marked as “cleared” by customs at Newark, New Jersey, but then disappeared from FedEx’s tracking system for six days. “Incomplete or inaccurate information can lead to clearance delays, adding cost and frustration for shippers and their customers.”

FedEx says it is employing artificial intelligence to help guide customers through the international shipping process, ensure that documentation is complete, and streamline the customs clearance process to keep shipments moving smoothly. “We are also closely monitoring all developments and responsibly adjusting our network to meet demand,” the spokesperson said. “We encourage individuals and businesses with shipments coming into the U.S. — even experienced shippers — to consult fedex.com/tariffs for tools and the latest guidance on regulatory requirements.”

“CBP has been able to process things in a relatively straightforward way, if the paperwork is all correct,” says Sharad, saying delays at customs have remained around one to two days — about what it has been before. 

“The nature of our mission and the ever-evolving threats and challenges we face requires us to remain nimble and adapt quickly as we maintain seamless operations,” concluded the spokesperson for CBP. “CBP remains well-positioned to process these shipments without delay.”

Sharad says CBP is doing a decent job of handling the huge increase in volume of shipments being assessed and handled. “Overall, I’m surprised that we didn’t have more issues than we have. Especially if you get the paperwork right, there are few issues.”

There’s a further complication, though. Customs collects applicable fees before releasing parcels, "and that’s not a mechanism that all carriers have,” Sharad says. She recommends shipping "delivered duty paid" to avoid further delays. Otherwise, a package can be released by customs, but the customer receiving the parcel will get a bill for the duties due.

“They were not expecting that extra $30, and that’s a problem,” says Sharad. “And if you refuse to pay, there’s a whole other problem. The carrier has to send it back to the origin country. Imagine if it’s South Korea, or Italy, or wherever — then the return shipping cost is higher than their margin, so sometimes [the recipient] makes a decision that it’s not worth shipping back, and they just destroy it.”