Yep, the de minimis tariff exemption is still suspended

When the U.S. Supreme Court struck down many of President Donald Trump’s tariffs last month, it was silent on whether its ruling applied to the de minimis exemption.

That’s the longstanding rule that packages worth less than $800 could come into the U.S. duty-free. Trump suspended the de minimis exemption last summer, which meant if you ordered a $500 rug from Morocco on Etsy you would have to pay a tax on it for the first time in decades.

Not much has changed since the Supreme Court’s ruling when it comes to cheap things ordered from abroad.

Michelle Schulz, managing partner at Schulz Trade Law in Dallas, Texas, said the sweeping tariffs the president imposed on countries last spring may be gone, but many tariffs are still in place — including on those cheaper items.

“As of today, consumers, importers, everyone, still has to pay full tariffs on items that are imported that are worth under $800,” Schulz said.

Christopher Tang, a global supply chain management professor at the University of California, Los Angeles, said whether this current tariff landscape is better or worse for consumers depends on where they’re buying from.

“If you buy something from China now, on paper, the tariff is actually lower than before,” Tang said. “But if you buy something from Europe now it's actually more expensive.”

Lots of consumers are still ordering clothes and other things from abroad on sites like Shein and Temu, Tang said. That’s because even with tariffs, it’s often cheaper than shopping here.