Amazon stopped prepping and labeling inventory for US FBA shipments on January 1, 2026, and the US has suspended the $800 de minimis duty exemption for imports from every country since August 29, 2025. If you import and sell through FBA, every shipment now goes through a customs entry and owes any applicable duty, and every unit has to reach Amazon already labeled and packaged. The setup that replaces both is bulk freight into a US prep center, a customs broker on your entries, and smaller replenishment loads into Amazon from that backstock.
Trade rules have changed several times since 2025. Everything below reflects the rules as of November 4, 2026, from the CBP, Federal Register and Amazon sources linked in each section. Confirm your own entries with a licensed customs broker.
De minimis, which let shipments worth $800 or less enter the US duty-free, was suspended for goods from China and Hong Kong on May 2, 2025 and for all countries on August 29, 2025. CBP made the suspension indefinite on June 24, 2026, and the exemption ends in law on July 1, 2027. Separately, Amazon ended US FBA prep and item labeling on January 1, 2026. For FBA sellers, low-value imports now need a customs entry and pay duty, and a prep center or your supplier has to finish every unit before it ships to Amazon.
What happened to de minimis
The $800 de minimis exemption is suspended for all countries and all shipping modes, and the law repeals it on July 1, 2027. Section 321 of US customs law used to let goods worth $800 or less, imported by one person on one day, enter without duty and with minimal paperwork. Over the past decade it became the main route for cross-border ecommerce parcels. The timeline below comes from the CBP interim final rule in the Federal Register (published June 24, 2026, checked November 4, 2026).
| Date | What happened |
|---|---|
| May 2, 2025 | Duty-free de minimis ended for goods from China and Hong Kong (Executive Order 14256). |
| July 4, 2025 | The One Big Beautiful Bill Act became law, ending the de minimis exemption from July 1, 2027. |
| August 29, 2025 | The suspension took effect for goods from all countries (Executive Order 14324, signed July 30, 2025). |
| February 20, 2026 | The Supreme Court ruled in Learning Resources v. Trump that IEEPA doesn't authorize tariffs. The ruling didn't address de minimis, and Executive Order 14388 continued the suspension the same day. |
| June 24, 2026 | CBP published rules that suspend de minimis indefinitely. The rule for international mail and its new postal informal entry process took effect July 24, 2026. |
| July 1, 2027 | The statutory repeal takes effect. |
A shipment worth $800 or less now needs a formal or informal entry and pays all applicable duties, taxes and fees, based on its tariff classification, country of origin and value (CBP e-commerce FAQ, last modified September 2, 2026, checked November 4, 2026). Informal entry is generally available up to $2,500, and formal entry is required above that. The exemptions for bona fide gifts and travelers' personal articles still exist, and neither covers inventory you bought to sell. Under the new rules, importers must also provide more detailed information on international mail shipments (CBP release, June 24, 2026).
What changed with Amazon prep
Since January 1, 2026, Amazon doesn't offer prep or item labeling for FBA shipments in the US marketplace (Amazon Selling Partner API changelog, posted July 28, 2025, checked November 4, 2026). The change covers inventory sent straight to FBA and inventory that reaches FBA through Amazon Warehousing and Distribution (AWD), Amazon Global Logistics, Amazon SEND and Supply Chain Portal. Amazon also stopped accepting "AMAZON" as the prep owner or label owner in its inbound API.
Routing stock through AWD won't get around the change. Every unit needs its FNSKU label, a poly bag and suffocation warning where required, a set label for bundles and a compliant carton before it leaves your supplier or your prep center. Sellers who shipped factory-direct and paid Amazon to finish the job now need the factory, their own team or a prep partner to do it. Our FBA prep checklist lists what Amazon checks at receiving, from unit to pallet.
The old import route and the new one
Both changes land on the same supply chain: goods made overseas and sold through FBA.
| Step | Before 2025 | Now |
|---|---|---|
| Shipping from the factory | Many small parcels, or freight straight to Amazon | Consolidated ocean or air freight into one US warehouse |
| Customs | Parcels of $800 or less cleared duty-free with little paperwork | Every shipment needs an entry and pays applicable duty |
| Prep and labeling | Amazon could label and bag units for a per-unit fee | Your supplier, your team or a prep center preps every unit |
| Where stock waits | Mostly inside FBA | Backstock at the prep center, smaller loads into FBA |
| Freight into Amazon | Small parcel or partnered carrier | Small parcel, LTL or consolidated full truckloads |
Who it hits hardest
Sellers who shipped low-value parcels from an overseas warehouse lost the duty-free, low-paperwork route entirely.
Duty and entry costs take the biggest share of the selling price on cheap items.
Sellers who counted on Amazon's prep service now need their factory, their own team or a prep partner to finish each unit.
Sellers already importing in bulk and paying duty see little change from de minimis. The prep change still applies to them.
How to adapt your import-to-FBA plan
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Recalculate landed cost per unit
Add duty for each product's tariff classification, customs broker fees, government fees and freight to the factory price. For some products the new landed cost changes which SKUs are worth carrying.
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Consolidate inbound freight
When every shipment needs an entry, fewer and larger shipments spread that cost across more units, and one ocean or air freight shipment into a US warehouse replaces dozens of parcels. We quote inbound freight for clients, including imports from overseas. Two importing brands asked us for those quotes, one shipping from China and one from Germany.
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Line up a customs broker and a bond
A licensed broker files your entries, classifies products and pays duty for you. If you import regularly, ask about a continuous bond instead of buying a single-transaction bond for each shipment.
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Land everything at one US prep center
Pick one that receives freight in bulk, inspects it, preps for FBA and fulfills your other channels from the same stock. One location keeps inventory in one pool, and a location close to many Amazon fulfillment centers shortens every trip into Amazon.
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Check every delivery against the supplier's count
A short-shipped container is easier to dispute when the count and photos exist before anything is labeled. We count each delivery against what you expected and photograph it on arrival, so a supplier shortage is on record the day it lands.
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Hold backstock and replenish FBA in smaller loads
Keep most of each import at the prep center and send Amazon what sells. Smaller loads keep you inside Amazon's capacity limits and keep less stock in FBA long enough to collect aged-inventory surcharges.
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Consolidate freight into Amazon
Smaller loads don't have to mean small parcel. A prep center that combines pallets from several sellers into full truckloads bound for the same Amazon fulfillment center lets you pay for the pallet spots you use, and less handling means fewer damaged cartons. Your cost depends on volume, lane and season.
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Plan cash flow and pricing
Duty is owed when goods enter, before a unit sells, and larger shipments tie up more cash in inventory. Build both into your reorder plan, then decide which products absorb the higher cost, which get a price increase and which you'll stop selling.
What the new setup looks like
Goods leave the factory in consolidated freight, clear customs through a broker and land in bulk at a US prep center close to Amazon's network. The prep center receives and inspects them, holds the backstock, preps what's going to Amazon, sends it in smaller and more frequent loads, and fills website and marketplace orders from the rest.
This setup takes more planning than factory-direct to FBA, and it holds up better. Supplier problems get caught before they reach Amazon, smaller replenishment keeps storage fees and aged-inventory surcharges down, and you still have stock to sell if an FBA shipment is delayed or a listing is suppressed. For the cost side, see what FBA prep costs in 2026, and for selling on Shopify and Amazon from the same stock, see Shopify and Amazon from one warehouse. If you're weighing FBA against a 3PL altogether, see FBA vs 3PL: 6 questions to ask before you switch.
How we receive imports for FBA
Imports land at Orderfy Prep, our warehouse in the center of the US (Dallas-Fort Worth), where many Amazon fulfillment centers are close by, and we receive stock within 24 hours of delivery. Every outbound FBA carton is weighed and measured, we consolidate full truckloads into Amazon, and Orderfy WMS, the proprietary inventory software we built in-house, shows your stock at Amazon (fulfillable, inbound, reserved and unfulfillable), synced from Amazon every hour. The same inventory can fill your Shopify and Amazon FBM orders. If your supplier already preps to Amazon's standard and you ship factory-direct to FBA without backstock, you probably don't need a prep center.
Frequently asked questions
Yes. As of November 4, 2026, CBP rules published June 24, 2026 suspend de minimis indefinitely for every country and every shipping mode, and the One Big Beautiful Bill Act ends the exemption in law from July 1, 2027. The February 2026 Supreme Court ruling on IEEPA tariffs didn't restore it.
No. Amazon ended US FBA prep and item labeling on January 1, 2026, including for inventory that reaches FBA through AWD, Amazon Global Logistics, Amazon SEND and Supply Chain Portal. Units have to arrive labeled and packaged to Amazon's requirements.
If you import regularly, yes. Every shipment now needs a formal or informal entry, and a licensed customs broker files entries, classifies products and pays duty for you. Ask about a continuous bond if you import several times a year.
At a US prep center close to Amazon's fulfillment network that receives freight in bulk, inspects it, preps units to Amazon's requirements and holds your backstock. Keeping stock there lets you send Amazon smaller, more frequent loads and fill other channels from the same inventory.
Bringing imports in for FBA?
Send us your products, monthly units and where they ship from, and we'll quote receiving, prep, storage and the inbound freight.