Amendment to Duties To Address the Situation at Our Southern Border
The order amends the February 2025 executive order that imposed tariffs on goods related to the southern border situation, restoring duty-free de minimis treatment — the exemption for small-value packages under U.S. law — for otherwise-covered articles until the Commerce Secretary certifies that adequate systems exist to collect the applicable tariff revenue.
What this order does
What it orders
The order amends EO 14194 (February 1, 2025) by rewriting section 2(g) to reinstate duty-free de minimis treatment under 19 U.S.C. 1321 for goods that would otherwise be subject to the southern-border tariffs. In plain terms, small-value packages that qualify for de minimis treatment can continue to enter duty-free even though the underlying tariff order covers them.
This exemption is not permanent. It ceases automatically once the Secretary of Commerce notifies the President that the government has adequate systems in place to fully and promptly process and collect the tariff revenue owed on those packages. The order contains standard general-provisions language making clear it neither grants enforceable rights nor overrides existing agency authorities or appropriations requirements.
Who it affects
Importers, e-commerce platforms, and consumers who ship or receive small-value packages from Mexico that would otherwise be subject to the southern-border tariffs; the Department of Commerce, which must evaluate and certify collection-system readiness; and customs brokers and carriers processing those shipments.
Why it matters
Small-value packages from Mexico currently remain duty-free, which keeps costs lower for e-commerce purchases and low-value shipments. Once Commerce certifies its collection systems are ready, that exemption ends and the same packages become subject to the southern-border tariffs, raising the landed cost for consumers and businesses relying on those imports.
What must happen and when
How the order is supposed to work
The duty-free de minimis exemption takes effect immediately upon signing and remains in force until a single administrative trigger: the Secretary of Commerce sends formal written notification to the President that adequate systems exist to collect tariff revenue on de minimis packages. No timeline is set for that notification. Once it is sent, de minimis treatment lapses and the tariffs in the underlying order apply to those previously exempt packages. There is no phase-in period or appeal mechanism specified in this amendment.
Actions and deadlines
- Secretary of Commerce notifies the President that adequate systems are in place to collect tariff revenue on de minimis packages, triggering end of duty-free treatment
Agencies directed to act
Authority and reach
What this order changes
Amends Executive Order 14194