A guide to navigating changes to the U.S de minimis exemption
Are you familiar with the U.S de minimis exemption? If you’re a US-based Whiteley customer, it’s important you’re aware of the rule, as changes are coming into place which will affect your product purchases.
Currently, the U.S de minimis rule allows low-value shipments to enter the country duty-free, with minimal customs procedures. On the 29th August 2025 however, the U.S de minimis exemption will end.
Here at Whiteley, we’re trying to make this change as smooth as possible for our customers in the U.S, by offering a DDP option so you can pay duties upfront and reduce potential delays cause by tariff collection.
In this blog, we talk you through what this means for you as a Whiteley customer, and what your choice is going forward, so you can make an informed decision when purchasing our luxury scissors.
How to work out the duties and tariff of your shipment coming into the U.S
To work out what kind of financial implications you’ll face following the end of the US de minimis rule, you’ll need to work out the cost of duty, AND the tariff rate for the country of origin for your product.
This is relatively straightforward to work out, providing you know two things:
- The Harmonised Tariff Schedule (HTS) code for your product, which can be searched in this database here. The HS code for scissors, shears and blades is 8213.00…, which encompasses many Whiteley products. To work out how much duty you’ll pay, the figure in column 1 under ‘general’ provides you with the duty rate, and you’ll also need the price of the product you’re buying to hand. For example, if you were buying a pair of our 5” classic kitchen scissors, at $84.00, the duty rate is 3¢ each + 3%, so you’d pay $2.55 in duty.
- The tariff rate for the country of origin – for Whiteley products, as we’re UK-based, this would be 10%. In the kitchen scissors example, you’d pay $8.40 in tariffs.
What’s the Delivery Duty Paid (DDP) shipping option?
As a Whiteley customer, you’ll now see Delivery Duty Paid, also known as DDP, as your shipping option. With DDP, you’ll pay the duties upfront, calculated at checkout, meaning you won’t have to pay anything when your shipment from Whiteley arrives in the U.S. It also means it will go straight through customs without any delay caused by the collection of duties and tariffs.
Ready to buy a pair of our gorgeous handcrafted scissors? Check out our range here.
It’s been confirmed that the U.S will be eliminating the duty-free exemption for every country – making all imports, including those valued under the $800 threshold, liable to duties.
So far, we know that duties will apply to every shipment, regardless of value or size, and every shipment will need to include country of origin information. The changes take affect at 12.01am EDT on 29 August 2025 in the US – or 5.01am BST in the UK.
This means if you’re a U.S customer buying a Whiteley product, you’ll now be liable to pay duties on your shipment coming into the country.