Executive Order 14388 continues the suspension of duty-free de minimis treatment for covered shipments from all countries. That treatment is the exemption that lets qualifying imports enter without duty. Under the order, the exemption does not apply to shipments of articles outside a statutory exception the order cites, whatever the value or origin and however the goods are shipped or entered.
The order was signed on Feb. 20, 2026, and the Federal Register published it on Feb. 25, 2026. It revises Executive Order 14324 of July 30, 2025, which had suspended the same exemption. Those changes cover goods that enter the country to be used, or that leave a warehouse to be used, starting at 12:01 a.m. eastern standard time on Feb. 24, 2026.
Shipments that are not sent through the international postal network are subject to every duty, tax, fee, and other charge that applies, the order says. For shipments that qualified for the exemption before the effective date, an entry must be filed in the Automated Commercial Environment by a party qualified to file it. Postal shipments are not covered by that filing rule.
International postal shipments that would otherwise qualify for the exemption are subject to a separate duty. The order sets that duty at the rate in a proclamation of Feb. 20, 2026, titled Imposing a Temporary Import Surcharge to Address Fundamental International Payments Problems. The duty is assessed on the value of each dutiable postal item that contains goods entered for consumption.
The postal duty rate remains in place until the temporary import surcharge expires or until U.S. Customs and Border Protection’s new entry process for postal shipments takes effect, whichever date comes first. The order says that process will be established by the agency and published in the Federal Register. Until then, covered postal shipments pass without an entry prepared by Customs and Border Protection and without duties other than those the order specifies.
Transportation carriers that deliver the postal shipments, or other parties approved by Customs and Border Protection in their place, must collect the duty and remit it under the agency’s guidance. The country of origin and the value must be declared to Customs and Border Protection. Shipments sent by the international postal network that are subject to antidumping or countervailing duties, or to a quota, must still be entered in the Automated Commercial Environment when applicable regulations require it.
The order directs the Secretary of Homeland Security to take all necessary actions to carry it out, consistent with applicable law. Those actions may include temporary changes to regulations, notices in the Federal Register, and rules or guidance. The secretary may continue to use powers the July 30, 2025 order authorized, as needed to put this order into effect. The order also says an attached annex will change the Harmonized Tariff Schedule of the United States.
In its background section, the order says conditions described in the July order have occurred since that order was issued. It says the Secretary of Commerce has notified that adequate systems are now in place to collect certain duties on postal shipments that would otherwise qualify for duty-free treatment. The order states that keeping the exemption suspended, including for postal shipments, is still necessary and appropriate to deal with national emergencies declared in executive orders dated Feb. 1, 2025, and April 2, 2025.
Any earlier proclamation or executive order that conflicts with this order is superseded to the extent of the conflict, the order says. If one provision is held invalid, the order says the rest of the order still applies.