The end of the de minimis exemption is more than a shipping headache—it’s a structural shock to global logistics.

Postal carriers across Europe and Asia are not just pausing U.S. deliveries—they’re scrambling to rebuild customs data flows and compliance software overnight. Small sellers, long reliant on duty-free postal shipping, now face decisions: warehouse locally, absorb duty costs, or shift platforms. Air cargo is picking up slack—for now—but carriers are investing in longer-term intermodal capacity, betting on rail and trucking routes to carry low-value inbound flows forward.