Low-cost products have long been exempt from high tariffs but, as the "de minimis" tariff exemption is slated to be axed at the end of the month, the most affordable camera gear, from cheap cameras to accessories to used cameras, could be facing higher import taxes.
The de minimis exemption allows shipments under $800 in value to pass through customs without paying import taxes. Earlier this week, however, US President Donald Trump issued an executive order that ends the de minimis exception on August 29.
The change means the affordable products that slipped under the tariff threshold will go from being tariff-exempt to facing the same newly increased tariff rates that affect products above $800.
Does that mean cheap cameras, lenses and accessories are about to increase in cost? Not necessarily.
The de minimis exception is $800 per shipment, not per product. That means the change isn’t likely to affect bulk shipments when a manufacturer sends multiple products to a warehouse or a retailer in the US, unless the value of that entire shipment – not each individual product – is under $800.
The change, however, is likely to impact direct-to-customer shipments from overseas, such as purchasing something from an international seller on eBay, or buying a product directly from an overseas brand.
Used products aren’t exempt, either, so buyers picking up a vintage camera that’s shipping directly from overseas will soon face import taxes, even if the camera is under $800. Such shipments will also no longer be exempt from some customs paperwork.
The executive order specially targets large commercial shipments, but items shipped through the international postal system will be affected as well. Those smaller shipments could fall under two different tariff rates.
The first is a tariff rate between $80 and $200, depending on the country of origin, an option that will be eliminated after 6 months. Postal shipments could instead be subjected to the same international tariff rates as large commercial shipments, which will be the only option after the $80 to $200 specific duty expires in 6 months.
The White House notes that travelers can still cross the border with up to $200 in personal items duty-free.
Trump’s executive order calls de minimis a “big scam,” claiming that 98% of narcotics seizures and 97% of counterfeit seizures in 2024 were de minimis shipments, which are “typically subject to less scrutiny than traditional imports.”
“The de minimis exemption has been abused,” Trump’s executive order reads, “with shippers sending illicit fentanyl and other synthetic opioids, precursors and paraphernalia into the United States in reliance on the lower security measures applied to de minimis shipments, killing Americans.”
The Trump Administration previously eliminated the de minimis exception for China.
A majority of major camera brands have already increased prices in the US following previous tariff increases under the Trump administration, including Canon, Nikon, Sony, Fujifilm, Leica, and Sigma.
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