The US just added a temporary 10% import duty. Here’s what it means for AU/NZ exporters and parcel operators.

If you ship into the United States, you have a new moving part in your cost stack.

From 24 February 2026 (12:01 a.m. ET), the US has imposed a temporary 10% ad valorem import surcharge on most imported articles, for 150 days (currently through 24 July 2026).[1]

At the same time, the US has reaffirmed something that matters hugely in e-commerce logistics: duty-free de minimis treatment remains suspended for shipments that are not covered by narrow statutory carve-outs.[2]

This post is a practical guide to what has changed, what hasn’t, and what to do next if you’re moving high-volume parcel flows from Australia or New Zealand into the US.

Important nuance: Section 122 allows a surcharge of up to 15% ad valorem, but the proclamation text (and CBP guidance) set the implemented rate at 10%. Some reporting suggested the rate was later raised towards the 15% ceiling. If you’re communicating this externally, cite the proclamation/CBP rate (10%) and treat any increase as a separate, confirmable instrument rather than assumed fact.

What’s changed

1) A temporary 10% surcharge is now in effect

The US President has issued a proclamation under Section 122 of the Trade Act of 1974, imposing a 10% ad valorem duty for 150 days on articles imported into the US, effective 24 Feb 2026.[1]

Section 122 authorises a temporary import surcharge up to 15% ad valorem, but the operative rate in the proclamation is 10%.[1]

A few details that operators should actually care about:

• The surcharge is in addition to other duties, taxes, fees, and charges, unless an exception applies.[1]
• It is explicitly designed as a temporary measure (150 days), unless it is suspended, modified, terminated early, or extended by Congress.[1]
• There is a defined “goods in transit” carve-out window for goods loaded prior to the effective timestamp and entered before 28 Feb 2026 12:01 a.m. ET (subject to the stated conditions).[1]
• The surcharge is treated as a regular customs duty.[1]

2) There are explicit exceptions - and they’re not “one size fits all”

The proclamation lists categories that are not subject to the surcharge (with further detail in Annexes), including certain:

• critical minerals
• energy products
• pharmaceuticals and pharmaceutical ingredients
• certain electronics
• certain vehicles and parts
• certain aerospace products
• information materials, donations, and accompanied baggage
• goods of Canada or Mexico that enter free of duty under USMCA terms
• certain textile and apparel entries under CAFTA-DR
• articles subject to certain Section 232 restrictions (with the surcharge not stacking on the Section 232 portion, per the proclamation’s description)[1]

If you run cross-border clearance at scale, you already know how this plays out: exemptions do not live in headlines. They live in classification, origin qualification, programme eligibility, and entry construction.

De minimis is still suspended (and postal has its own mechanics)

The executive order titled “Continuing the Suspension of Duty-Free De Minimis Treatment for All Countries” keeps the overall direction in place: the duty-free de minimis exemption does not apply to covered shipments (subject to the statutory carve-outs referenced in the order).[2]

Two practical points worth calling out:

• For shipments that previously relied on de minimis, entry must be filed using an appropriate entry type in ACE by a party qualified to make such entry, except for the handling described for shipments sent through the international postal network during a transitional period.[2]
• For international postal shipments, the order ties duty assessment (during the described period) to the rate provided in the 20 Feb 2026 Proclamation (the Section 122 surcharge) until the surcharge expires or a new CBP postal entry process becomes effective, whichever happens first.[2]

This matters because postal flows are a meaningful channel for smaller exporters, and because it places extra emphasis on declared origin and value for dutiable postal items.[2]

Want the full backstory? We wrote a deeper breakdown last year on how the US de minimis suspension reshaped parcel clearance, and why it hit postal networks so hard:

US Duty-Free Elimination: Industry Impact Analysis

What this means for Australian and New Zealand exporters

For Australian and New Zealand exporters, the impact is less about US policy debates and more about who wears the cost and friction on US-bound parcels.

1) Your “delivered cost” gets harder to keep stable

If you sell into the US with delivered pricing (or you’re trying to keep checkout predictable), an extra 10% duty can force a choice:

• absorb it and take a margin hit
• pass it on and risk conversion dropping
• adjust pricing, shipping terms, or product mix

Even if you are not formally offering delivered duty paid terms, US customers will still experience this as “my parcel costs more than it did last month”, and that tends to come back as support tickets.

2) More shipments become data-sensitive overnight

When the rules tighten, poor product data stops being an annoyance and starts being money:

• vague descriptions create holds and rework
• inconsistent classification increases exception handling
• weak origin data makes it harder to determine whether an exception might apply

Exporters that invest in clean product master data generally see fewer surprises when duty regimes shift.

3) Returns and refused deliveries get more expensive

Higher duties amplify the painful edge cases:

• refused deliveries if the buyer did not expect charges
• reshipments that double the cost
• returns where duty recovery can be slow, complex, or not worth the admin

If you export in volume, it’s worth revisiting your checkout and post-purchase comms, because reducing “surprise charges” reduces downstream mess.

4) Expect more “what’s changed?” conversations with US customers

Many buyers do not separate the exporter, the carrier, and CBP. They just see the total. Clear comms and simple, factual explanations will do more for customer experience than trying to over-explain the legal basis.

What this means for HVLV parcel operators (the people in the middle)

If you run high-volume parcel clearance, you already know the pattern: when policy changes quickly, the cost shows up as exceptions, holds, and customer comms.

A new universal surcharge creates three immediate problems:

1. Landed cost accuracy becomes fragile A single percentage change is manageable. Applying it correctly by effective time, while respecting exceptions, is the hard part.
2. Exception handling workload goes up More consignments land in “needs review”, especially where product data is weak or where classification and origin logic is inconsistent between systems.
3. Customer comms gets noisier End customers do not want a policy briefing. They want to know: what changed, what will I pay, and is my parcel delayed?

The operators who handle this best are the ones who can make duty logic deterministic, testable, and observable - not the ones trying to patch spreadsheets in real time.

What to do next (a practical checklist)

If your organisation ships into the US from Australia or New Zealand, here are sensible steps for this week:

• Update landed cost assumptions for US-bound movements from the effective timestamp, and confirm whether your surcharges are included in any all-in quotes.
• Audit product data quality (description, HS classification, and origin).
• Identify flows that may qualify for exceptions, then validate those rules with your broker or compliance team.
• Brief support teams with a short script and one authoritative link. Avoid opinions. Stick to primary sources.
• Pay attention to the “goods in transit” cut-offs, because this is where disputes and customer frustration often cluster.[1]

Sources (primary)

• Proclamation: Imposing a Temporary Import Surcharge to Address Fundamental International Payments Problems (20 Feb 2026)[1]
• Executive Order: Continuing the Suspension of Duty-Free De Minimis Treatment for All Countries (20 Feb 2026)[2]
• Executive Order: Ending Certain Tariff Actions (20 Feb 2026) - context on IEEPA duties being terminated, with the new proclamation and de minimis order unaffected[3]