By Ramishah Maruf, CNN

New York (CNN) — The Trump administration has just wreaked havoc on one of the greatest coping mechanisms of our time: online shopping.

Many of the cheaper products that US customers like to buy used to fall under the de minimis exemption, which allowed items worth less than $800 to flow into the United States duty-free. But on Friday, that trade perk expired.

The global economy thrives on trends. Matcha, the ceremonial drink that is now a staple at every hipster coffee shop, comes from select Japanese vendors. Beauty aficionados can’t get enough of sunscreens and serums imported from South Korea. Let’s not get into China-made Labubus (and Lafufus). And tinned fish? The best comes from Europe.

Many young people say they do not feel financially secure, so big purchases like cars and homes tend to be out of reach. Instead, Gen Z loves a small pick-me-up that could be as simple as a pastry, specialty coffee or a cute plush. In July, Bank of America found that 57% of Gen Z buy themselves a small “treat” at least once a week, with 59% saying it leads to overspending.

As it stands in the latest executive order, most goods shipped internationally will now be subject to the tariffs of the country of origin – even the cheap ones. Those new duties will be about $80 per item for a country with a tariff rate less than 16%, $160 per item for a country of a tariff rate between 16% and 25%, and $200 per item for a country with a tariff rate above 25%. Some of that cost could be passed down to consumers.

A laundry list of postal services and companies around the world already suspended parcel shipments to the US ahead of the de minimis expiration due to logistical challenges and tariff uncertainty. International postal powerhouse DHL also paused many of its shipments to the US, joining other European carriers.

Here’s what to expect with your online orders this week.

What types of products are impacted?

The Trump administration did away with the de minimis exemption for goods coming out of China in May amid the US-China trade war. However, Friday’s action eliminated that trade perk for every other nation.

That cuts off the approximately 4 million de minimis shipments US Customs and Border Protection says it processes a day, up from 2.8 million last year. While fast fashion companies such as Shein and Temu have been shoring up their US warehouses, more niche products that ship directly from their countries of origin are more vulnerable to tariffs.

For example, Olive Young, the Sephora of K-beauty websites, announced a 15% customs duty on all orders going to the US starting August 27. (That’s the US tariff rate on goods from South Korea.)

Others have stopped shipping altogether. Distributors of Japanese matcha, such as Emeri and Marukyu Koyamaen, suspended US delivery early this week until “further notice.”

“Because the costs and processes remain unclear at this time, we have made the very difficult decision to pause all U.S. shipments starting August 26, 2025, until we find a clear path forward,” Emeri, which is based in Canada, said this month.

The company also claimed that the elimination of de minimis particularly crushed small businesses.

I have a package on the way. What now?

Days before Friday, many postal services around the world announced that they would suspend service. So Devin Knight, vice president of transportation at third-party logistics company ShipMonk, said that if you have a package on the way, check how it was shipped.

If it’s a courier company that already has a process to collect and remit duties and taxes built into their networks, such as UPS, FedEx and DHL Express, the package should arrive on time, he said.

But if a service has paused deliveries and the arrival date is well after Friday, Knight said his best guidance would be “trying to get it returned right away.”

That’s because if a service doesn’t find a way to remit that payment, “it either gets returned at a cost or it gets disposed of,” he said, adding that’s the worst-case scenario beyond a delay in arrival.

Why has shipping been halted?

PostEurop, a trade group representing European postal services, said that they received shipping guidance from US Customs and Border Protection on August 15. This only gave them two weeks to completely overhaul a complex shipping system, with many questions on duties still unanswered.

Postal operators “simply want to avoid that mountains of backlogged mail or packets are built (up) at the airports or upon arrival in the US. So they have to be sure that they can put solutions in place which are reliable, viable, sustainable and compliant to the new US rules,” Botond Szebenym, PostEurop’s secretary general, said.

How can businesses deliver your packages now?

Notably, DHL said that shipping is still possible via DHL Express, but will include the cost of the new tariffs. That’s because, as Knight noted, ?DHL Express already has a system in place to get packages cleared by customs.

With all the uncertainty, DHL Express “would be the one I’d recommend you use to make sure it goes as well as possible,” Knight told CNN. He added that carriers with similar capabilities are FedEx or UPS.

DHL also said that people can still send low-cost gifts worth less than $100 as a standard parcel.

What happens once shipping services all resume?

Online shopping probably won’t go back to the cheap and efficient way it used to be, even once international carriers resume service to the US.

Brands have already posted notices they will be applying customs duties to US shoppers. That’s because they’ve had a sense this was coming since February, when Trump announced his first round of tariffs, said Erin Williamson, vice president of US customs brokerage at logistics company GEODIS.

Customers can also expect longer shipping times from international destinations due to the extra customs barriers, she said.

However, it’s not clear at this point how long it will take for each postal service to resume service. That will depend on each country.

“Everybody is used to getting their package within five days,” Williamson said. “In my opinion, that’s going to be impacted a little bit.”

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