Amazon's international shipping list settles whether a parcel can move. It stays silent on the price the destination border adds. That price decides whether an order makes sense, and the rules behind it have changed since August 2025. The de minimis exemption let low-value parcels enter without duties or taxes. A Federal Register notice published on June 24, 2026 suspended it for mail shipments [1], and CBP's FAQ states the suspension covers the international postal network [2]. Availability and cost have come apart. The list answers the first. The destination's customs authority answers the second, and the check that matters before you pay runs four lines: the threshold, the channel, who collects, and what the declaration claims.
Amazon's list answers one question
The country list, the shipping options shown at checkout, and the customs-fee handling described on Amazon's help pages are Amazon speaking about its own service [3]. Together they state what Amazon says it will carry to a delivery address entered at checkout and collect for carrying it. The destination country's arithmetic lives in thresholds, exclusions, and taxes set by customs authorities the seller does not control.
The US gate after the suspension
DHL's duty guide, published February 2, 2026, records the exemption for US imports, set at USD 800, as ended on August 29, 2025 [4]. CBP's notice for mail shipments followed in the Federal Register on June 24, 2026 [1]. The FAQ answers the shopper's question by stating the suspension reaches merchandise valued at $800 or less arriving by all modes, including the international postal network, unless a separate authority excepts it [2]. The exceptions CBP names as surviving are narrow. Bona fide gifts keep their treatment, and purchased articles are excluded from the gift definition, as are articles acquired by barter or a similar transaction [2]. Personal or household articles accompanying travelers keep theirs [2].
CBP's Internet Purchases page states that when you buy goods from foreign sources you become the importer, and that imported merchandise must clear CBP and may owe duty [5]. The bill's shape follows the channel. On the postal channel, duty and a processing fee for clearing the package are usually paid at the local post office [5]. On the courier channel, a broker hired by the carrier clears the shipment and adds its own charges for shipping, handling, and clearance on top of any duty and processing fees [5]. The declared description matters as much as the declared value, because CBP assigns the classification number and duty rate from it [5]. Parcels declared above $2,500 can be held at the mail facility until a formal entry is arranged [5]. The informal entry process for mail shipments took effect July 24, 2026 [2], and CBP extended the compliance date for it from October 22, 2026 to January 20, 2027 [1].
Canada, Australia and the EU in one table
Four markets show how differently the same question is answered.
| Destination | Threshold | What the border adds | Source and date |
|---|---|---|---|
| United States | the duty-free cushion, historically $800, is suspended [2][4] | duties and taxes can attach to merchandise at or under $800, post included [2] | Federal Register notice, June 24, 2026 [1] |
| Canada, postal parcels | CAN$20 or less, no duty or tax under the Postal Imports Remission Order [6] | goods the CAN$20 exemption excludes (tobacco, books, periodicals, magazines, alcoholic beverages, and goods ordered through a Canadian post office box or a Canadian intermediary) carry duty plus GST or HST plus any PST on the full value [6] | CBSA page updated November 25, 2025 [6] |
| Canada, mailed gifts | CAN$60 or less when a friend or relative sends the item personally with a card marking it a gift [6] | duty and taxes apply to the amount over CAN$60, and the gift exemption excludes tobacco, alcohol, advertising material, and items sent by a business [6] | CBSA page updated November 25, 2025 [6] |
| Australia | AUD 1,000 for many imports [4] | duties and taxes on the shipment above it | DHL guide, February 2, 2026 [4] |
| European Union | VAT applies from €0 on many goods [4] | customs duties can apply from around €150 for certain items [4] | DHL guide, February 2, 2026 [4] |
The threshold is one input among several. DHL's guide lists what moves the bill: the value of the goods including insurance and shipping fees, the description, the country of origin, the destination's tariff rates, and the HS codes assigned to the items, the classification numbers customs uses for products [4]. A threshold level also says nothing about how heavily a market taxes imports on average. DHL's example of the Bahamas carries an average rate of 18.56% on imported items [4]. DHL builds its calculator against these factors, and its MyGTS tool quotes duties and taxes for a route before a shipment leaves [4].
Surtaxes, counter tariffs on certain goods from the United States, start September 8, 2026, with the CBSA publishing guidance on how they apply at the border [6]. All international mail entering Canada is subject to CBSA review [6]. One dispute path appears on the same page, for immigrants to Canada whose mailed personal possessions are assessed duty or taxes in error, the assessment can be disputed [6].
What the forwarder route changes at the border
When Amazon will not ship an item to your country, one workaround is rerouting the order through a forwarding address. The border applies different arithmetic to that parcel. Canada's CAN$20 remission excludes goods ordered through a Canadian post office box or a Canadian intermediary [6], so an order that would have cleared the postal threshold as a direct mail parcel loses that treatment when it is placed through a Canadian intermediary. The exclusion as published is the postal-channel rule [6]. In the United States, purchased goods do not qualify as bona fide gifts [2], and the courier channel adds brokerage charges on top of duty and processing fees [5]. A rerouted parcel is charged under the channel it travels, and the terms on the seller's checkout page stop at the seller.
Four checks before you pay
The border bill has four moving parts, and each one reads against a page an authority or carrier itself publishes.
- The threshold on the destination authority's page. For any destination the threshold is published by that destination's customs authority, so the check starts on the authority's own page. For a mailed gift the gift threshold applies instead, and it requires a personal sender and a card identifying the item as a gift [6]. The CBSA page carries its own update date, November 25, 2025 [6].
- The channel the parcel travels. Post office mail and courier shipments clear the border under different processes, and the process decides how the bill arrives [5].
- Who collects beyond duty. Duty and a processing fee usually land at the local post office on the postal channel [5], while a courier's broker stacks shipping, handling, and clearance charges on top of duty and processing fees [5]. The number quoted for shipping is one line, the clearance charges are another.
- The declaration against the contents. The stated description sets the classification number and duty rate [5], and the value customs assesses includes insurance and shipping fees [4]. A declaration that misstates the contents or the value can lead to delays, storage fees, or fines [4][5], and a parcel declared above $2,500 can sit at the mail facility until a formal entry is arranged [5].
A parcel that clears Amazon's availability gate can still meet a bill the checkout page never showed. The checks read against pages authorities and carriers publish, and running them before payment answers the cost question the list leaves open.