# Entry Type 86 is closed: what replaces it for low-value shipments

Source: https://clearborderhq.com/blog/2026-11-12-entry-type-86-replacement.html

Cross-border operations guide · November 12, 2026


**Short answer:** Entry Type 86, the simplified entry for low-value shipments, is closed. Low-value commercial shipments now move through formal or informal entry with a 10-digit HTS classification, and postal shipments through CBP's new postal informal-entry process with bonded filers and monthly duty payment. The fast lane is gone, and the paperwork it skipped is now required on every parcel.

## What Type 86 was

Entry Type 86 was the simplified electronic entry for shipments valued at $800 or less, built for the de minimis era. It let an importer or a broker file a short entry with limited data, clear the parcel quickly, and pay nothing, because the shipment was duty-free. For ecommerce sellers shipping thousands of small parcels, it was the difference between a viable business and a customs department.

The entry worked because the value was low and the duty was zero. The data it collected was correspondingly light: a description, a value, a country of origin. That lightness was the point, and it was also the vulnerability. A system that collects little data cannot check much, and the parcels it cleared were the ones most likely to be misclassified, undervalued, or misdeclared.

When Executive Order 14324 suspended de minimis for all countries on August 29, 2025, the foundation of Type 86 went with it. A duty-free entry type has no purpose when nothing is duty-free, and CBP closed the entry type with the exemption.

## What replaces it

For non-postal shipments, the replacement is the ordinary entry system: formal entry for shipments over $2,500, informal entry for shipments at or under $2,500. Informal entry is simpler than formal, but it is not simple. It needs a 10-digit HTS classification, a declared value that survives the transaction value test, and a filer.

For postal shipments, CBP created a new postal informal-entry process in the June 2026 interim final rules. The process requires a 10-digit HTS classification, bonded filers, and monthly duty payment. The duty is calculated with the standard ad valorem method based on the item's tariff classification and value, and the temporary per-item fees that applied in the first months after the suspension are gone.

The practical change is the data. Every low-value shipment now carries the same classification burden as a high-value one, and the broker or filer who handles it has to know the product well enough to classify it. [The Section 301 exclusions that ran to January 9 matter here too, because a product that qualified for an exclusion paid a different rate, and the exclusion had to be claimed on the entry](https://clearborderhq.com/blog/2026-11-10-section-301-exclusions-extended-january-9.md).

## What to do with the parcels already in transit

First, check whether the shipment has already been entered. A parcel that cleared under Type 86 before the closure stays cleared, but a parcel that arrives after the closure needs the new entry, and the carrier will hold it until the entry is filed.

Second, classify the catalog now, not per parcel. A seller with 200 SKUs who classifies per shipment will drown in the per-shipment cost. A seller who classifies the catalog once, with a broker's review, pays the classification cost once and reuses it on every entry.

Third, price the entry cost into the product. The broker fee, the filing cost, and the duty are per-shipment costs, and a $40 entry cost on a $30 parcel is a 133 percent surcharge that the old price never carried. [A CBP ruling on the product's classification is the cheapest insurance against a reclassification at liquidation, and it costs less than one held shipment](https://clearborderhq.com/blog/2026-11-10-how-to-read-cbp-ruling.md).

## Frequently asked questions

### What was Entry Type 86?

A simplified electronic entry for shipments valued at $800 or less, built for the de minimis era. It collected limited data and cleared parcels quickly, because the shipment was duty-free and the duty was zero.

### Why is Type 86 closed?

Because de minimis is suspended for all countries since August 29, 2025. A duty-free entry type has no purpose when nothing enters duty-free, so CBP closed it with the exemption.

### What entry type replaces Type 86 for low-value shipments?

Ordinary formal or informal entry, depending on value, with a 10-digit HTS classification. Postal shipments use CBP's new postal informal-entry process, which requires bonded filers and monthly duty payment.

### Do I need a broker for a $50 parcel now?

You need a filer, which is usually a broker or a carrier acting as one. The entry needs a 10-digit classification and a declared value, and the filer is the one who puts it on the entry and stands behind it.