Exporting to the USA: customs and regulatory requirements to anticipate
Customs regulations applicable to shipments to the United States are subject to regular changes. To prevent your parcels from being held up at customs and ensure successful delivery to your recipients, it is essential to prepare your shipments with complete, accurate, and up-to-date information from the moment of postage. This page guides you through the key points to be aware of before shipping to the United States, and will be updated as regulations evolve.
🔔 New
Effective July 8, 2026: a new customs requirement to anticipate
If you export toys, electronic goods, textile products, or sporting goods to the United States, new regulations will come into force on July 8, 2026.
Any product falling under the CPSC standard – 16 CFR will be required to be subject to an eFiling electronic declaration prior to any shipment to US territory. Without this declaration, your parcels may be held at customs, with storage fees that can reach $0.08 USD per kg per working day.
👉 Check whether your products are affected
👉 Consult the data to be submitted
Step 1:
Check whether your products are subject to specific regulations
Are your products subject to CPSC regulations?
The U.S. Consumer Product Safety Commission (CPSC) oversees the importation of many finished consumer products into the United States. If your items fall within its scope, an additional requirement applies from July 8, 2026.
Products covered by the CPSC – 16 CFR standard include, in particular:
- toys and children's articles,
- electrical or consumer electronics goods,
- sporting goods,
- household or decorative products,
- textile products containing components subject to certification.
Find the list of HS codes covered by this regulation here.
However, unassembled spare parts, products temporarily imported for repair, and gifts exchanged between private individuals are not within scope.
Customs duties applicable to your shipments
Since August 29, 2025, the United States has suspended the $800 de minimis customs duty exemption. All your shipments are now subject to customs duties from the first euro of commercial value, regardless of the value of the shipped item.
Log in to your Colissimo Box account to calculate the customs duties and taxes applicable to your shipments to the United States, by clicking here.
Important: the amount of customs duties and taxes is added to the shipping cost and must be factored into your export pricing policy.
Step 2: Choose your shipping method
For your shipments to the United States, Colissimo offers two shipping methods:
- With the DDP option (Delivered Duty Paid), customs duties and taxes are advanced by FedEx to the American customs authority, then recharged to you by Colissimo. Your customers receive their parcels with no additional charges at delivery. This is the most seamless option for the customer experience.
- With DAP (Delivered At Place), customs duties and taxes are billed directly to the recipient by FedEx at the time of delivery.
Important: regardless of the shipping option chosen, customs formalities are identical and must be strictly observed. An incorrect or incomplete customs declaration will result in the parcel being held by US customs.
Step 3: Prepare your documents and data
Mandatory data for all your shipments
The United States requires a very precise and complete customs declaration for each parcel. Whichever postage solution you use (Web Service, ColiShip online postage tool, or one of our CMS modules), you must provide the following information without fail:
- The shipper's EORI number in SIREN format (FR + 9 digits). This format is mandatory from July 1, 2026. The SIRET format will no longer be accepted by French customs from that date: any parcel submitted with a SIRET-only EORI number will be held at customs, with a risk of delivery delays and financial penalties related to parcel storage by your Pôle d'Action Économique. If you do not yet have an EORI SIREN number, contact your Pôle d'Action Économique or apply for one now here. (It is also advisable to add your VAT number in the Customs Reference field.)
- The recipient's mobile phone number
- The name of the State or Province corresponding to the delivery address
- The entry of 10-digit HS codes
- The designation and very detailed composition of each item, mandatorily in English
The country of manufacture of each item (not the country of dispatch), using the MID code or the full name and address of the manufacturer after each item description, in the case of different manufacturers. For a single manufacturer, refer to the specificities of your postage solution below.
Simply update your Colissimo API and follow the guidance above.
What’s changing:
- The EORI field
- The mobileNumber field
- The stateOrProvinceCode field
- Entry of 10-digit HS codes
Use the "Comments" field to specify the MID code or the name of a single manufacturer. Consult the latest version of the technical documentation >
The ColiShip postage tool allows you to complete all mandatory fields and follow the shared guidelines above.
- The shipper's EORI number
- The recipient's mobile phone number
- The State of the delivery address
- Entry of 10-digit HS codes
Use the "Observation" field to specify the manufacturer's MID code or the name/address of a single manufacturer.
Your usual Colissimo module (Magento, PrestaShop, Shopify, WooCommerce, Wix) allows you to complete all mandatory fields and follow the shared guidelines above.
- The shipper's EORI number
- The recipient's mobile phone number
- The State of the delivery address
- Entry of 10-digit HS codes
Whether you have one or several manufacturers, add the MID code or the full name and address of the manufacturer after each item description.
Additional data for products subject to CPSC regulations
Starting July 8, 2026, if your products are subject to CPSC regulations, you must also submit compliance data electronically prior to shipment and before the goods enter the United States, using the eFiling process. Seven items are required for each affected shipment:
- Global Trade Item Number (product identifier, e.g., GTIN)
- Date of manufacture of the finished product
- Each CPSC rule for which the product has been certified under Part 1110 of Title 16 of the CFR
- Name and full address of the manufacturer, producers, or assemblers
- Date of the most recent test for compliance with applicable CPSC rules
- Name and full address of the compliance testing facilities
- Contact information and details of the organization that maintains records of compliance test results
Tip: to simplify your declarations, register your products now in the CPSC Product Registry. Once your references are registered, the data to be submitted for each item in the parcel is limited to: the product identifier (Product ID), the certifier identifier (Certifier ID), the version identification (Version ID), and the certificate contact.
Special case: the "Disclaim Message Set"
If a product is ultimately not regulated by the CPSC but is potentially flagged as such by the customs system, a "Disclaim Message Set" must be submitted. The Disclaim allows you to officially declare to customs that the product falls outside the CPSC's scope. Without a PGA message, the absence of information is interpreted as missing data, not as an exemption, which may result in: a hold, a suspension, or a request for additional information.
The Disclaim confirms that:
- the product is not regulated by the CPSC (Disclaim Code A)
- or the data is not required under the agency's guidelines (Disclaim Code B)
In summary, the "Disclaim Message Set" must include a non-applicability code (A or B) and an Intended Use Code.
Attention to fees in the event of a hold: in the absence of a compliant eFiling declaration, your affected shipments may be held at customs. Storage fees may then be applied by the US authorities, at a rate of $0.08 USD per kilogram per working day of storage, until the situation is resolved.
👉 CPSC – eFiling programme details
Step 4: Ship with Colissimo and FedEx
Once your parcels are prepared and compliant with US requirements, Colissimo routes your shipments to the United States in partnership with FedEx.
For each shipment, FedEx provides:
- 100% digital customs clearance: only the shipping label needs to be affixed to the parcel — there is no need to print the customs declaration ("commercial invoice")
- Home delivery
- An interactive notification with collection point delivery available on request from the recipient for any parcel up to 3 kg
- A committed transit time of 5 working days to the United States
Useful resources:
